| Will there be smiles and looks of excitement on the | | | | robot built in about 30 minutes. The drag-and-drop |
| faces of your children or grandchildren when they | | | | programming interface uses pre-programmed objects |
| open their Christmas gifts? There will be lots of smiles | | | | that you pull from a palette and snap to other objects |
| if you take a look at these Christmas gift suggestions. | | | | build and program robots that do what you want. The |
| According to Amazon, these will be some of the hot | | | | NXT also has built-in Bluetooth wireless technology so |
| Christmas toys for 2006. Start shopping for these toys | | | | your robots could be truly wireless. A really great |
| now and you will get them in time for Christmas and | | | | learning tool. |
| probably at a good price. Wait and you either won't be | | | | Number 4 - Twister Dance DVD - Milton Bradley |
| able to find them or you will pay higher prices. | | | | Interactive Games |
| Number 1 - Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses: | | | | This really a simple concept: Put the DVD in the |
| Interactive Princess Genevieve "Let's Dance (TM) " | | | | machine, place the 2.5-foot square mat in front of the |
| Doll | | | | TV, and dance following the onscreen prompts. In |
| Barbie dances and interacts in three different ways, | | | | Learn mode, an animated choreographer shows you |
| including two interactive modes. In "Performance" | | | | the dance moves step by step. There are 40 dance |
| mode, she performs multiple dance routines to her | | | | lessons that start slow and simple and gently add |
| own recorded music. In "Teach Me" mode, she actually | | | | complexity as you go along. Dance mode increases |
| shows and tells you how to perform each dance | | | | the tempo and strings the individual dance moves into |
| movement ("Arms overhead", "Now, spin"), one at a | | | | a dance routine. This is fun. Show off your dance |
| time. She then has you imitate the movements. And | | | | moves and learn some new ones. |
| finally, in "Play With Me" mode, Genevieve will move | | | | Number 5 - Here & Now Edition Monopoly Board |
| her arms and left leg in direct response to your | | | | Game |
| movements when you wear the included wrist and | | | | This is an updated version of the original board game |
| foot controllers. | | | | with a new twist on the classic property trading game. |
| Number 2 - Leapster L-Max Handheld Learning Game | | | | There are new tokens including the Toyota Prius, New |
| System | | | | Balance Shoe, McDonald's French Fries, Labradoodle, |
| This is part of the award-winning LeapFrog Leapster | | | | Motorola RAZR Mobile Headset, and a Laptop |
| products. Players interact on the handheld screen and | | | | Computer. As far as properties, new additions include |
| see the results on their TV. There are multiple skill | | | | Boston's Fenway Park, Las Vegas Blvd., Houston's |
| levels, learning tutorials, and unlimited educational fun. | | | | Johnson Space Center, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, |
| Your children won't even know that they're learning. | | | | and Minneapolis' Mall of America. You'll love the new |
| Turns your TV into a super learning machine. Just pop | | | | Here & Now Edition. |
| in one of Leapster's many software games and let | | | | So there they are, 5 hot Christmas gifts for ages 8 to |
| them learn as they play. | | | | 11. Don't let your children or grandchildren be |
| Number 3 - LEGO Mindstorms NXT | | | | disappointed at Christmas. Start shopping for these |
| With the Quick-Start Guide you can probably have a | | | | Christmas gifts now! |