It’s time to pick toys for Christmas. Undoubtedly you are wondering two things: What are the hot new toys? Which ones can I afford?
Here’s some help:

Ages: 0-2 Years
1. Elmo Tickle Hands
Fisher-Price, $29.99
The Elmo phenomenon continues. Kids put on these Elmo-like fuzzy red gloves. When they touch something, the gloves make sounds and talk.

2. MEGA Bloks Build ‘N Go Table
MEGA Brands, $39.99
An all-in-one blocks kit: Unfold the portable table and it becomes a base for creating a mini-world with blocks, stickers, a little person and even a car.

3. My Pal Scout & My Pal Violet
LeapFrog, $19.99
These little plush doggies sing, talk and interact with your preschooler.

4. Tonka Chuck My Talking Truck
Tonka, $29.99
If your kid calls to him, this little interactive truck rolls toward your child, ready to play. Touch his bumper or lift the bed, and he’ll talk and make fun noises.

Ages: 3-5 years
5. 1-2-3 Stomp!
Wild Planet, $19.99
Stomp on the center of this toy, and the numbers attached to it go flying. The toy then asks your child to do activities.

6. Liv Dolls
Spin Master, $17.99
A bit like Webkinz, these dolls have online lives in which you can buy them clothes, play games and watch webisodes.

7. Rocky the Robot Truck
Matchbox, $59.99
This truck seems a lot like Tonka’s Chuck My Talking Truck, only geared to a slightly older set. Rocky tells jokes, dances, shakes and uses more than 100 phrases.

8. Tightrope Terror
JAKKS Pacific, $19.99
These fast mini-cars race over a threadlike 10-foot tightrope.

9. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Optimus Prime
Hasbro, $44.99
Look, it’s a talking robot! Wait, now it’s a revving truck!

Ages: 6-8 years
10. Zippity Learning System
LeapFrog, $79.99
With a waist-high joystick and a foldable mat that looks a little like a Dance, Dance Revolution pad, this one will get your child up and off the couch.

11. Air Hogs Zero Gravity Laser
Spin Master, $39.99
An indoor remote-control car that goes up walls, past the confused cat or wherever you point the laser.

12. Bakugan 7 in 1 Maxus Dragonoid
Spin Master, $39.99
Bakugan is a Japanese anime cartoon, a card game and a toy enterprise — Pokemon for the next generation. This toy combines “six Bakugan Trap and one Dragonoid Bakugan,” whatever those may be.

13. Battle Strikers Turbo Tops Tournament Set
MEGA Brands, $14.99 starter; $34.99 deluxe
Kids move these battling tops by using magnetic finger controllers.

14. Girl Gourmet Sweets Candy Jewel Factory
JAKKS Pacific, $29.99
This idea is sort of like Easy-Bake Oven for the budding fashionista. Press candy components into molds, then bake them into jewelry pieces. Wear them and eat them!

15. Moxie Girlz
MGA Entertainment, $19.99
By the folks who brought us Bratz, a new fashion doll to take on Mattel’s Barbie empire.

16. PRINTIES Design Studio Kit
Techno Source, $19.99
You can create your own plush animals and characters with a special material that fits in your printer.

Ages: 9 and up
17. Power Miners Titanium Command Rig
LEGO, $99.99
This massive LEGO set is a vertical drilling platform and also a getaway truck.

18. Star Wars The Force Trainer
Uncle Milton, $84.99
This high-tech toy reportedly uses a wireless headset and sensor technology to see what kind of brain waves — alpha, beta, gamma or delta — you’re using.

19. Style Six Silk Screener
JAKKS Pacific, $39.99
Everything you need to make silk-screened T’s.

20. Twilight Scene It? The DVD Game: Deluxe Edition
Screenlife, $39.99
The newest version of Scene It relies on clips and trivia from the only movie that teenage girls cared about last year, Twilight, and the only one they’ll care about this fall, The Twilight Saga: New Moon.