Children often have many toys today. Toys are even available as part of a special children's meal at the local fast food restaurants. Many toys are made of plastic and are not designed to last for generations. Plastic has become a very popular toy material because it is usually easy to clean. Other materials such as wood and metal are still used for some toys.

Some toys have become collectibles. In particular cute toys or stuffed animals are popular to collect by young people. In 2000, Beanie Babies, Barbie Dolls (at left), special edition dolls, plush animals or puppets, and action figures (boys dolls) are popular items collected by both kids and adults today. Motion picture and cartoon characters have related promotional products that are also popular for collecting and have become big business for the firm holding the production rights for the products. Board games are also popular with children today, though not as popular as in the past.

HOT ITEMS IN 2000

• A hot selling toy that kids are just crazy about today is Pokemon. Characters fight each other in battles and originated in Japan. There are Pokemon trading cards, movies, stuffed animals, and a television show ( with very simple animation).
• Other very popular toys today are K'nex (produced in Hatfield, PA) and Legos brand plastic building blocks. Plans are available to build cars, planes, boats, and other structures or the child can create their own three-dimensional forms.
• Beanie Babies are produced by the Ty company. These small stuffed figures became popular in the late 1990's. They have been a hot selling item and some particular figures are very hard to find. Similar stuffed figures lines to Beanie Babies are Beanie Buddies, Beanie Kids, and Attic Treasures. Though somewhat declining in popularity Beanie Babies are still a hot item for all ages, young or old.

DIGITAL GAMES

Personal computers have become not only business and education tools, but home entertainment centers. Hundreds of computer games are published each year using sophisticated computer graphics. These games create virtual worlds in which individuals or groups interact. On any given day you can test your skills in a flight simulator and in seconds snowboard down a slalom course on a mountain. Arcades feature virtual reality machines that have devices (such as a skateboard or steering wheel) integrated into a game; virtual reality goggles are also becoming more commonly used in such games. Many handheld games are designed to be used in a portable manner; some games and CD players with special adaptors plug into the car for use.

Kids today play with electronic games such as Nintendo 64, Play Station, and Game Boy. They don't play with board games as much as they used to. The examples of today's games mentioned above are virtual games; they are the games of the present and the future. These games are available for purchase or to rent at the local video store. These games tend to be rather expensive. As technology improves, so do the quality of graphics and sound features in these games.

Nintendo 64 is a virtual game that can be hooked up to your television set. The picture shown here is an original black color system. Systems now are available in a variety of colors (black, blue, purple, green, orange, and red), but the system still works the same.	Play Station is another type of virtual game. Both Play Station and Nintendo 64 are hooked up to a monitor such as a TV to play them. Both game systems use changeable game cartridges.	Game Boy is a small virtual game. Game Boy's screen was originally black and white and was also a little bigger than your pocket. Game Boy's screen is now in color and can fit your pocket. The advantage of this type of game is its portability.