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2. The Vapo-Blaster
Calling all alien wannabes: The ray-gun of choice this year is the Vapo-Blaster. This $20 gizmo fires smoky bubbles that look more toxic than the atmosphere of Saturn.

The good news is, you're arming your tyke with a toy gun that shoots soap bubbles filled with harmless water vapor. Pop them and — poof — a dark and creepy cloud of smoke fills the air. The more your little gun-toting spaceling fires his weapon, the more the little darling may realize that soap is not the enemy.

3. The Kaleidabug
The simple joy of capturing a bug and putting it under a glass just got a whole lot better. With Kaleidabug, your pint-sized sportsman just slips a captured insect into the viewing chamber and looks through the lens, where even a simple housefly will create a rainbow of art.

The $15 Kaleidabug works just like a kaleidoscope. However, the colors and shapes change not only when you twist the lens but when the bug moves. One second you're looking at a cockroach in orange and green. Twist the lens again, and you see a whole army of tutti-frutti roaches.

4. The Jumping Skateboard
Do you feel a heart attack coming on each time Junior attempts to take an entire flight of stairs on a skateboard? If that daredevil can't be stopped, at least with the Jumping Skateboard he's got a fighting chance to survive with minor injuries.

How many other skateboards can go off road, even through grass? The wheels on this $99 sidewalk surfer look like they belong on a mini-SUV, and the suspension is so springy, you can stand on the board and jump several inches off the ground, as if you're on a Pogo Stick.

5. Tek Tag
Perhaps it's a bit distressing for adults to see the simple games of their youth reinvented — and, perhaps, needlessly complicated — with computerized gizmos. Still, you have to admit, old-fashioned tag had a major flaw. Kids cheat. They never admit when they're tagged. And the game would almost always end in an argument.

Now the honor system that served this schoolyard game so poorly has been removed. With Tek Tag, each player wears a sensor on his or her shoulder that registers when a player is touched, despite the protestation of a sore loser.