
With its 2-mile range, voice scrambling, silent paging and built-in NOAA Weather Service tuner, the MicroTalk is the cream of the Family Radio Service crop. Whether you're camping, traveling in a car caravan, or trying to keep track of the kids in a mall or amusement park, Cobra's MicroTalk FRS 310WX two-way radios keep you in touch. Best of all, unlike this kit's big brother, the Robotics Invention System, it doesn't require a computer. This year's new construction set allows kids 9 and older to build programmable robots that respond to light, touch or programmed commands.

The plastic blocks that have entertained kids for ages have gone digital. By piping the image to the PC, young Einsteins can then digitally paint a magnified image, e-mail it to Grandma, or even whip up time-lapse movies.

This microscope can magnify objects as much as 200 times - perfect for crusty scabs, beetles and everything else kids get their hands on.

Finally, a computer peripheral for the whiz kid in us all.
