The Toys Store

Two-eye viewing and a built-in flash make picture taking easy. View larger.

Kids love documenting their world (photo taken with the Kid Tough camera).

Big buttons are perfect for little hands.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Durable, easy way for kids to experience photography The Bad: May seem bulky in little hands In a Nutshell: This Fisher-Price camera really is Kid Tough. At a Glance Ages: 3 and up Requires: Four AAA batteries

Easy to Start Taking Pictures
An adult will need to use a screwdriver to install the four AAA batteries before kids get their hands on this camera. With a textured button on the front that releases the shutter and large buttons on the back that let little hands turn the camera on and off, browse through pictures and delete images, using this camera is so easy it doesn't need to come with instructions.

The fun, brightly colored body helps distinguish this camera from boring adult models, making it an instant favorite.

Kid-Friendly Technology
Kids can pick between using the live view on a 1.5-inch color LCD preview screen or looking through the two-eye viewer when taking pictures. The preview screen also lets kids look at pictures the moment after they take them. With a built-in flash that automatically illuminates darkened scenes, and a shutter noise that makes it easy to know when a picture has been taken, kids are sure to be delighted by their images.

The 64 MB built-in memory stores up to 500 pictures and eliminates the need for handling fragile and expensive memory cards. Two image resolution settings, 0.3 and 1.3 interpolated mega pixels, let kids take plenty of pictures and make 4 x 6-inch prints.

Fun, Durable Way to Encourage Creativity
With its big rubberized grips and sturdy construction, we found this camera lived up to its incredibly durable reputation. Able to easily withstand being dropped again and again and waterproof for 30 minutes in up to three feet of water, this camera can handle the rough reality of active play.

The heavy-duty construction that makes this camera so durable can also make it seem somewhat bulky for little hands, but this won't prevent kids from wanting to take it on all their adventures.

Older children and adults may be disappointed by the image quality, but higher resolutions would allow less pictures to be stored and decrease the amount of fun children have with this camera. Kids quickly find that there's plenty of resolution for exercising creative urges and documenting the wonders of everyday life.

The camera comes with a USB cable so pictures can be downloaded quickly and easily for editing and viewing. It is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Apple Mac OSX, Apple Mac OS9 and requires a USB port 1.1 or higher for computer connectivity.

Children will love the dog's cute face and perky tail. View larger.

Put on some swimming goggles and he's ready to swim in the water. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Battery-operated puppy is easy and fun for children to use The Bad: Makes very loud mechanical noise; requires some positioning to float properly in the water In a Nutshell: Battery-operated puppy can walk and swim on its own, providing opportunity for fun, imaginative play At a Glance Ages: 3 and up Requires: Three AAA batteries, small Phillips screwdriver

A Steady Walker
The Swim To Me Puppy has a hard, hollow plastic body and head, with floppy rubber ears. While its hard shape is not terribly cuddly, it's perfect for the water. It requires 3 AAA batteries, and you'll need a smaller-sized Phillips screwdriver to install them.

Once the batteries were in, we found it easy enough to make the puppy walk. Simply press the heart-shaped button until its legs start to move, then set it on the ground. The puppy wobbles along at a slow, walking over flat smooth surfaces as well as softer surfaces, such as a rug or sofa, although some bumps can sometimes make it lose its balance. It sure looked cute toddling along, but this puppy makes a very loud mechanical noise while it's moving -- a sound that we soon found rather grating while, of course, our test child remained delightedly oblivious to it.

A Natural in the Water
The puppy has two small sensors on his chest. To get it to "swim," immerse the sensors in water, and its legs will start to move. Although the toy's instructions say that the dog will start to "doggy paddle," it simply just makes the same walking movements it does when "on land." But that doesn't detract from the fun -- the puppy will float in the water, and its leg movements propel it through the water at a steady, if somewhat slow, pace. We found that certain adjustments helped keep the puppy floating upright: first make sure that the water is deep enough so that it's actually floating, rather than simply walking on the bottom of the bathtub. For best results, submerge the puppy's body until bubbles stop forming, to fill him with water and help it balance better. Otherwise it will tip too far forward. And it's best to position it with its face halfway submerged, so it does not tip back too far. If you attend to these details, the puppy will "swim" as far as you'll let it.

Of course, if your child is playing in a bathtub, the puppy won't get very far. And while the toy's instructions indicate that the puppy is not recommended for use outside, we think its swimming action would be a lot more fun in a body of water larger than your standard tub. Be sure that children have constant adult supervision when playing in or near any water, indoors or out.

The toy needs a little bit of care to make sure it continues to run properly, including making sure it's dry when playtime is finished. After our play session, the battery compartment had a bit of moisture inside, so make sure to dry your toy inside and out to prevent battery corrosion.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Detailed gunship is ready for intragalactic battles The Bad: Nothing In a Nutshell: This Star Wars inspired building set is sure to keep imaginative kids busy for days At a Glance Ages: 9 to 14

This detailed ship is ready for battle. View larger.

Lightsabers make hand-to-hand combat exciting. View Larger.

Confront the Separatist Crisis
Drawing from the wealth of Star Wars lore, the Clone Wars are part of a back-story of intragalactic unrest that set the stage for the original trilogy. They are portrayed in a new animated movie, TV series, and video game, which help fill in gaps that appear between the other movies. With this set, you can be part of the action. Take up the battle against the Separatists using the Republic Attack Gunship, a heavily armed and armored Clone Wars troop carrier that's ready to invade even the most hostile terrain.

Included Lego figures represent the well-known characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Asajj Ventress, and Commander Cody. Of course, there's Clone Trooper mini-figures as well. There's a cool speeder bike that deploys from the back, and multiple decals to create different gunships for your army. Arm your favorite figure with a lightsaber in Jedi blue-green or Sith red, and let the intragalactic battles begin. There's even a healing chamber that helps your characters recharge after a tough battle.

Preparing Your Gunship for Battle
With 1,034 pieces in 18 bags and two instruction booklets, the Republic Attack Gunship took our eight-year-old tester just under eight hours to build. He broke the construction up into three shorter sessions to make it more enjoyable and had only one slight difficulty. While Lego instructions are known for being colorful and accurate, there were a handful of pieces in our booklet that appeared clear when they were in fact yellow. This didn't do anything to diminish our appreciation for this model. Our tester struggled to find anything negative to say, and he gave this ship a fun factor score of one million, based on a scale of one to 10!

Cockpits in unexpected locations on the wings, unique sliding doors, the zoomer buggy, and an emergency capsule for sick and injured characters ranked high on the list of cool features. That's not all though. There's also a front side compartment that opens so you can remove the command station, eight positionable flick-fire missiles on top, two rotating missiles in front, and a top compartment which opens to provide access to the spy droids.

When asked if there was a downside to this gunship, our tester could only reply, "It's the best ever! I just like the whole set." Soon after completing construction, he had a big battle with all the ships in his collection and commented on how this set includes updated pieces that he's never seen before.

Even though there's plenty of features on just the Republic Attack Gunship to hold a child's interest for a long time, we can imagine how much fun the set would be with a whole group of friends and siblings plus all their Star Wars ships. We also appreciate the way that Lego systems never limit imaginative play. All the cool hardware that makes up the Republic Attack Gunship can be used to build any structure or vehicle your child dreams up.

Two-eye viewing and a built-in flash make picture taking easy. View larger.

Kids love documenting their world (photo taken with the Kid Tough camera).

Big buttons are perfect for little hands.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Durable, easy way for kids to experience photography The Bad: May seem bulky in little hands In a Nutshell: This Fisher-Price camera really is Kid Tough. At a Glance Ages: 3 and up Requires: Four AAA batteries

Easy to Start Taking Pictures
An adult will need to use a screwdriver to install the four AAA batteries before kids get their hands on this camera. With a textured button on the front that releases the shutter and large buttons on the back that let little hands turn the camera on and off, browse through pictures and delete images, using this camera is so easy it doesn't need to come with instructions.

The fun, brightly colored body helps distinguish this camera from boring adult models, making it an instant favorite.

Kid-Friendly Technology
Kids can pick between using the live view on a 1.5-inch color LCD preview screen or looking through the two-eye viewer when taking pictures. The preview screen also lets kids look at pictures the moment after they take them. With a built-in flash that automatically illuminates darkened scenes, and a shutter noise that makes it easy to know when a picture has been taken, kids are sure to be delighted by their images.

The 64 MB built-in memory stores up to 500 pictures and eliminates the need for handling fragile and expensive memory cards. Two image resolution settings, 0.3 and 1.3 interpolated mega pixels, let kids take plenty of pictures and make 4 x 6-inch prints.

Fun, Durable Way to Encourage Creativity
With its big rubberized grips and sturdy construction, we found this camera lived up to its incredibly durable reputation. Able to easily withstand being dropped again and again and waterproof for 30 minutes in up to three feet of water, this camera can handle the rough reality of active play.

The heavy-duty construction that makes this camera so durable can also make it seem somewhat bulky for little hands, but this won't prevent kids from wanting to take it on all their adventures.

Older children and adults may be disappointed by the image quality, but higher resolutions would allow less pictures to be stored and decrease the amount of fun children have with this camera. Kids quickly find that there's plenty of resolution for exercising creative urges and documenting the wonders of everyday life.

The camera comes with a USB cable so pictures can be downloaded quickly and easily for editing and viewing. It is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Apple Mac OSX, Apple Mac OS9 and requires a USB port 1.1 or higher for computer connectivity.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Innovative, interactive doll talks, really "eats" and uses the potty The Bad: Parents need to be on hand during play to clean up messes In a Nutshell: Baby Alive will ask for food, really eat, and really learn to uses her potty At a Glance Ages: 3 and up Requires: 4 AA batteries (included); Phillips screwdriver to replace batteries

After baby eats, she needs to go potty. View larger.

Doll Really Talks and Eats!
This version of Baby Alive is a toddler, just the right age for potty training. She has cartoonish, oversized eyes and a head of curly hair, and comes dressed in a bib and a removable dress. Press the button on her bracelet to turn her on; she'll "wake up" and say "I Love You Mommy." When she talks, her eyes blink and her mouth moves in sync with her words. When she says "I'm hungry," that's the cue to feed her.

The doll comes with a bowl and two baby food mixes. Mix one baby food packet with water and feed it to her with the included spoon. She'll "chew," ask for more, and say the food is yummy. She needs water, too: she can drink real water from the included baby bottle.

Potty Training Time
After she's done eating, the doll will say she has to go potty. Sit her on the included toilet, and she will really go. But watch out: if you wait too long, the doll will say, "Uh, oh, I had an accident," and she'll go in her diaper -- or all over you, if you're not careful! She comes with an extra diaper and wipes for cleaning and changing.

Baby Alive's most unique feature is that she gets better at using the potty after every feeding session: after the second session, she will ask to use the potty twice before going in her diaper, and after the third feeding, she'll ask to go three times before having an accident, and so on until the fifth feeding. (The doll's potty training feature can be reset, so your child can "teach" her to use the potty over and over again.)

Interactive Role-Playing Fun
While some talking toys simply recite phrases at children, Baby Alive takes it a step further by offering the opportunity for interaction. As well as asking for food and using the potty, she also will ask your child to sing songs, play, or give her a hug -- each of which invites a response. We particularly like that her interactive features allow for role-playing fun, which is a vital part of a young child's development.

However, because of the potential for mess, this is not a toy for independent play, especially for younger children, and especially if you'd like your house to stay tidy. So parents and caregivers need to be on hand -- and they need to be prepared to clean up some messes! The doll also requires cleaning between feedings and potty sessions to keep it working properly.

The doll comes with two food pouches and an extra diaper, but you'll definitely want to stock up on more before your child begins to play because they get used up very quickly! Accessories are available for separate purchase.

The Mega Rig lets you build 30 different space crafts. View larger.

Kids can use their imagination to create intergalactic space fights. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Durable building system encourages imaginative play The Bad: Lots of small parts to keep track of In a Nutshell: The Mega Rig Space Shuttle Mission Set provides hours of fun constructing space vehicles and thinking up places to explore At a Glance Ages: 4 and up

Getting Ready for Your First Mission
Since part of the fun is in thinking up ways to build a spacecraft from the many different parts, this Mega Rig set is ready to go without any difficult or time-consuming set-up. The set includes simple, illustrated instructions that will help you and your child build a large space shuttle with an exterior fuel tank and an all-terrain vehicle base that can be used as a launching site. The instructions include photos of other possible configurations and illustrations showing important details such as how to launch missiles, lock the shuttle's arm in place for space walks, and the many ways to combine Mega Rig wheels.

The UFO included in this set features other-worldly lights and sound, and it is powered by three button-cell batteries (AG13/LR44). Test batteries are included, but you will want to purchase another set just in case. The Shuttle Mission Set is compatible with all Mega Rig building systems, making it easy to combine different sets and inspire kid's creativity.

Galactic Exploration
Once a spaceship has been assembled, there are plenty of missions your child can accomplish. Between launching the satellite into orbit and coordinating an exploratory space walk, your child will be busy watching out for missiles shot from the UFO with its alien inside. The durable octagon shaped connectors hold pieces of each space craft together until they are pulled apart on purpose.

Our favorite configurations included snapping the bright orange all-terrain wheels onto the shuttle or UFO for land adventures, combining the shuttle and the fuel cell into one gigantic space ship, and loading the launch pad with accessories to create a headquarters for operations on distant moons and planets.

Other cool features include a space arm controlled by a lever, an oversized astro grabber for moving equipment or keeping the alien at bay, and plenty of fun compartments for the astronaut and alien to hide in. Your child will surely want to take this shuttle everywhere, but with so many small parts to keep track of, traveling with this set can require extra attention to detail.

Long-Lasting Imaginative Play
The sturdy plastic shuttle and its accessories held up well throughout our vigorous test missions, and the Mega Rig building systems are known for their durability. The moving parts and hinged compartments that make this shuttle so much fun could potentially come apart with lots of rough play, but we found the system to be extremely durable.

With the alien and the astronaut ready to be your friend or enemy, and the ability to make more than one vehicle at the same time, this building system is great for cooperative play or a single child with an active imagination. The ability to combine and recombine parts in so many ways offers a new experience every time your child picks up a piece of this shuttle system, so the fun never runs out.