Skeleflex Dino Powerflex Lab — $37.08

Embracing kids' fascination with dinosaurs, robots and construction sets, Wild Planet's new creature-creation system hits all the right buttons at once. Snap together the included bones and joints, mount your finished creature on the base, and use the joystick to move it. This core set comes with more than thirty plastic bones and flexible joints for building a T. Rex, but you can interchange those pieces with bones from a dozen other Skeleflex sets to create your own mixed-up monstrosities.

Ages 6 and up.

Get it at Amazon.

Craft Kits — $12-$30

Older kids love to do everything themselves, so why not get them a gift in that same DIY spirit? Crafters of all ages and abilities can make their own skull & crossbones artwork with a latch hook kit from Caron (or create a custom latch hook project from any photo or piece of art at LeftSource). For those with sewing skills, Sublime Stitching offers an all-inclusive embroidery kit with simple instructions and your choice of their decidedly un-mom-like patterns. If your kid is a sucker for all things cute and fuzzy, encourage her to make her own plush toys with a kit from Sewing Stars.

Get it at Caron, LeftSource, Sublime Stitching or Sewing Stars.

Discovery Power Welder — $20.97

Assuming your child is nothing like Sid from Toy Story, the three projects included with the Discovery Power Welder — a car, a plane and a dinosaur — should keep him or her busy. On the other hand, isn't there a little Sid in all of us? Gifting your child with this new take on the classic plastic friction welder (which bonds plastic to plastic without heat or flame) may result in a few bonded LEGOs or an action-figure head transplant. Consider either a lesson learned in the name of science.

Ages 8 and up.

Get it at Amazon.

Madame Alexander Cissette Christmas Trunk Set — $212.96

The Limited Edition Cissette Christmas Trunk Set takes the classic Madame Alexander 10" Cissette doll and packages her with a whole bunch of winter-tinged magic. The doll, housed in its own sturdy carrying case with drawers, comes with three holiday outfits, heels, white boots, ice skates, and a couple of festive hats. Yes, it may be pricey, but so are American Girls dolls, and this is way snazzier.

Ages 4 and up.

Get it at The Matilda Company.

Spy Gear Spy Video ATV-360 — $89.99

The flagship toy in Spy Gear's newest line, the ATV-360 lets your junior 007 spy on anyone within frequency of the vehicle's radio controller. Sure, it's not exactly covert — could you miss that thing rolling into a room? — but this is playtime we're talking about, not CIA training. The R/C tank scoots up to its target and wirelessly transmits video and audio to a headset. If you want to go all out, your kids will love using the ATV in conjunction with the new Vision Scope X-2 binoculars/periscope and blue-LED Night Goggles to ensure that nothing escapes their field of vision again.

Ages 8 and up.

Get it at Amazon.

Discovery Box — $99

Nurture your child's talent for discovering treasures everywhere she goes. The Discovery Box is a child-sized chest of drawers filled with rocks, fossils, shells and insects. We imagine the collection will double in no time.

Get it at World Discovery.