Statistics show that the sales of toys and games have declined over the years. However, educational toys have been on the rise, as more parents opt to purchase products that would give them the most value for their money, as compared to, say, buying Bratz dolls and Hot Wheels. The record for educational toys was broken in the Holiday season of the year 2000, when toy maker LeapFrog's LeapPad Learning System electronic reading toy became the bestselling children's game of the time, helping the company boost its sales by a whopping 120 per cent! Children that hope to become chemists, geologists and doctors someday can now get themselves toy kits that simulate the experience. Future astronomers can get to practice their "profession" with telescope kits. Future vets are able to learn more about animals and how to care for them with animal kits. You can make the lava of your artificial volcano thicker or foamier, and also change the level of eruption from a puny trickle down the sides to a whopping six-foot roaring fountain. You can also explore the science and art of building bridges with Our Amazing Bridges Science Fair Project. You can create different sorts of bridges from ones that just cross narrow ravines and rivers using logs or just rocks, to the extremely huge mile-long suspension bridges of today's time. The LeapPad Learning System is a set of books that seem to come to life with music, silly sounds, various games and voices, while your child is reading. This way, your child gets to catch up with the intonations of specific words and the way they are pronounced. You can also avail for your child the Imagination Desk Library, which prepares your kid for kindergarten. A new educational toy is the Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, from Leapfrog. One unique feature is that it is fit for preschoolers as well as elementary school kids. Another is that its preprogrammed educational games wont only be played by your kids in the toy's small screen, it can also be enjoyed in the big screened television just by plugging it to the t. All educational toy boxes carry this information outside, to guide you in your purchase. For instance, while a Vtech Laptop is a really swanky gift, it won't do any good for a two year old. Get something that they can appreciate here and now so you won't be wasting any money. Second, when in doubt, ask.