The holiday season is here again and it’s time to start looking for the perfect toy for the little ones, or even the not do little ones.

The top toys for Christmastime this year are not high tech gadgets and robotic dolls, but long-familiar toys like Barbie and Power Rangers. Plastic crafts by Shrinky Dink are back, as well as the Uncle Milton ant farms, with a few new touches.

Moviegoers this year are looking forward to the long awaited Harry Potter movie, which has spawned a large array of popular toys this season. Mattel is coming out with “Roarin’ Snorin’ Norbert,” an interactive dragon straight from the Harry Potter universe.

“Harry Potter is everywhere you go, in every store, and I think it’s going to be a sell-out,” senior Monica Duncan said.

The release of “The Lord of the Rings,” based on the J.R.R. Tolkien classic novels, and “Monsters Inc.” in theaters this fall have created a new toy craze that has pushed Pokémon nearly off of the map.

E.T. is making a come back as well. Toys-R-Us is going to introduce a new line of “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” merchandise to celebrate the expected re-release of the movie.

“E.T. is from a different era,” Duncan said. “It’s a part of who we are now, but I think that they are trying to introduce it to a new generation.”

In the wake of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, toy companies expect a rise in the demand for rescue toys like firefighter and police figures and toy medical kits.

Educational toys are expected to do well this year. K-B Toys is going to sell a line of electronic educational games, and Leap Frog is releasing a series of instructive toys that have lessons that can be downloaded off of the internet.

For the older children in the house, many video game companies are developing new innovative game consoles. Among these are the GameCube from Nintendo and Microsoft’s Xbox.

“The graphics and controls are amazing on the new GameCube…considering my first video gaming system was the original Nintendo with Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt,” junior Brian Volpicelli said.