When purchasing gifts for your small friends this year remember that the best toys are usually the simplest.Toy and electronics companies have been producing a huge amount of flashy toys that seem exciting in the store – dinosaur robots, singing chairs, a $70 luxury car for toddlers. Toys are supposed to be interactive, but with technology like this kids are limited in what they can do.

“A child’s imagination is unlimited, and the toy [Robosapien] just can’t keep up with that. Heaven knows, grown-ups can barely keep up with it,” said Dr. Jillian Trezise to the Sydney Morning Herald. Trezise is the director of Wollongong University’s Early Childhood Program. “They are nice on Christmas Day, but their staying power with children is very limited.”

Basic toys like blocks, stuffed animals, and Play-Doh are cheap and last a long time. Toy manufactures don’t make much money on basic things like this, however.

The methods of selling toys for the past 20 years have revolved around hyping up an expensive toy and then tricking parents into thinking that their child will be emotionally disturbed for years if they are the only one at school that didn’t get an Xbox360 or a Furby.

“For the Xbox, it would have been terrible to have that thing in stock. It would have been a marketing disaster,” said Peter Sealy, professor and former Coca-cola marketing executive, to The Washington Post. “Shortages create a whole mystique of desirability.”

This sort of hype makes normally pleasant children scream at their well-meaning parents until said item is bought. Many of these toys don’t carry lasting interest beyond the first few weeks of their arrival.

This year’s prospects look pretty grim with the National Retail Association listing iPods, video games, Xbox, and PlayStation as their suspected top sellers.

One has to wonder if all that money is worth it. The robot toys on the market right now are extremely limited and boring. A $40 toy that wiggles and blinks at you while you play music for it is not my idea of fun. How is a kid ever going to dance if he spends his time listening to music and watching a little robot?

A toy that “does everything” doesn’t really let a child imagine much. If you want to get them something they’ll appreciate and enjoy a lot longer go, with something simpler like plastic animals, paint, or plain old wooden blocks. You might even be able to con them into learning something.