The classic Ker Plunk game updated to include those unabashedly adorable aliens from Toy Story. The strategy is simple; the game, addictive: Players take turns removing sticks from the “rocket ship” and try to avoid the kerplunkety action of the little plastic aliens tumbling to the floor. Whomever is responsible for the fewest fallen little green men is the winner.

Toy Story Ker Plunk Game, $18.19 at Amazon.com.

Imagine it’s Christmas Eve, and you’re on your way to a big family dinner, but you’ve been too busy to buy presents because you’re a neurobiologist at Columbia and you’ve been studying proton transfers in the frontal lobe all week. (OK, so maybe there was a little too much back story.) You have an hour to shop. Go. (To kill two birds with one stone, I’ve selected items that are also available on Amazon.com, where you can order through today and still use free super-saver shipping to get your items by December 24.)

1. For Mom, Sis, Cousin Barbara, Unnamed woman with parched hands. . . pamper ‘em all with items from Burt’s Bees — this particular hand care set includes lemon-butter cuticle cream, almond-milk beeswax hand cream, a pair of restorative treatment gloves and a mini-book about hand care. Bees not included, which is good, ’cause, you know, they sting, and honey is sticky, and live bees just don’t make good gifts. ($8.95)

2. For Dad, Aunt Carol, that dude who always has corn in his teeth. . . the Oral B Triumph 9900 Toothbrush with Smart Guide (SRP: $149.99 Amazon:$104.99). This toothbrush eats other toothbrushes for dinner–then brushes its teeth with itself. If Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a toothbrush instead of a race car, he’d be driving this toothbrush. We’re talking 40,000 in-and-out pulsations a minute. A remote display that shows you how long to brush in each quadrant of your mouth. A sensor to tell you when you’re brushing too hard. And you thought it couldn’t get any better than mint-flavored floss.

3. For anyone who ever gets cold: college students, parents, siblings, grand uncles, misplaced warm-weather penguins. . . Meet the plush throw blanket, my friends. As ubiquitous as it is useful–who doesn’t want an extra blankie to cuddle up with on the couch? Target has them. So does KMart, Kohl’s, Walmart, Macy’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, and just about every other store. In fact, if Gimbel’s hadn’t gone out of business in 1987, they’d be world renowned for their plush throw blankets. I love my Pinzon Microtec Throw from Amazon ($9.99). But you can’t have it. Buy your own!

4. For the young ones, consider some board games. Now, at first they’ll be confused and try to stuff those little Monopoly houses into their Wii consoles. And don’t be surprised if a 3-year-old loses at Chutes and Ladders and calls it an “epic fail.” But nonetheless, this is a great time to introduce your kids (or someone else’s) to games that require no batteries, chargers, or fake guitars, and that can be played over and over again. Games like Cranium Cadoo ($9.99) encourage friendly competition and creative play.

So I’m finally at the register, ready to buy my generic cough medicine and what is now $4,000 worth of gifts for my imaginary neurobiologist to give her imaginary family. One thing that’s not imaginary: The clock. It’s ticking–one week of shopping left!

Disney Sing It lets your little (or not so little. . . I have to admit I love the Disney pop music) Disney Channel fan rock out with the likes of Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, the High School Musical cast, Jesse McCartney, the Cheetah Girls and even a Billy Ray Cyrus song. And no, it’s not Achey Breaky Heart.

You’ll hear the actual artists singing their tunes (unlike many karaoke games) along with movie and concert clips. You sing along while the lyrics play at the bottom of the screen, along with a scale of bars and an indicator to let you know if you’re hitting the right pitch.

Available for the Wii, Playstation, or Xbox ($59.99 bundled with microphone) at Amazon.com and most gaming and retail stores.

Want it? You can enter to win it (for Playstation 3). Right here. Because The Present Professor rules. Embrace it. And then leave a comment below telling us who your child’s (or your) favorite Disney pop star is. We’ll choose a winner at random on Saturday 12/20 at 11:59 pm ET.

Contest is now ended.

We don’t have “family game night” in our house, but we do have a regularly-scheduled “let’s fight about what game to play because our kids are 6 years apart and never want to play the same thing” night.

Here’s where the Green Eggs and Ham Speedy Diner game comes in. One person is the “chef,” calling out the orders of each dinner guest (the fox, the goat, and the mouse). The object of the game is to keep the fox from eating the goat and the goat from eating the mouse at any cost. Hey, it’s a fox eat goat eat mouse world out there, and kids need to learn early.

Wait, stop. That’s not this game at all. In the real game, players (”waiters”) have to choose the proper items based on food, color and shape, and deliver them to the guests. The web site describes it as “fast-paced, frenetically fun” and, um, yes, frenetic is the right word.

At first play, my 4-year-old dissolved into tears because her 10 year old brother got all the food items faster than her and she didn’t get a chance to deliver anything. But being the (cough, cough) master of conflict resolution that I am, we worked it out by letting my daughter be the chef. Even if your child can’t read, she can easily call out the guests and food items. The rest of us had a blast rushing around as the waiters.

One note: There is no specific “winner” in this game. It’s a team effort and the goal is to be as fast as possible. My 10-year-old was initially annoyed by that, but soon got over it because the game is just pretty dang fun.

The other “I Can Do That” Games look just as fun. Buy a game and add the corresponding Dr. Suess book and you’ve got a great gift. And to get you started, we’re giving away the Horton Hears a Who – You to the Rescue! game. Just leave a comment below to be entered to win.

And wait, wait! Want to earn 2 extra chances to win this game? Just “Ask the Present Professor” about your gift-giving challenge! That’s right–here’s your chance to test out the Professor’s skills in finding you the perfect gift for your child, parent, piano teacher, piano tuner, little man who lives inside your piano, etc. If you email the professor with a gift-giving question, then leave a comment here, we’ll give you two more chances to win this game! It’s a win/win situation. . . which totally makes up for the whole “no winning” in the Green Eggs and Ham game.

This contest is now ended.

1. Air Hogs Zero Gravity remote control car, $24.95

2. Nerf Dart Tag Strikefire 2-Pack, $26.99

3. Wild Planet Spy Wire Game, $14.98

4. Star Wars Transformers Crossovers Republic Gunship/Clone Pilot, $14.95

5. Tabletop Foosball Table, $59 + free shipping

A spare wheel is a great gift for someone who’s already got the game–and I love this soft wheel by Nerf. Not only is it easy on the hands, it doubles as a stress reliever–perfect for giving a squeeze should you find yourself in last place behind Yoshi the dinosaur-lizardy thing.

$14.99 at Toys R Us. Also available with the game for $64.98.

As in, the game comes with 133 of them. Take that, Pop-O-Matic Trouble!

The object of the game is to advance on the game board by performing different tasks with the variety of dice. . . For example, you may be asked to name as many state capitals as the number you’ve rolled. Or you may be asked to make a stack of 6 dice in 30 seconds. Or you might be asked to leave game night, if you eat all the dip and spill creme soda on the game board.

There is also a kid’s version of the game that comes with 13 dice. . . because with kids, anything more would be dicey.

Regular version (ages 12+): $24.95; Kid’s version (6+): $14.95. Available at BarnesandNoble.com and at select Barnes and Noble stores.

Like its predecessors Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! (both still going strong), Bakugan is a Japanese import popularized by an animé-style cartoon show. A quick primer: Each player attempts to roll their marble-esque Bakugan onto one of the face-down magnetic cards. If they are successful, the Bakugan springs open to reveal the monster inside. The idea is for each player to land on the same card, after which the card is flipped over to reveal its points value. Each player is awarded or stripped of points based on the type of Bakugan they’ve rolled. The game involves calculation and strategy, with the main objective being to win these “battles” and with them the battle card and the opponent’s Bakugan-both worth points that are added up at the end of the game to determine the winner. For more information, visit the Bakugan “How to Play” site, hire a 10-year-old boy to explain it to you, or get an advanced degree in biophysics and hope it’s enough to understand the complexities of a child’s game not intended for adults to comprehend.

Finding Bakugan may prove more difficult than understanding the game. While there are plush toys, stand-alone action figures, and more, what the kids really want are the Bakugan starter kit and booster packs. The starter kit includes three cards and three Bakugan–the minimum to play the game–and goes for about $12.99. The booster packs cost about $5 each and add another Bakugan and card. (They now also include an “ability card,” which adds another element to play.) Like Pokémon before them, kids want to “catch them all.” And with a dizzying array of choices, that’s a daunting task.

So how to get your hands on a Bakugan? First, if you can’t find a starter pack, know that 3 booster packs are pretty much the same thing, if a few dollars more expensive. (This week, Toys R Us is offering a buy 3, get 1 free deal on booster packs.) Check online at Walmart.com and Toysrus.com on a regular basis–they are usually sold out, but I managed to snag a few starter packs from each site last week. Look for sales in Sunday circulars–then get to the stores early. For now, I’d avoid Amazon, where most products are sold at inflated prices through opportunistic third-party sellers.

And whatever you do, don’t wait till the last minute, when all the little marble monsters will most definitely be (and yes, this is my new favorite pun) Baku-gone.

Thankfully, we no longer have to choose, because each one of these Human Skeleton Playing Cards by Synheme features the name and picture of a different bone. And in the international spirit, each bone is labeled in English, Spanish, and French. Now the only question on everyone’s mind is, “Do you have the cervical vertabra?” The answer: Go Fish.

It only makes sense that these cards were made in Canada, where Old Maid is a national obsession and there are more osteopaths per capita than anywhere outside of the European Union. . . except that this sentence makes very little sense at all, and is mostly false. But they really are made in Canada. For reals.

By Synheme. $5.98 + shipping (free shipping eligible) from Amazon.com. Perfect for science enthusiasts, card players, and magicians. And skeletons. No, really, could you imagine a group of skeletons playing Texas Hold ‘Em with this deck, and one of them shouts out, “I know that scapula! That’s Marty!”