The Best Toys for Kids Ages 8 to 12

Gifts for Boys and Girls

If your LEGO fan is growing up, maybe the new LEGO Lamborghini Gallardo kit would be a fun addition to the collection. The 741-piece kit is extremely detailed and comes with enough bricks to build the coupe or the Spider versions. Plus, the roof retracts and it even has floormats!

Smith and Tinker's Nanovors are monsters that kids collect and trade online. The Nanoscope is a hand-held game that lets kids bring the monsters along and battle their Nanovors head to head. The devices link magnetically and the battle crosses from one screen onto the other until there's a clear victor.

The online component of Nanovors complies with strict standards to protect kids' safety. Parents who want to buy their kids more Nanovors can give them Nanocash, the currency of the Nanovor realm.

Trust me. This is going to be BIG on the playground!

Can you imagine a doll who grows her hair to change her appearance? Well, she exists.

When Mattel announced that they would be releasing a "tween-aged" Dora the Explorer, everyone wondered what she'd look like. Now we know. She's got cute bangs, a little tunic top, leggings and platform shoes.

Dora Links lives in an online world with her friends, the Explorer Girls. Together they explore and solve mysteries. Girls can change her eye color, her jewelry and the length of her hair, among other things, by connecting her to a PC. (While Dora is bilingual, she doesn't speak "Mac".)

Dora Links is a cute extension of the Dora brand that may just bring tween girls back to their old friend, Dora.

The Sweet Spot toys are the result of a partnership between Toy Island and EA Sports. Hockey, football, baseball and basketball toys are all motion activated to make sounds. If you grip the football correctly, the crowd goes wild. Strike the puck with the stick's sweet spot and you'll hear a slap shot sound. They are designed to reinforce proper technique. Each of the toys is under $20.

The Liv dolls are four "BFFs," and each has a special talent. One aspires to be the hairstylist to the stars. Another is an extreme sports chick. There's also a musician and a fashionista.

Each doll comes with a code that unlocks the character's online world. Girls can explore her closet, read her diary and even dress her online.

The girls come with a funky, colorful wig so girls can switch up their hair (or cut it or style it) for any occasion. Although I wish there was a brain-surgeon-in-training in the mix, the online component makes them compelling for me.

Can you beat the clock? Ben 10 Alien Force Alien Creation Challenge is a game that challenges kids to create an alien that matches the card before the time expires. If you're too late, the pieces pop out and fly all over the room. This game calls for attention to detail and great time-management skills!

Fans of Ben 10 on the Cartoon Network are sure to enjoy this cool game.

Shains bracelets are rubbery, colorful bracelets made of recycled and recyclable materials. They come with more than 50 little charms that kids can poke through the holes in the bracelet to make theirs unique. Some come with letters and emoticons. The new Jane Goodall "Save the Animals" kit comes with 50 charms representing animal species brought back from the brink of extinction. A portion of the proceeds goes to Jane Goodall's "Roots and Shoots" organization.

Eco-conscious kids can make a statement every time someone asks them about their Shains. Just be aware that the pieces are really tiny and would pose a choking hazard for little ones.

FashionPlaytes is a toy that starts out online and materializes in the coolest way. Aspiring fashion designers select a garment and apply trims, appliqués, ruffles and rhinestones online, all the while watching the finished product come together on the screen. When she’s happy with the finished product (ready for this?) she can order it in her size!

The simplest shirt, the Jane, starts at $12 and each embellishment is around $3, so it’s possible to design a totally tricked-out top for under $25.

FashionPlaytes gift cards are also available at www.fashionplaytes.com so grandparents and far-away friends can send something she’d love to have, even if they don’t know her size.

Eye Can Art makes really cool art kits that include everything you need to make a cool project -- even scissors and glue! Their brand-new Book-in-a-Box Kit has materials for four unique books. Three of them are box books. The pages unfurl from a box. The fourth is cute house-shaped book.

The kit sells for under $25 and comes in a cute can. They would be a great after-school or snow-day activity for several kids to do together.