Santa's Elves are Coming (AKA Mattel, Hasbro, Nintendo...well you get the picture).

According to a recent study by the NPD Group, last year 100% of U.S. households that have children under age 6 bought at least one toy and spent $485. This doesn’t get Grandma and Aunt Susan off the hook though -- according to the report, 88% of households with no kids present under the age of 18 still purchased at least one toy last year and spent an average of $113.

I have such great childhood memories of playing with Matchbox cars, Lincoln Logs, puzzles and even Intellivision. All of these toys brought my brother and I great joy and we spent hours playing with them. Today's kids are an entirely different breed. The toys that they play with need to be more complicated and challenging.

I spent a few years working in marketing for Mattel Toys. I had trouble finding most of the toys different from what was already on the market. Many of the toy ideas came straight from a 40 year old designer's minds. This did not help gain the attention of a five year old boy. One of the most stressful factors about working in the toy industry is that an entire new product line had to be developed every six months. Easter and Christmas were the two seasons we had to plan for every year. The product life cycle of a toy was so quick.....and fad based on many occasions.

My frustration with the toy industry continued once I did have children. As a naive parent I would succumb to their requests and buy toys that they had requested based on catalog ads or television commercials. The problem would be that the toy would be played with for about one week and then my kids would quickly lose interest. I found a perfect solution to this dilemma about three years ago.

There is a company called MindWare (brainy toys for kids of all ages). Their website is www.mindware.com. The toys are amazing products that challenge, educate and just are plain fun. Every single toy I have purchased from this company has remained interesting to both of my children. Some of my favorites are: Snap Circuits 300, Science Grade microscopes, Gears, Gears, Gears and the Rush Hour Game. All of these toys have won numerous Awards from Dr. Toy of the Year to Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award.

Now I don't want you to think that I am a scrooge....of course I still buy one or two of the traditional toys such as baby dolls for my daughter or Lego Kits / Wii games for my son.....but the majority of their toys come from catalogs such as Mindware. I do have a special point to make concerning video games. I have no problem with my children playing video games and think there is a lot of great skills and fun that can be had. When my father was operated on for prostate cancer, his surgeon performed the surgery with a DaVinci Robotic Arm. His surgeon ( who by the way looked to be 25 years of age) told me that most of the top surgeons who utilize the last robotic instruments developed their talents and excellent hand -eye coordination by playing video games :)

In the coming weeks, you will be smothered with numerous advertising and promotion toy campaigns. Try and be an educated consumer and not buy a pile of plastic that won't hold your child's interest. Check out Mindware.com instead!