Finding the hottest gift is not child's play
Early shoppers strip the shelves bare of the new Xbox 360. Grandma might buy a 'pentop' computer.
By Andrew Edwards, Daily Pilot
It might be best to cross one gift off the kids' holiday gift list already -- either that or get ready to play a real game of patience.
Microsoft's new Xbox 360 video game system went on -- and just about off -- the market a week ago.
At the Target on Harbor Boulevard, a sign informs customers that the store has already sold out of the consoles, which go for $300 and up. Electronics Boutique and the Circuit City store at Fashion Island were also sold out of the video game system as of Sunday.
At Circuit City, store general manager Robbie Claeys said there has been no word on when his store will get another shipment of the scarce video game console.
'There's been nothing from our headquarters,' he said.
Those who managed to snag a coveted Xbox 360 from Circuit City had to work fast.
'They had about five minutes to get them,' said Keith Sanders, a manager at the Fashion Island store.
In addition to the video game system, Sanders is expecting Apple's iPod to continue to be popular this holiday season. He also sees a lot of demand for Sirius Satellite Radio products. Sirius is soon to be the new on-air home of radio talk show host Howard Stern.
Of course, children's gift requests tend to be longer than one item, even if that one item is the pricey and rare Xbox 360. At Puzzle Zoo, a specialty toy store at South Coast Plaza, general manager Debi Tsuchiyama is expecting this season's popular child toys to include standards including Star Wars toys and other movie tie-ins.
More unique items that Tsuchiyama's store is banking on include
Trains aren’t just boys’ toys
Trains aren’t just boys’ toys: When Aline Bergemann was a child, she got “boring” dolls for Christmas, while her three older brothers got model trains.
“They wouldn’t let me play with them. Trains weren’t for girls,” she said.
Now the 60-year-old Salem woman gets to play with toy trains as much as she likes as the only female member of the Corvallis Society of Model Engineers in Adair Village.
On Saturday and Sunday, the group held its annual Train Layout Open House at its clubhouse in Adair Village. The event will continue next weekend as well.
The organization’s president, Patrick Sloma of Corvallis, didn’t know why more women weren’t interested in model trains, but he added that it was an interesting nature-versus-nurture question.
Scott Huiskens of Corvallis, who had a model train set as a child, said trains appealed more to boys.
Huiskens attended the event with his 6-year-old daughter Alyssa, who likes trains, and his 4-year-old son Gabriel, who helps his dad play with the Microsoft train simulator on their computer.
“My son’s really into trains. … I think it’s the whole mechanical thing. They’re big. Guys like trains, they like planes, they like automobiles. I think it’s genetic, they chromosome,” he said.
‘Hot’ toys go cold fast
‘Hot’ toys go cold fast
: Dr. Toy isn’t too much for “hot” child toys lists. Her recommendations for gift selections are as likely to include a jump rope as an electronic gizmo.
Dr. Toy, whose real name is Stevanne Auerbach, is director of the Center for Childhood Resources in San Francisco and author of 15 books on play, toys, children's products, education, parent education, child development, child advocacy, child psychology, child care and special education.
And her guide at www.drtoy.com was the first site to provide toy information on the Internet. Her lists often include toys that aren’t on big advertising budgets, and, rather than “hot” toys, you’ll find categories like “smart,” “vacation,” “classic” and “best.”
In fact, playing is probably more important than toy, she said.
“I think hot gets cold really fast,” Auerbach said. “Kids still like to play with boxes.”
Jay Jay the Jet Plane Toys
Jay Jay the Jet Plane Toys: Jay Jay the Jet Plane toys are a very popular collection of wooden toys inspired by the well known TV series, Jay Jay the Jet Plane.
A huge hit with children, the series has about 60 episodes of computer generated images, each about 25 minutes long.
The whole action takes place in an imaginary airport called Tarrytown. The main character is Jay Jay, who’s a small jet airliner.
Toy castles
Toy castles: When putting a child to sleep, one rule that most parents follow is telling a story, so that the child can fell asleep easier. These stories make children imagine wonderful toy worlds, were they can find only joy and happiness.
Castles are popular structures in these tale lands, where a handsome prince from a very rich kingdom has to fight a big and powerful dragon that guards the entrance to the castle where the princess, his future wife, is kept against her will by malicious forces.
Also, a castle is where their wedding takes place after the prince saves the princess.
Wooden Toy Boxes
Wooden Toy Boxes: Wooden toy boxes are more and more a necessity as parents continue to buy more toys for their children and depositing them in a place where they won’t bother anybody while the child does not play with them becomes a very important issue.
You don’t want your child’s room to look like after bombardment by leaving the toys thrown all over the room.
Toddler Toys
Toddler Toys: The play has many more functions for toddlers than for adults. For toddlers, play is not just a way to relax but it is also the best way to learn and perfect skills like walking, balance and controlling the hands.
Through play, the child discovers the objects and their functions and learns some social behaviors. For him, the play is similar to the work of the adult: the toddler imitates the work of his mother, father and grandparents.
He repairs the car like his father and he cleans the house like his mother.
His work ?tool? is the toy. If for the little baby the toy is mostly a decorative object, for the toddler who is just starting to walk and talk, toys are absolutely necessary.
The parent must make sure to offer his child adequate toys to his age and skills level. The most indicated toddler toys are the functional ones, who develop and stimulate different processes and mental activities (knowledge, inventiveness, imagination).
Marines, Navy continue Toys for Tots campaign
Marines, Navy continue Toys for Tots campaign
: There was some cheering for the U.S. Marines at last night?s Texas High School football pep rally at Texas High School.
But it wasn?t just the Marines in their dress blues that were all the rage, it?s what they are doing: Collecting toys for their 2005 Toys for Tots Campaign.
?We had a really good start-up event at the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Bulk Fuel Battalion on College Drive on Oct. 3,? said U.S. Navy Hospitalman 1st Class Neil ?Doc? Good, coordinator and Navy representative in the local Toys for Tots campaign. ?We approached the high school on about Sept. 28 to see if they wanted to do anything with us in conjunction with the Marines? Toys for Tots Campaign and we got into a partnership with them.?
Annual charity ready to spread cheer to children
Annual charity ready to spread cheer to children: Even if the weather doesn’t exactly feel a lot like Christmas, next week it will start looking a lot like Christmas at Rose Hill Baptist Church.
For the second year in a row, the church is serving as the central collection for point for Operation Christmas Child. Through the project, members of area churches, civic organizations and businesses send shoeboxes full of toys and hygiene products to the church from Nov. 14-21, said Carolyn Sparkman, collection center coordinator.
Factors to consider when choosing toys for children
Child Toys
• Child’s age - This is very important. If you buy toys too advanced for your child’s age, chances are that he might get injured.
Toy manufacturers struggle to make their products as safe as possible, but if you don’t follow their recommendations, your child may suffer.
On the other hand, if you buy toys made for children with age under that of your child, he will consider them too boring. The best thing is to choose toys designed precisely for your child’s age.
• Gender - This is exactly what I said above that my parents bought me toys that I considered to be girlish. I’m a boy, but the same is with girls too. Any detail that may make the toy look as for the other gender than that of your child will make the toy undesired.
• Toys your child’s friends play with - When your child is playing with his friends, watch to find out if he manifests interest in any of his playmate’s toys. If he does, then it’s very likely that he would like to have a toy similar the one his friend has.
• Sometimes, a child tells his parents what toy he wants, thus saving them from a lot of hard work. But don’t count on this. Some children aren’t very keen to talk with parents unless they really want a certain toy.
• Safety - This is the most important factor you must consider whenever you need to decide what toy you should buy for your child.
Unfortunately, this is also the most overlooked one. Usually, parents forget to check if the toy they choose for their children are safe.
LEGO toys
LEGO toys: Every child can appreciate the quality of LEGO toys. Apart from being fun, these toys help children develop imagination, creativity, and even social skills.
LEGO toys are probably the best sold toys in history. Some recent statistics revealed that the amount of LEGO toy pieces sold since they first appeared is equivalent with more that 30 pieces for every person on Earth.
That is more than 180 billion LEGO pieces!
Nothing to wonder, because LEGO toys are really great. They are both educational and fun. From a few pieces your child can build the most interesting structures or machines your child can imagine.
U.K. toys possibly toxic?
Toys sold in Britain this Christmas may contain potentially dangerous chemicals, a U.K. health expert said Friday.
With a European Parliament vote in less than two weeks that will overhaul the EU chemical safety laws, European Parliament Member Caroline Lucas said that the sweeping change -- part of the EU's REACH initiative -- 'will protect consumers from the most harmful toxic ingredients used in everyday products from computers and cleaning products, to clothes and even baby goods and children's toys.'
Lucas said some of the suspect children's toys include the so-called Bratz doll, baby bottles made by Toys 'R' Us, modeling clay and rubber bath ducks.
'But even if the REACH initiative is adopted next month -- despite the best efforts of the Tories and the chemicals industry to sabotage it -- it will be years before some of the offending products are taken off the shelves,' she predicted."
HorseToys.com Offers Bedtime Toys and Books for Children
HorseToys.com, an online children's book and child toys retailer, presents The "No More Night Mares, a Dream of Freedom" book, a mythical legend about a herd of wild horses that run free from man and escape to freedom in the night sky. The story explains to children why they should not be afraid of the dark while the "Night Mares" are watching over them. Horse lovers of all ages will love this story and enjoy the beautiful artwork done by Kim McElroy, a well known artist in the Horse industry based in Seattle, WA.
The "No More Night Mares" plush toys and book create awareness for the plight of wild horses.
No More Night Mares: Listen to the call of the wild and remember.
Tax officials banned from giving toys to charity
Tax officials banned from giving toys to charity: Inland Revenue staff have been banned from donating child toys to a children's charity because of its Christian links, a leaked memo has revealed.
Employees were told that they must not give any 'shoe box' gifts to Operation Christmas Child because the charity also distributes bible stories.
The ban, imposed by HM Revenue Customs, was said to conflict with the Inland Revenue's diversity policy after objections from trade union officials.
The Revenue's 100,000 employees have supported Operation Christmas Child, in association with Samaritan's Purse, since the late 1990s.
A spokesperson for the Revenue said: 'We have very clear workplace policies regarding the importance of valuing difference. When an organisation demonstrates evidence of being at odds with those core values we cannot make special provision for that organisation to be supported on our premises. To do so would be at odds with our diversity commitments.'
The Church of England has condemned the veto."
Pet toys washed up on coast after storm
Pet toys washed up on coast after storm: "A Shropshire pet business was today counting the cost after hundreds of its animal toys worth $1,000 were found washed up along the Sussex Coast.
Marketing manager Beverley Panter and commercial manager Kate Smart with some of the products that they were expecting but have now been lost
Staff at Rosewood Pet Products, in Broseley, today said the news had come as a bitter blow to the firm.
The pet toys - said to include toy dogs, reindeer, turkeys and pink poodles - were found at Selsey Bay, West Wittering and Climping.
They were part of a cargo of 50,000 toys lost when a ship shed four containers in rough seas on its way to Southampton on Monday. "
