TOY TIME Serious PLAY

Toymakers get high marks this year, because they were more creative and kid-friendly.
By KAREN MACPHERSON
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Santa's sleigh is top-heavy with high-tech toys this holiday season, filled with electronic gizmos ranging from kid-geared cell phones and video cameras to an interactive DVD version of "Candy Land."
But the sleigh's also got plenty of toys offering non-battery-powered play. In fact, two of the top toys on many experts' lists this year are traditional playthings: the "Knights' Empire Castle" by Playmobil and "Quadrilla," an intriguing wooden raceway for marbles from the HaPe company.
"Generally, we are very critical of the toy industry. This year, we give the industry an 'A' because there are better choices across the board," said Stephanie Oppenheim, co-author, with her mother Joanne Oppenheim, of the annually published "Oppenheim Toy Portfolio."
While most of the "Hot Dozen" toys on his annual list are electronic, "Toy Wishes" magazine publisher and toy-industry expert Jim Silver stresses that "it's important to balance the toy box. There's nothing wrong with a videogame as long as you balance it with a different kind of toy."
Here are some of the year's best toys -- both high-tech and traditional. Much of the list is drawn from information gathered during two days at the February Toy Fair, where this year's holiday toys were previewed. Other sources include the "Platinum" winners in the "Oppenheim Toy Portfolio 2006 edition" and the "hot toys" lists published by various magazines, including Toy Wishes, Family Fun (which uses kid testers), Parenting (which uses mom testers) and Parents.
Many of these toys can be found at major retailers like Toys 'R Us; others can be purchased at specialty toy stores.
INFANTS
(Ages birth to 11/2):
"Magical Music Cube" (Ravensburger, $17). Each side of this plush cube has the face of a different animal who will sing or make noises -- unless you turn off the sound.
"Out My Window Soft Book" (Manhattan Baby, $15). Each page has a different texture for baby to feel, plus movable fabric pieces or a sound-effects button.
"Gymini Total Playground Kick & amp; Play" (Tiny Love, $69). The Oppenheims say this is a "must have" for the baby-shower list. Unlike many other play mats, this one offers soothing but still active play.
TODDLERS
(Ages 11/2 to 3):
"My Stack & amp; Play Castle Building Blocks" (WJ Fantasy, $22). Each of these graduated size cubes features a different castle room. Best of all, they nest inside each other when playtime is done.
"Super Spiral Play Tower" (International Playthings, $32). Toddlers will have fun placing weighted balls and animal figures at the tower's top and watching them zoom down the spiral slide.
"Small World Living Wooden Kitchen Appliances" (Small World Toys, $124 up each). This beautiful wooden set is pricey but offers years of creative play.
PRESCHOOLERS
(Ages 3 to 5):
"PlasmaCar" (PlaSmart, $70) -- An intriguing example of how physics can entertain, the sleek PlasmaCar has no pedals or batteries, but runs on "inertia, centrifugal force, and friction," according to its maker. Give kids a flat surface, get them to rotate the steering wheel, and watch them go! Holds up to 220 pounds on flat surfaces, so even adults can try this one.
"Magneatos" (Guidecraft, $30-$100). Sized just right for young children, these colored plastic rods and balls can be used to create all kinds of structures.
"Shake 'N Go Speedway" (Fisher-Price, $40). The more kids shake these cars, the longer they zoom along the track as an "announcer" calls out a play-by-play of the action.
GAMES
"Bulls-Eye Bounce & amp; Roll" (Playskool, $35, ages 3 to 6).This tabletop version of Skee-Ball made most "best toy" lists this year. Other pluses: it folds up for storage, and the sound turns off.
"Sleepy Princess and the Pea" (Haba, $24, ages 3 to 5) -- Kids pile tiny pillows on a tiny bed until the heap collapses in this entertaining take on the classic tale (Ages 3 to 5).
In another game involving fatigued royals, players battle to be the first to awaken four queens in "Sleeping Queens" (Gamewright, $10, ages 8 up).
Cranium's got a great new crop of games out this year. In "Bumparena" ($17, ages 7 up), kids try to block their opponent's balls on a sloped playing board.
"The Family Fun Game" ($20, ages 7 up), is designed for parent-child play. And with "Whoonu" ($17, ages 8 up), players will learn all kinds of new things about each other.
Kids can have a food fight with no mess to clean up in "Alfredo's Food Fight!" (Fundex Games $20, ages 5 up). A Velcro-covered chef-shaped figure spins around as players use fork-like catapaults to toss foam food pieces at him.
Let kids create their own game with "Make-A-Game Set" (Winning Moves, $15, ages 5 up), which features a blank board and cards, a pair of dice, tokens and a game suggestion booklet.
Transparent cards featuring various shapes can be combined to create many different pictures in the fast-paced "Squint Jr" (Out of the Box, $17, age 8 up).
ARTS & amp; CRAFTS
Klutz offers an array of great craft kits this year to interest both boys and girls ages 8 up. Kids build a castle from cards in "Building Cards: How To Build Castles" ($13). With "Capsters" ($15), kids create art from bottle caps. "Room Lanterns" ($20) lets kids light up their rooms in a unique way.
Chicken Socks is a wonderful new Klutz line for preschoolers. This season, look for "Hand Art" ($10), "Rescue Trucks" ($13), "Tea Parties ($13), "How to Make Pompom Animals" ($10) and "Shadow Games" ($10).
Creativity for Kids also has several neat new kits: "Room Light," a paint-it-yourself clip-on light ($20, ages 9 up); "Fast Car Race Cars," in which kids add paint and stickers to three wooden autos ($15, ages 5 up); and "Legendary Dragon," a 21-inch wooden model that kids first assemble and then paint ($20, ages 10 up).
Kids can paint "My Star Box" (Balitono, $20, ages 5 up) and either give it as a gift or keep it for themselves. Balitono also offers "My Pinball Game" ($20, ages 5 up) that kids paint first, then play.
ELECTRONIC TOYS
It's a dog. It's a speaker. It's both! Hasbro's new hound, "I-Dog" ($30, ages 8 up), will play music from any source with a headphone jack, and respond with lights, sounds and movement.
Kids looking for something different can try "iZ" (Zizzle, $30, ages 5 up), a weirdly cute, posable creature that also doubles as a speaker.
They call it a "pentop computer," but kids will just have fun learning with "Fly" (LeapFrog, $100, ages 8 up). Using special paper, kids can use Fly to draw a working calculator, translate words into different languages and even create a musical keyboard.
Two new toys combine education with videogaming: the "Leapster L-Max Learning Game System" ($100, ages 4-10) and the "V-Smile Pocket" ($90, ages 5 up).
Get the kids off the couch with "Play TV Baseball 3" (Radica, $40, ages 8 up), "Black Belts Karate Home Studio" (Spin Master, $25, ages 3-6) or the "Candy Land DVD" game (Milton Bradley, $30, ages 3-7).
In the "Read With Me" DVD system, Fisher-Price has teamed up with Scholastic to offer kids interactive versions of such books as "Where the Wild Things Are" and "The Little Engine That Could" ($35, plus $15 for each new storybook DVD, ages 3-7).
Radica took its popular "20Q" toy and made it bigger and easier to use in "20Q Challenge" ($30, ages 8 up).
Kids can keep their rooms safe from siblings with the "Spy Gear Lazer Tripwire" (Wild Planet, $20-$30). And for kids who really are into their music, Wild Planet has teamed up with Target to sell "Wired For Sound" jackets that make it easy for kids to listen to their favorite music on the go ($30-$45).
This year, kids can jump along with Elmo as he does "The Shout" (Fisher-Price, $30, ages 2 up).
OTHER TOYS
Playmobil's "Knights' Empire Castle" ($180, ages 5 up) was chosen as the "toy of the year" by the kid testers of Family Fun magazine. And, with 249 pieces, there's a lot of play value to this set.
The funnel-shaped raceway adds speed and interest to "Quadrilla" (HaPe, $50, ages 5 up), another "best toy" winner.
Take some plastic construction blocks, add light and you've got "Atomic Blox" (Dynatec, $20-$50, ages 8 up), a neat new way to build.
It's the 40th anniversary of a family favorite, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." In addition to a DVD (Paramount, $17), a CD (Peak Records, $15) and a paperback book (HarperCollins, $15), there's the rather pathetic "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" (sold only at Urban Outfitters, $24); a 40th-anniversary puzzle (USAopoly, $12.50, ages 8 up); and a "Snoopy" version of "Monopoly" (USAopoly, $40, ages 8 up).