Start with a cardboard box . . . then add some imagination and a few toys that might last longer than a fortnight. For Eimear McKeiththe classics are this year's bestsellers.
With 23 days to go to Christmas, it might be worth remembering the "box phenomenon", a common Christmas morning occurrence. Patrick O'Regan, a father of two, explains: "My little fellow is a box person - you give him a present, he unwraps it, climbs into the box and plays with that for the day, and the present is just left to the side. A little trike that we bought - we were very excited about it. We thought, he's gonna love this. And he pulled it out of the box, sat on it, and then promptly climbed into the box."
Sound familiar? Kids, as the box phenomenon demonstrates, are often easily pleased, and they have wonderful imaginations. Even so, it's unlikely that children would be impressed if all they got for Christmas was a cardboard box. According to a source in Santa's workshop, the most popular boys' toys this Christmas involve anything to do with the hit Disney-Pixar film Cars. There are radio-controlled cars, a race track and even a ride-on Lightning McQueen car. There is also the Air Hogs Zero Gravity Hummer. Also in demand are the World Wrestling Federation arena and the scarily-named WWF Ruthless Aggression figures, as well as the ever-popular Roboreptile and Power Rangers.
For girls, dolls are topping the list. The must-have items are the Bratz Forever Diamondz and Barbie Princess Genevieve, as well as Baby Born Magic Eyes (she really cries), the cyborg-like Amazing Alison, and absolutely anything to do with the Nickelodeon cartoon Dora the Explorer. This year you can forget about My Little Pony, the new craze is for the Fur-Real Butterscotch pony: a child-sized interactive pony that moves its head, breathes, neighs, swishes its tail and even "eats" carrots. 'Digi Makeovers', a computer programme which allows children to manipulate their own photograph on a TV screen is another favourite. We suggest you point them to the nearest mirror.
Elmo Tickle Me Extreme (or TMX) is, alas, already sold out.
Computer consoles are as popular as ever, too. The Xbox 360 and the new Nintendo Wii are selling fast, while Sony seems to be hoping to entice girls with pink versions of its PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2. It's probably just as well that the European launch of the PlayStation 3 has been delayed until March: in the US, people queued for days for the coveted console, and the frenzy reached such a height that there were stampedes and a shooting. Indeed, the consoles are so much in demand that they're currently selling on eBay for thousands of dollars.
But there's more to toys than computers, fast cars, wrestling and dolls. Sometimes it's the simplest things that a child appreciates most. Alison Wrighty, owner of The Toy Store on Dawson Street in Dublin 2, recalls one four-year-old's request last year. "There was this lady who came in and she was only looking for a little Papo soldier figurine that cost €3.50. That's all her son asked for, but we couldn't get it anywhere and we ended up going down to Kerry to get it," she says. "The lists of presents come in and they're so long and expensive, but this little boy . . . all he wanted was a little soldier. Just an old-fashioned toy."
Not all toys are mass-produced, battery-powered or gimmicky. A number of small, independent toy shops such as The Toy Store, Nimble Fingers, Pinocchio's and Wooden Heart stock a wealth of enduring, handmade and educational toys. Not only are they novelties for kids more used to computer games and plastic toys, but they're also great for nostalgic parents. These are toys that are made to last - the kinds of things your kids could hand down to their own children when they grow up. And the focus is on toys that stimulate the senses and encourage interaction and learning.
"We try not to have plastic, not to have batteries. We do toys that children have to use their imagination with," says Christal Stansfeld of Pinocchio's.
These shops are a joy to visit, compared to the more impersonal,stack 'em high retailers. "We have people coming in just because they like the atmosphere and are reminded of their own childhood," says Barbara Ulrichs, who has been running Wooden Heart in Galway for the past 22 years. "We now have adults coming in to buy presents for their own children, saying they used to get toys from here and now it's their children's turn."
Wooden Heart, Nimble Fingers and Pinocchio's stock a wide range of traditional wooden toys. In Pinocchio's, for example, there are trains, diggers and trucks, as well as fire stations, farm sets, castles and dolls houses. Habitat has also got in on the act, with a big wooden abacus, skittles, trucks, stacking towers, wooden bikes and, my personal favourite, Oscar the (black) rocking sheep.
Handmade eco-friendly toys can be found in Oxfam's Fairtrade shops, which sell colourful animal-shaped wooden puzzles, pull toys and an overpopulated Noah's Ark. These are made by a small company called Lanka Kade, which supports craftspeople in Sri Lanka, many of whom are just getting back on their feet after the tsunami. Muji also stocks old-fashioned stocking fillers, from wooden games, yo-yos and spinning tops to soft toys made out of reused yarn.
Encouraging arts and crafts not only fuels creativity but can encourage recycling, toohelp the environment, too. The Paper FX Dreamweaver, available at Nimble Fingers, is a brilliant idea developed by an Irish couple. With it, kids can transform old magazines and newspapers into bags, wallets, mats, coasters and boxes.
Lego and Playmobil are also great for exercising the imagination, while helping kids to develop co-ordination, design and spatial skills. My brother was obsessed with Lego as a child; now he's an architect. This year the top toys are a Playmobil pirate ship and treasure set - for all those Pirates of the Caribbean fans - and Lego's fantastic Mindstorms NXT series, which are interactive robots you can build and programme to react to light, sound and touch. It's a good idea to use superglue as you construct the pirate ship, by the way - that way it can set sail in the bath for many years.
Kids love dinosaurs. But instead of simply buying them a Roboraptor, you could check out the shop in the Natural History Museum, where there is a selection of activity-based scientific toys. The Dig-a-Dino set includes a rock that you excavate to find dinosaur bones hidden inside, while Skull Skill shows you how to sculpt an impressively life-like skull of a sabre-toothed tiger. National Geographic, meanwhile, has branched out into experimental toys, with a crystal growing set, explorer kit and telescope available from The Toy Store, among other stockists.
It might seem cruel of a Christmas morning, but the gift of a musical instrument is something that could last a lifetime. Habitat has a sturdy range of xylophones, maracas, drums and tambourines, while Avoca has cute ukeleles. The Ecoshop stocks unusual musical instruments and bird callers. If you want to get your kids on the road to rock-'n'-roll stardom, then the child-sized drum kit and electric guitar available from Imaginarium might be the perfect start.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the traditional family row over Monopoly or Scrabble. But boardgames do at least bring the family together. Nothing beats the tried and tested favourites such as draughts, chess, Scrabble and Pictionary. There is a new Irish version of Trivial Pursuits, out this year.
"Christmas is a very nice time," says Pat Staunton of Nimble Fingers. "People who come in to a toy shop are always in good form. The parents are probably buying toys they would love to have had years ago and didn't have - a lot are buying dreams. Toy shops are very happy places."
Still, the magic can't be bought. Margaret Moore, a mother of four from Kilcock, Co Kildare knows this only too well - what her daughter Emma requested last year was priceless. "Top of her Santa list was snow for Christmas day," she says. "And she woke up in the morning and the place was covered. She reckoned that was the best thing Santa ever brought her."