Gifts Over $50.00

  Toddlers | Age 4 - 8 | Age 8 and up

The Ultimate Big Gift

Polaris 700 (Peg Perego) Ages 4-8, $299.99  Without a doubt this is the ULTIMATE big gift.  It's the "bomb" as the kids say.  Tested by a tough group of kids aged 4 - 12 the kids were quoted as saying "this is awesome", "this totally rocks," "this is too cool!"  Our testers have been riding this off-road, on-road, up hills, down hills and they have been loving every minute of it.  There have been some minor problems, getting it into reverse, getting the horn stuck, but overall it rocks!  The battery seems to last forever.  It easily holds two kids each weighing about 40-50lbs.  Even I've ridden on it (but I'm not going to disclose my weight. I'll just say I'm an athletic girl whose 5'9" so I don't weigh 100lbs!)  If you're looking for a big gift, have a place to store this, your kids or grandkids will LOVE it!

Toddlers

Video Now Jr. (Hasbro) Ages 3 and up, $79.99 -- If you've ever gone on a long car trip with your grandkids and had to listen to incessant whining, you'll appreciate this toy.  Video Now Jr. plays videos of favorite kids characters.  It's made of almost bulletproof construction which is perfect for the most likely drops, is easy to use thanks to the nice large buttons, sounds great and has a great picture.  Although the image is small for adults it seems perfect for kids.  Our three-year-old tester was memorized while watching Dora and shouted back at all the appropriate times.  Headphones are not included, but can be used which makes this truly a parents dream. 

  Thomas Wooden Railway Roundhouse Set  -- (Learning Curve, ages 3 and up, $499.99) -- the 109-piece deluxe Roundhouse Set is made for the ultimate Thomas fan! The Roundhouse Set includes multiple vehicles, track accessories and the ever-popular Roundhouse. All pieces are stored in a wooden Thomas Box, which features a removable lid/seat cushions. 

Thomas Under the Bed Trundle Playtable  -- (Learning Curve, ages 3 and up, $199.99) This is a fabulous alternative to the full size play tables that our out there.  You can keep the table out whenever you are playing or push it under the bed for extra room when needed.  It comes complete with the play board and a center drawer.  If you have a huge set the drawer won't hold all the pieces, but it will hold a fairly good assortment of track and accessories.  For people who don't have a dedicated play room and toys are in their kids bed rooms this is a great option!

Schwinn Hot Rod 12-inch Boys' Bike (Schwinn)  I have been a cyclist since I was a little kid.  When I got older I worked in a bicycle store.  I used to sell Schwinn's every day.  Schwinn has been making bikes since 1895 and for a kids bike you can't get any better.  This one was tested by tough little 3-year-old and he loved it.  It's shiny blue with a cool chain guard and pads.  A great bike for the small price of $59.99.  Nothing is nicer than the smile on your face when you get that first bicycle! 

For girls, Huffy, also a recognized name bikes, makes a great little Disney Princess bike. Available at ToysRUs.  The bike is available in two sizes 12" or 16" so your granddaughter can ride like a princess for years!

Age 4 - 8

Zoo (Playmobil) Ages 4 and up, $99.99 -- According to our reviewers aged 4 -7 this is "awesome".  Once it's set up there's a ticket booth, pond with lily pads, and tons of animals.  It provides hours and hours of pretend play.  It comes with lots of people, animals and extras.  According to the mom reviewer "there are tons of small pieces and the zoo takes about 1 hour to build maybe a little more. Set yourself up in advance with ziplock bags for all the pieces you may not decide to use."  The mother of our testers loved the fact that this encouraged imaginative play without the requirement of batteries!

Vtech V.Smile (VTech) Ages 3-7 years $59.99
"This was a winner the minute it was plugged in," reports our mom tester of two.  Our tester who has a PlayStation commented that she's often discouraged by the lack of educational play in that system and was thrilled that this had the "game" feel, but "educational" properties.  Her daughter, aged 6 commented that many of the games were "too hard" but she was "working on them."  Her youngest child at 4 had difficulty, but is persisting. The system has great controllers that have large buttons and a large joystick, and you even switch the positioning if you're left handed.  There games are on "Smartridges” and are based on popular characters.  The skills involved include language, math, problem-solving skills and much more!  "This is one gift both the parent and child will be thrilled to receive," reports our tester.

Leapster by Leap Frog (Leap Frog) Ages 4-8, $79.99   This is our favorite pick two years in a row and we would be doing a disservice if we didn't mention it again this year.  This isn't only a toy, it's a very valuable learning tool.  It takes the fun of a GameBoy and makes it educational.  The screen is large and has good color graphics, the sound is excellent and the games are great.  With some of the cartridges you can even watch educational videos.  

Some toys come and go, but this one is being played with all the time.  According to the grandmother of one of our testers "it's the best toy I've ever seen.  My granddaughter brings this with her everywhere, in the car, on our recent cruise and what's more - it's helping her learn!  If you're still not sure, visit Amazon and read all the rave reviews about this product for yourself.  I wish these were around when I was a kid!

Age 8 and up

Big Air Ball Tower (K'nex) Ages 10 and up, $99.99 --  Our 10-year-old expert builder managed to assemble this enormous contraption in just two days, even though, at 5 feet, it's taller than he is. A vacuum device at the bottom of the tower shoots plastic balls up through a tube to the top. From there, the balls may go randomly down any of three paths that involve tubes, tunnels, ramps, a trampoline, a loop-de-loop, a spinning wheel, and a pivot, ultimately dropping back into the vacuum device for another round. The structure takes a lot of adjustment to keep the balls on track, so this is best for a creative builder who likes to tinker, and who may enjoy coming up with alternate paths and solutions for difficult bits. Says our tester, "It's really cool. I'd suggest it to anyone who likes creations that go a lot of different ways and who doesn't mind taking a little while to build." The instructions let you choose either a small or large version; although our tester plunged right in with the big one, he suggests that trying the smaller version first could help builders gain experience. Requires four D batteries.

Nellie (American Girl) Ages 8 and up, $90.00 
Want to introduce your granddaughter to dolls with history?  Check out American Girl dolls.  Our 9-year-old tester, loved her American Girl doll Nellie who arrived dressed in a white dress with white tights, Mary Jane shoes, and cotton underwear. She is 18 inches tall and has a soft, huggable body with arms and legs you can pose. Brush her shiny hair and tie it up with her big blue hair ribbon.  Nellie is an orphan in 1906 who lives with Samantha (the other new American Girl doll this holiday season.)  The story is about friendship, trust and fulfilling the promise she made to her dying mother - keeping the family together.  Special Note:  Samantha: An American Girl Holiday airs on November 23rd on the WB.

American Girl Place in New York City.  If you are thinking about getting your granddaughter one of these dolls and live near either New York or Chicago I hear a trip to the American Girl Place is a must! A "Day at American Girl Place"  includes a meal in the Cafe, a live musical show, a CD of The American Girls Revue original cast recording, $130 spending money, Souvenir doll T-shirt and comes in a pretty red envelope.  It costs $250.00 for one adult and one child, but what an experience!

Video Now (Hasbro) Ages 6 and up, $74.99 According to our 9-year-old tester, this is the "coolest."  Our reviewer had a black and white Video Now that she got for her birthday last year and she was hoping that one day it would come in color, and was thrilled that the day had arrived.  She loves the fact that you can actually see the pictures in the car in the dark.  She loved the selection of movies that include Trading Spaces, Sponge Bob, The Fairly Odd Parents and more. According to the mother of our reviewer, this is also a great gadget when you are waiting for your table at restaurants, and waiting to be seen by the doctor or dentist.

Robosapien (WowWee) Ages 6 and up, $99.99
This walking, grunting, dancing robot - actually invented by a rocket scientist! - promises to be the big-ticket toy of the season, guaranteed to impress every kid on the block.  Responding to commands from a hand-held remote, Robosapien can move body parts, grasp and drop items,
and run through pre-programmed routines. Our 8-year-old tester was able to learn how to operate him with a little help from an older sibling; the 11-year-old caught on quickly, and proceeded to program new routines for Robosapien to follow. For instance, he explains, "you can make him do a high-five whenever someone touches him or makes a loud sound. So if someone says 'hi' loud enough, he lifts his arm up and says 'Ayy!'" The company website offers more ideas for expanding the robot's repertoire. Parents should be warned that there's no way to adjust volume (though a little tape over the speaker helps tone him down). In addition to some grunts, dance music, and an occasional "ouch," Robosapien can produce a few less sophisticated noises that will amuse the kids to no end. The kids in our tester family soon learned to keep the ruder sounds to a minimum, but won Mom over by making the cute little guy wolf-whistle whenever she came in sight. Not surprisingly, Robosapien requires heavy-duty power: four D batteries for the robot, plus three AAA batteries for the remote. Marked for ages 6 and up, but younger kids will need some initial help.

Sony PlayStation 2  (by Sony Computer Entertainment, all ages, $199.99)

This is the game system every electronic home gamer wants. Our 31-year-old, 15-year-old, and 4-year-old testers all said the same thing:  "This system is cool." PlayStation 2 has by far the best choice of games, and you can play all the older PlayStation 1 games on it, too. This system also has a built-in DVD player (a feature we didn't test fully because we were busy checking out the games). If you purchase this unit, you should also consider getting the following accessories: an 8MB Memory Card  to store games, and an extra  Dual Shock 2 Controller so two people can play.  Note: The 4-year-old had a hard time using the standard controllers because her hands were so small, however we found a fabulous product (pictured left) called MicroCON by a company called MadCatz.  These controllers are much smaller then the standard controllers and seem to work really well with our 4-year-old testers little hands.  They also make the MicroCON for , XBox and GameCube.  For more information on these controllers click here. 

Xbox (by Microsoft, all ages, $199.99)

Year two of the Xbox era and it is still turning heads with it’s stellar graphics, cutting edge games and multitude of features. 

The Xbox boasts the most advanced hardware system built for gaming to date with a Pentium III processor, 64 MB of memory, 8GB hard drive and Nvidia graphics system. (See full specifications below). 

Some of the most exciting and visually stunning games are available for the Xbox. There is something for everyone in the selection of games. From “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” or “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4” for the whole family to “Unreal Championship” or “Halo” for Teens and adults. However the majority of games geared towards teens and adults. For younger kids (4-11) Nintendo’s Game Cube would be a better choice.

You can connect up to four controllers to the Xbox to share the fun with your friends or family. However, if there is no one home to play with, no problem. If you have a broadband internet connection just pick up the Xbox live starter kit ($49.99 for the kit and one year of service) and you can connect to Xbox Live and play against other gamers over the internet. Some of the games available for online play are MechAssault, NFL Fever 2003, MotoGP, NBA 2K3 and Unreal Championship.

Tired of playing games? With the optional DVD remote you can play DVD movies on your Xbox. 

Technical Specifications:

• Intel Pentium III at 733mhz 
•   Custom graphics processor at 300mhz, designed by Nvidia exclusively for Xbox 
• DVD movie playback 
• 1920x1080 maximum resolution 
• HDTV support 
• 64MB memory with 6.4GB/sec bandwidth
• 8GB Hard drive, 4 speed DVD drive
• Custom 3-D audio processor designed by Nvidia which supports: 
• 64 Hardware audio channels (256 total) 
• 3D Audio support 
• Midi/DLS2 support 
• AC3 encoding
• 100 MBPS Ethernet Port 
• Optional Modem 
• 4 game USB controller ports 
• Proprietary A/V connector 

For more information on the Xbox go to http://www.xbox.com