Need a Grandchild Gift? Choose a Great Preschool Toy

Did you ever know a little boy who wasn't fascinated by garbage trucks? Now there's Stinky the Garbage Truck. More than just a truck to push, Stinky is a little boy's buddy. He's part transformer, part robot and part big rig. He reacts to light, sound and touch. He sings and talks, as well as gobbling garbage.

Sing-a-ma-jigs, one of the hit toys of 2010, has been updated for 2011 with the introduction of Duets. Mattel started with the same singing stuffed toy and added a mini model, so that you don't have to have two toys to hear them harmonize. Press their tummies and they open their comical round mouths and sing, showing their teeth and tongues. Even adults are intrigued by these cute and colorful toys.

Wouldn't it be fun to give your grandkids an updated version of a toy their parents once enjoyed? If you had young kids in the 1980s, they might have once owned an Alphie Robot. Today's version is a bit more sophisticated, with a irresistible face and an engaging computer-generated voice. But its mission is still to help youngsters with skills like letter and number recognition. Alphie comes with 30 double-sided cards, and additional card packs are available.

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This well-crafted set by Haba is a wonderful initiation into game-playing. Set up the board with four fruit trees and roll the die to see if you get to pick fruit or if you have to add a piece to the raven puzzle. If the fruit is picked before the raven is complete, all the players win. It's a cooperative game rather than a competitive one, so it's perfect for kids to play with parents or grandparents. Kids will love defeating that rascally raven!

There are lots of kids' tables on the market, but most are too small to accommodate budding artists. I know that two grandkids can easily fill my whole kitchen table with their papers, and supplies, so what good is a table that is only two feet square? This one is a generous 36-inches across. The colorful table comes with two matching bench seats and a caddy for art supplies.

If you'd like to encourage a grandchild's interest in music, invest in this adorable table-top piano. It has 25 keys that are standard piano width, so that a child can easily make the switch to a full-sized piano later on. The sound is produced by hammers striking rods rather than wires, so the sound is different but still melodic. It comes with a color-coded strip to place above the keys to guide young learners. The same manufacturer makes tiny baby grands if you have a few extra bucks and a little extra room.

Plain wooden blocks were once my favorite gift for grandkids, but that was before I saw these Shimmering Rainbow Water Blocks. They are fascinating to handle, and preschoolers will like looking at the world through the different colors. You'll still need regular wooden blocks, because the set of water blocks is small, only eight blocks. Still, combined with regular wooden blocks, they will add jewel-tone features to any imaginative structure.

Grandparents will remember the old Magic Slate toys, where you drew on a sheet of cellophane and erased your picture by lifting it up. The Doodle Pro is a much more satisfactory version of the classic toy. Grandchildren can draw and erase over and over without making a mess. This version comes with stamping tools as well. It's really good for playing with in the car because it is an all-in-one drawing toy.

This brightly attractive board is a slightly different version of the classic Melissa and Doug puzzles. It features six doors that close with different types of brass hardware. A toddler will have fun learning to open each latch, but there's much more to do. The doors are different colors and are numbered, with appropriate pictures under each door, making the puzzle a marvelous vehicle for learning colors and numbers as well.

When my kids were small, we always kept magnetic letters on the fridge. This set by Leap Frog takes that idea a step further with a reading device. When a letter is placed in the device, your grandchild will hear the name and sound of the letter and a catchy tune about phonics. It's a great toy for a grandparent's house or for the child to take home. One more feature makes this toy a real winner: there's a volume control.

When my children were young, we bought them electric trains and race cars, but those toys spent far more time off the tracks than on. Fast forward a few years, and Fisher Price has finally gotten it right with the GeoTrax toys. The sturdy snap-together tracks pair with push vehicles or vehicles with easy remote controls. The Timbertown set includes the classic steam engine with two other cars and a track that includes a mountain and a tunnel.

This small, soft ball and bat from Franklin Sports will provide a perfect introduction to the pastime of playing ball. Available in different cartoon motifs, the bat is made of soft foam and is a kid-sized 13 inches long. Pair it with a matching Air Tech Glove, and you'll have a gift that will get the grandkids moving and ensure your future calling as a genuine grandparent sports fan.