Crunch time is upon area parents looking for last minute gifts, which are shipping through the Baraboo Post Office in the year's busiest shipping week.

On Wednesday, post office employees trudging through the snow likely hauled the most packages they have had all year - close to 1,000, according to Debbie McNicol, Baraboo postmaster.

For consumers still looking to buy online and ship for free, the last day for guaranteed free shipping by Christmas from many major stores is Thursday according to freeshipping.org.

And while of those packages may have come from local stores which are selling out of some products, they say there is still plenty of popular toys and gift ideas to go around.

The average person has completed 47.1 percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December -- or about ten percent less than this time last year, according to BIGresearch, a firm hired by the National Retail Federation. The survey also found that over 41 million people have not started holiday shopping, with the biggest procrastinators being men and 35 to 44-year-olds.

For those hitting the stores still, the manager of the Baraboo Wal-Mart, Don Padley, suggested the Nintendo Wii, and various other electronics devices are hot gifts this season. Even though the Wii was released two-years ago, in November over two million units were sold nationally according to research group NPD.

Padley thought some of the sales could be attributed to lower electronics prices.

Market analysts at DisplaySearch reported consumers bought about 147,000 Blu-ray players - or high-definition video players — in the week leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. The average price of the Blu-ray players sold was a bit over $200, almost exactly half of the average price of the players from a year ago.

"As tech advances," Padley said, "I think the stuff gets cheaper. When you think about the flat screen TVs now, and the digital cameras, they're all getting cheaper than when they first came out — even the Blu-ray is lower now."

Even electronic dolls are popular, Padley said, and the newest Elmo doll is back this year with new features that kids want.

Jack Adams, Blain's Farm and Fleet manager, said their holiday Toyland is all out of the hot-selling Fisher Price "Loving Family Doll House," and VTech educational electronics toys that were promoted in their catalogue.

"The biggest pattern I've seen here, would just be the demand for educational toys. It has been a trend I noticed for the last few years," Adams said.

He said there were still a number of educational toys, boys trucks, girls dolls and pre-school toys available. He said Batman-related products have been selling well, and some are still available.

Todd Wickus, the owner of Just Imagine Toys in downtown Baraboo also agreed parents are looking for educational toys.

"A number of parents want things that add to their value. If you're spending money on a toy or a gift, you want it to be both fun and educational," Wickus said.

Wickus promoted the value of board games as an opportunity for a family to come together. He said families come into his store every year looking for a new unique board game each year.

Among the hot sellers this year was Banannagrams - a form of Scrabble in bannanna form. A board game called Camp is also selling fast. He said the game asks nature-based questions, and allows kids between the ages of four and 10 to come together and play the same game on different levels. Another hot seller was Quelf, an unpredictable party game.

A local principal, James Ruder, agreed with Wickus that board games were a good gift.

"I am sure there are plenty of new toys options that are tempting for parents and children, but I am still a big fan of some of the traditional toys our four sons enjoyed year in, year out," Ruder said.

This included games like Monopoly, Sorry, puzzles, LEGOs, and books. Though his children are grown now, he said a new board game called Settlers of Catan, brings the family around the table still.

Despite all the talk about toys, a manger at the local Sears, Brian Hawkings, warned toys are not the only thing on people's minds this year. He said just about everything in his store with practical use has been popular. Practical shopping mirrors national trend this year, possibly spurred on by the economy.

The same survey showing some shoppers are slow to hit the stores, is showing clothing is the most popular gift purchased this year.

Though despite the economy Wal-Mart, Sears, Farm and Fleet and Just Imagine Toys representatives all said business is good. All said there are still popular toys and other goods availible.

Hawkings, at Sears noted it will still be possible through this weekend to order from any Sears store and have the item delivered for free to Baraboo by Christmas.

A Shop.org and Shopzilla eHoliday Study study reports 61.9 percent of online retailers' express two-day shipping offers will end on Dec. 21, while another 31 percent of offers will expire on Dec. 22.

For those sending gifts to other places this week, McNicol of the post office encouraged using Priority Mail because it was unknown at this point if the gifts sent through standard ground mail would arrive on time for Christmas.

On the Web:

View some of the most popular toys for kids, as tested by kids and approved by parents at www.parents.com

View the latest toy recalls: www.cpsc.gov/index

More information about online shopping: www.CyberMonday.com

More information about shipping through the United States Postal Service: www.usps.com