Just for fun

This year's must-have, wanna-have and just-can't-live-without toys

Joanne Richard

December 9, 2007 — I want to be a kid again! Santa's bag is jammed packed with a tonne of fantastic toys- from tiny, terrific indoor helicopters and flying insects, to bunches of board games, bizarre books, crafty craft kits, and a budding population of penguin products, from wobbles and plush, to games and more. And let's not forget the Icky Poo!

From hi-tech to traditional, some offer thrills and spills, others provide cuddles or high tech connections. The bottom line: The pickings are dynamic, the competition fierce, the sales ferocious- it's a $1.5 billion industry!

Read on and weep — if you don't get at least one of these to put under the tree. Here's what's hot:

GAMES

Penguin: A family game that has players trying to stack as many of their penguins on an ice floe while blocking opponents from doing the same. Lion Rampant Imports, 5+, $14.99.
Quelf: Expect crazy things to start happening, like your friend wrapping himself up in toilet paper as your sister talks to Dracula! Insanely entertaining! Outrageous categories. Outset Media Games, 8+, $36.99. 1-877-592-7374 toll free.
Cranium Puzzles Plus Seek & Find games and puzzles in one, including Let's Go to the City or Take Me to the Carnival. Cranium, 3+, $11.99.
Zookeeper's Nightmare: Children play the role as zookeeper and try to "slide and glide" a runaway animal back home. Be careful not to tangle tails and snouts. Educational Insights, 6+, $19.99.
KHET - The Laser Chess Game: An award-winning chess-style strategy game where players alternate moving Egyptian-themed pieces, some with mirrors and fire lasers, to eliminate the opponent's pieces. 10+, $49.99, Stortz & Associates.
Mindtrap Geometrical Riddles: Stuff stockings full of mind-bending challenges. Riddles and brain teasers for every level- novice, master and genius. 10+, $12.99, Outset Media.
Triple Triumph: An exciting 3-D strategy game that has players stacking and racing colourful pyramids. Cranium, 6+, $24.95.
All Canadian Trivia: Oh, Canada! This fantastic new edition features 100% Canadian content, with more than 2000 questions about geography, history, arts and general knowledge. 14+, $39.99, Outset Media Games.
Keesdrow: Scrabble with a twist! Deluxe word-seek game that challenges the two to six players to spell out words- even in circles. Pywacket, 8+, $39.99.

BOOKS

The Encyclopedia of Immaturity: Full of infinite wisdom- How to Ride a Unicycle, How to Skip a Stone and How to Really Annoy Your Older Sibling. Klutz/Scholastic Canada, 8+, $22.99.
Ripley's Search for the Shrunken Heads and Other Curiosities: Chock full of the bizarre, readers get an interactive display of Robert Ripley's daring escapes to far-flung lands featuring 3-D paper technology. Ripley Publishing, 8+, $24.99.
Chicken Socks Castle features an ingenious three-dimensional castle inside a book. Pages flip up to become mighty castle walls or a murky moat; complete with king, queen, prince, princess. Klutz, 4+, $19.99.
Ripley's Believe it or Not! The Remarkable Revealed: Wacky tales of the world's weirdest people, places and creatures. Ripley Publishing, 8+, $34.95.
The Official Icky Poo Book: It's slick, gooey and can be stretched 12 times its length! The Official Icky Poo Book offers "poo" and 36 ingenious ways to use the gooey poo, including the ever-exciting activity, Hold It and Scream. Klutz, 8+, $15.99.

ACTIVE

LEGO Mosaics inspires creativity and gets youngsters creating fabulous mosaics, brick by brick. LEGO, 4+, $15 and $30.
Penguin Wobbles, by Creativity for Kids, lets kids paint, decorate and dress four adorable penguin wobbles. 6+, $19.99.
Glow-in-the-Dark Playfoam lets kids make the coolest creatures ever using five bricks of GlowFoam and craft accessories. Creativity for Kids, ages 5-95, $22.
Shrink Art Jewelry and Stencil Art are two fantastic crafts that offer the hard-to-buy-for preteen group hours of creativity and fun. Both 8+, approx. $27, Klutz/Scholastic.
Playmobil Hospital: Award-winning, detailed two-storey hospital that includes an adjustable operating table and working elevator, plus eight figures and lot of accessories. Playmobil Canada, 4+, $199.99.
Chicken Socks Paper Purses or Paper Flowers lets the sandbox set create colourful projects. No cutting- lots of dazzling doodads included. Klutz, 4+, $17 each.
Do Art My First Portrait: Kids create a self-portrait or a picture of their pet or ... with gel sticks, canvas, outline marker and more. Creativity for Kids, 5+, $19.99.
LEGO Bulldozer: Calling all budding engineers looking for pure power. Build the king of all construction sites- a fully functional, highly detailed motorized bulldozer. LEGO, 11+, $199.99. OR set creativity in motion with the LEGO Creator Ferris Wheel- really works; 8+, $94.99.
Wheely Bug Infant Toy is a totally cute and durable ride-on toy that encourages gross motor skills. Available in Ladybug, 1+, $89.99, Chapters and Indigo.
Power Tour Electric Guitar: Featuring authentic sounds, the Power Tour Electric Guitar boasts lots of really cool guitar features including strum bar, palm mute bar and more. 10+, $59.99, Hasbro. Amp sold separately.
Pipin Penguin will warm hearts Christmas morning. This cuddly custom plush comes with a knitted striped scarf; $19.99, Chapters and Indigo.

TECHNOLOGY

Flytech Dragonfly takes flight as a top toy for the season. The world's first radio-controlled flying insect is ultra-light and easy to fly- it can soar, dive-bomb, hover and glide. Fly indoors or outdoors; Wowwee, 8+, $59.99.
Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle: World's lightest helicopter- weighing in at 280 grams- battles it out. The Havoc Heli Laser Battling Set comes with two mini helicopters and two controllers so it's double the fun, indoor or out. Spin Master, 8+, $79.99.
Net Jet Online Gaming System combines a controller that plugs into a computer's USB port and a game key that slides into the controller and activates content- choose from Super Soaker Water Fight, Mission Paintball, Treasure Hunt and more. Tiger Electronics, 6+, $30; game keys $17.
Rip Roar Creation Station: A cool video making station that lets you create and star in your own video or web content. Works with any USB PC and comes with camera, stand, PC software and more. Circuit City, $149.99, thesource.ca

KID AT HEART

Kevin McConnell is the king of toys. He probably owns more toys than anyone else — and he actually plays with them on a regular basis. The 40-year-old father of two owns Wowy Zowy toy store in Mississauga, and he researches and regularly tests toys. Here are his top toy picks for Christmas 2007:

Phoenix Indoor Airplane, Dynatech, 8+, $49.99
Dragonfly, Wowwee, 8+, $59.99
Fashion Magazine Editor, Fashion Angels, 8+, $89.99
My First Kitchen, Educo, 3-8, $79.99
Jakbo: 3-D cube game, Zabazoo, 8+, $29.99
Secret Sounds, Uncle Milton, 6+, $29.99
Finger Drums, Bluw, 5-55, $24.99
Rainbow In My Room, Uncle Milton, 5+, $29.99
Jam Pack Jam, Cranium, 6+, $29.99
Rubik's Revolution, RP Toys, 5+, $24.99