Most likely

you have already finished the Christmas shopping for your

little ones.

The best

sales at the toy store occur on the day after

Thanksgiving. That is also the best day to see what the

popular toys are - whereever the mob is, get into it

and grab all you can. If you still haven't made your trip

to the toy store, or an on-line toy store, and have no

idea what you are going to get the child in your life,

here are some ideas.

For infants

and toddlers, the suggestion is anything stuffed. There

are stuffed animals, stuffed trucks, stuffed airplanes

and stuffed wrestlers. The more popular stuffed toys this

Christmas are Teletubbies, with some dolls that talk and

others that sing, stuffed Pokemon, with shiny, cool and

soft exteriors, and dolls from the film "Toy Story

2." The film has saturated the market with

merchandise this time around, with toys that are designed

to appeal to every age group.

For the

elementary school crowd, look into the action figures

section. There are nearly hundreds of different types of

action figures for boys and girls, and it would be

important to make sure the figure is from a television

program, movie or book series that the child likes.

Popular action figures this year are the figures from

"Star Wars," "Pokemon," professional

wrestling, "Toy Story 2" and the annual

favorite, Barbie.

Barbie is

actually a huge collector's item and the popular dolls

this year are the Millennium Barbie, though she's a year

off, Tour Guide Barbie, from that hit film juggernaut

"Toy Story 2," and the always cherished Dr.

Barbie. Barbie also has an extended group of family and

friends dolls to choose from. If the child you are

purchasing gifts for is a Barbie fan, then any pink box

that has "the name" in big letters, will score

points.

As the kids

get a little older, there are fewer and fewer things that

will interest them in the toy store, or so they would

have you believe. There are actually dozens of ideas that

will just hit you in the face once you enter the store.

For instance, board games will always be a classic gift

idea. This year, there are several versions of Monopoly,

including Star Wars and Pokemon, a new Trivial Pursuit, a

new form of Operation, Risk, Battleship and Stratego.

They are

even marketing Ouija again, with new packaging and

advertisements.

Board games

may not be as cool as they once were. Half of the games

mentioned can now be played on a gaming system or

computer, which is the next part of the store to visit.

The first rule is to make sure what gaming system or

computer requirements are necessary. Does the child you

are shopping for have a Nintendo 64, a Sony Playstation

or a Sega Dreamcast? If they have a computer, do they

have Windows 98? Is it PC compatible? If you have no

idea, and don't want to throw suspicion your way by

calling and asking, purchase a gift certificate or take a

lucky guess. The games can always be returned and swapped

out.

Here are

some suggestions about each system.

For the

Sony Playstation, any of the EA Sports sports games will

please the fan you are shopping for. They cover every

sport from soccer to football. Last year's versions will

be less expensive and easier to play. Other recommended

titles are Crash Team Racing, any of the games in the

Tomb Raider series, WWF Attitude, and any of the Disney

games. The Disney games, based on the popular Disney

movie of the year, feature the best in graphics and game

play.

For the

Nintendo 64, the Donkey Kong series has grown immensely

popular, adding several games over the past few years.

Other fun titles are old time arcade classics that have

been redone for the new generation. If you had Pac Man

Fever or loved playing Missile Command, then you can pass

on that love to kids who only know Sonic the Hedgehog.

Goldeneye also is a great title on the Nintendo, but can

be violent. Just look for titles that include the old

Nintendo characters and you won't be sorry.

As for the

Sega Dreamcast, the system itself is more expensive than

the Playstation or the N64 and there aren't as many games

as there are for the other two systems. The graphics look

incredible on all of the games.

NFL2K

achieves arcade type quality on a home system and the new

Sonic looks incredible. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is another

popular title for the Dreamcast. Before purchasing the

system, remember that both Nintendo and Sony are

releasing new systems in 2000 that will compete with

Dreamcast.

Playstation

2, which will be released in the fall, will have the

ability to play all of the old Playstation games, all of

the new games with incredible quality, and it will be a

DVD player.

Before you

begin to feel overwhelmed, just head into the toy store.

Nothing has changed that much. There is still a huge

section of the store devoted to Lego. You will still see

aisles of Playskool and Fisher Price toys. The spirit

will engage you and you will know what you would like to

play with and what would be the appropriate gift.

As an

important last tip, visualize the child's expression as

she opens the gift on Christmas morning and remember how

you felt receiving toys at Christmas. It is much easier

to choose that way

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