Toys That Twist and Shout

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n I was a little kid, I took cello lessons. The cello, I quickly learned, is not a toy. It breaks when you drop it, it's a bully magnet, and it takes five years of agonizing practice before you stop sounding like a baby pterodactyl. Only much later did I discover that music can actually be fun. That's probably why musical toys are the biggest thing at this year's Toy Fair, the major annual trade show in New York City all about the business of fun.

Kids like toys based on music, the theory goes, because they allow for open-ended play that's different enough every time that the kids don't get bored before the toy is out of the wrapping paper. Retailers like them too, because these days most people older than six months are the willing slaves of Britney Spears, and she moves units like nobody else. The show- stopping number in Britney's new movie is a singing contest in a karaoke bar, in fact, which may be why karaoke machines are a hot ticket at this year's Toy Fair.

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The coolest one I saw was the VJ Starz Karaoke Music Studio from Toymax ($99, due out this fall). It's a tiny, stylish unit with a built-in video camera that hooks up to your TV so you can watch yourself singing closed-captioned lyrics as they scroll by. If you think The West Wing is compelling viewing, you've never seen me cover Abba's Dancing Queen at fjord-rattling volume. Younger children might do better with Vtech's DJ Karaoke Studio ($39.99, ages 3 and older, available this fall), a surprisingly comprehensive little music machine with a working microphone, a one-octave keyboard and 24 preset tunes. There's even a baby scratch pad for extra flava.

The most innovative musical toy at the Toy Fair this year is Neurosmith's Musini ($69.99, ages 3 and older, due out in September). Musini is built around a motion sensor that picks up vibrations from the surrounding room. Put it on the floor, and when a toddler stamps a foot or knocks on a wall, Musini composes music on the fly in time with the kid's movements. The room itself becomes a musical instrument, one that never plays the same song twice. Note: Musini is not compatible with Hummel figurine collections.

More sedate infants may prefer Barney's Move 'n Groove Dance Mat from Fisher-Price ($30, 1 1/2 years and older, available in July). It's a big pressure-sensitive pad with an animatronic Barney at one end. The mat plays Barney standards, and when a kid stands on the mat and dances, Barney senses the movements and dances along. There's also a keyboard at one end so kids can jam with the tune by stepping on the keys (think of the Chopsticks scene in Big). While Barney's musical oeuvre isn't exactly inspiring, as musical dinosaurs go he sounds a lot better than a baby pterodactyl.