Best Building Toy (tie)

Vertical Vengeance Roller Coaster  (K'nex) Ages 10+, $59.99
K'nex adds to its theme park line with a five-foot-high roller coaster set. Our 12-year-old tester, who also loved K'nex's Screamin' Serpent Roller Coaster, says the Vertical Vengeance is even bigger. He found it fun to build, with "awesome action," despite a rather jittery lift hill and a lot of shaking as the cars zipped around the track. The 33-foot-long track is twistable and flexible. "You'd have to be insane to ride this if it were real," he said. He adds that with its many small pieces (advertised as "micro" parts), this set is best for an experienced builder.The motor requires two AA batteries, and the sound module requires 3 AAA batteries. Ages 10+

EXO-FORCE: Sentai Fortress (Lego) Ages 8-14, $99.99
According to our testers, this Lego set is awesome! They reported, "It was easy to build, but can entertain you forever. There are four walls, two huge towers, and a place to fix your robots. It has a giant gate, cool guns, robots, and cars that go on the walls. The humans come with two faces so they can have a stressed or peaceful mood. The big robots and the light-up bricks were especially cool, and if you get bored of what you have directions for, just take them apart and build something of your own. This is definitely one of our favorite Lego sets ever!" The set includes: Sensei Keiken, leader of EXO-FORCE, eight minifigures, and two Iron Drone robot pilots. It also includes Hikaru's full-sized blue battle machine, Silent Strike. The robot battle machine features a rapid disk launcher.

Best Toy (Girl)

Digi Makeover (Radica)  Ages 8+, $59.99
Our 8- and 9-year-old testers had so much fun with this toy. They have played with several plug-and-plays before, but never one that would let them see what they'd look like in a fashion makeover. The set, which includes a built-in camera, allows them to snap a picture of themselves and go to town. There are tons of new looks, and they had fun making themselves look sophisticated as well as crazy! There are over 50 hairstyles to choose from, including various lengths and colors—if that's not enough, you can accessorize too. A real winner and fun for all!

Best Toy (Boy)

RC N.S.E.C.T (Tyco) Ages 8+, $99.99 
Our testers describe this remote-control robot bug as "a great toy to play with OUTDOORS," because the foam darts it shoots are surprisingly strong and can travel over 20 feet. They go on, "The makers of Tyco RC are truly amazing. The N.S.E.C.T robot moves amazingly fast and transforms from a bio-bug to a bio-missile. There are two shooting modes—single-fire or rapid-fire. It also has working claws for capturing action and laser-like eyes. This is a wonderful toy for outdoorsy kids and for remote-control lovers. This toy comes with all batteries needed but requires a 5-hour charge for the larger one of the batteries."

Best Craft Kit (Girls)

Decoupage Diva Jewelry Keeper (Creativity For Kids) Ages 7-97, $21.99
According to the mother of our 8-year-old tester, this was a huge success! She reports, "I gave this to my daughter on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and she was busy for days! This was a real treat—something to call her own. She had a ball designing, cutting, gluing, embellishing, and decorating her very own jewelry box. She would work on it a little at a time, which I loved most because rather than the 'I'm done. Now what?' she was happy to do little bits at a time until her final project was perfect to her. I LOVED it and will definitely give one of these as a birthday gift to her next pal who has a party."

Best Craft Kit (Boys)

Creepy Crawlers Bug Maker (Jakks Pacific) Ages 8+, $24.99
Our tester reports, "My son and his friends really enjoy this bug maker. It is simple to use and has a lot of safety features. The kit comes with an oven that once heated, does not open until it has cooled down! It also comes with two die-cast molds for a total of 5 different bugs from which to choose. The bottles of plastic goop are a little hard to squeeze, but the final product is well worth the work!" The kit includes a Creepy Crawler UL-listed oven, four bottles of plasti-goop, goop detailing pen, four detailing tips, two themed molds, double-use spatula, cooling tray, goop pick for pulling the bugs out of the trays, and two storage trays.  

Best Game

Monopoly Here & Now (Hasbro) Ages 8+, $29.99
"This is a great twist on an old favorite," reports our mom tester. "My 8- and 10-year-old daughters really had fun playing this game. We loved the fact that America got to vote on which cities made the cut!" Our mom tester noted that the housing prices reflect today's market, the railroads have been replaced by the country's busiest airports, taxes are now up to $2 million or 10%, and players pay interest on credit card debt. The testers also liked the updated playing pieces, which include a modern car, a running shoe, and a laptop. A great gift for any Monopoly or board game fan!

Best Electronic Gadget

Zoundz (Zizzle) Ages 5+, $49.99
This psychedelic electronic gadget had the parents of our testers reminiscing about Woody Allen movies and the Groovy 70's, but honestly they commented that this was a "very cool gadget." It has a translucent white board that lights up and, depending on the placement of the various shaped play pieces, it plays music. The pieces have a real tactile feel, from fuzzy to smooth, and each creates a different sound. The clear ice-cube-like piece records a snippet of sound. Our testers had a blast recording and playing it back. Zoundz has a bunch of uses that take some time to figure out. Beware of the alarm clock—it can really have you wondering "what's that noise?" if you forget you set it! Kids of all ages really enjoyed this strange but fun gadget.

Best Travel Toy

20Q Music (Radica) Ages 8+, $14.99
We just loved the 20Q handheld game when it first came out, and this latest twist on the classic 20 Questions is just great! Our tester, a music buff, had a great time trying to outwit this little gadget. "What makes it so great for travel is that it's small, has a built-in light for day or night play, and has a trans-reflective screen which means you can see it better. You can try and figure out bands, instruments and more. A fun gadget for car and plane trips!" he reports.

Best Educational Toy 

Sudoku The Ultimate Puzzle Game (Briarpatch) Ages 7+, $19.95
"I first introduced my granddaughter to Sudoku about a year ago," states our grandmother reviewer. "I became addicted, and then I cut them out of the paper to do with my granddaughter together. She has problems with math and I thought this would be a great way to help. I was also hoping that it would maybe make math more fun for her—and I was right! This game is great because unlike the newspaper, there is no erasing. We just pop the pieces in and out until each puzzle is solved." This three-dimensional game features 81 red and black tiles; you set it up with red and solve with black. It comes with 100 totally addictive puzzles.

Best DVD

High School Musical   (Buena Vista/Disney) Rated PG, $26.99
If you have a grandchild and you haven't heard about the High School Musical phenomenon, we're about to enlighten you. This smash Disney Channel Original Movie is a bit like a "G-Rated" Grease with great songs, great dancing, and good clean fun, appealing for all ages. The story begins at a New Year's Eve party where Troy (Zac Efron from TV’s Summerland) meets a cute girl Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) when they are set up for a karaoke song. When school begins, much like Grease, Gabriella has been transferred to Troy's school. Both Troy and Gabriella audition for the leads in the school's musical, and the fun begins. The movie is full of fun tunes, cool dance moves, and great messages for kids. My niece acted out the "Bop To The Top" song in her talent show, my son is hooked on the CD, and all the kids I've spoken to about this movie think that's what high school is all about! Parents will enjoy the music as much as their kids and will easily find themselves singing along—and not minding it a bit!

The DVD has a regular version and a karaoke version if you want to sing the songs yourself. It also includes "Learning the Moves" by choreographer Kenny Ortega, "Bringing It All Together: The Making of High School Musical", and two music videos. It's a HOT one, so buy the DVD and the CD for your grandkids, and you'll be their star!