THE DEBATE is the same every year. So is the result usually: compromise. Compromise between the toys the children desperately want because they've seen them on TV and the toys you want them to want. You may hunger to buy them the doll's house or train set you never had, but they want Baby Born, the doll that does everything (£32.95, eats, excretes) and is by now completely sold out, or Action Man Crimebuster & Raid (£24.75, Action Man and his barking dog), heading in the same direction.
There you find yourself battling crowds in a wild hunt for the last Talking Barney (£31.25) or Toy Story Talking Buzz Lightyear (£22.45) or Power Rangers Ninja Megazord (£31.50), furiously resenting the commercialism that creates pester power, as well as the fact that you left it so damn late.
And TV ensures that Barbie, Action Man and Barney dominate the market, there is a huge variety of interesting toys in good toyshops. So how to choose. There are some general principles, apart from the obvious one of roughly observing a child's tastes - not all little girls play with Barbies, not all boys are Action lads.
Barbies, not all boys are Action lads.
A toy should be suitable for the child's age: manufacturers' guides on toy boxes are mostly useful, says Angela Canavan of Barnardo's National Children's Resource Centre. Toys beyond a child's capability will frustrate them, while good toys will often provide years of fun as a child creates new uses for them.
Safety! Look for the CE symbol which means they comply with EU safety standards. Test soft toys by checking eyes and other moveable parts vigorously. Be extra careful in assessing big toys such as slides and garden swings.
Don't be a toy snob. Just because it's heavily advertised or offends your taste doesn't mean it's no use. Barbies are fantastic play value, whatever you think about their lifestyle.
Think about gender stereotyping, but don't push your ideas on children, many of whom are rigidly conservative about `girl's toys' and `boy's toys'. Remember that `art toys' - paints, crayons, colouring pens, stencils, paper, gummed stickers, playdough, clay and so on - are among the most widely acceptable of all toys to children of all ages. That's why the Crayola range of toys - especially the Deluxe Art Case at £14.85 - is very popular.
For really excellent value, find your way to K&M Evans, the shop where teachers and playschools go for supplies. Here you can get washing up liquid size bottles of bright, washable, non toxic paints for £1 a bottle; a fat box of 40 colored chalks for £2.10, and white for £1.40; 50 sheets of large (A3) paper for £1.95, 150 sheets of assorted coloured paper for £1.99. It has four four piece beginner woodenjigsaws in a box for £2.99 going up to a large wooden floor puzzle for 4 to 5 year olds for £9.99.
Best of all are the blackboards, made locally to order at £4 a square foot, complete with frame, ledge for a duster and clips for attaching to a wall: £24 will buy you a 6ft square blackboard, but you decide the size.
You might still get one in time for Christmas if you order this week. Evans is down a lane off Mary's Abbey, just beyond the junction of Capel Street and Abbey Street in Dublin, tel 01 8726855.)
Our suggestions about gifts are a random, personal selection from the thousands of toys available. Some are toys children want, some are toys they don't yet know they want.
