The holiday season is upon us -- and so is a pretty painful economy. What can parents do when their kids ask for costly video games, DVDs, and other electronics? Check out these ideas:

Get Great Movies. Subscribe to a rental service: Netflix and Blockbuster both offer DVD rentals by mail, with no late fees. There are a range of choices and subscriptions for all income levels. Parents can have kids go online and select their favorite movies to add to their queue. And best of all -- shipping feeds are included in the subscription cost. ($4.99 to $19.99)

Go to the Library. Libraries aren't just for books! Most public libraries have tons of DVDs, audio books, music CDs, and even video games to borrow -- all free!

Create Your Own Gifts. Great Web sites afford kids the chance to be creative without breaking the bank. For instance, they can create music or videos for free at MyPopStudio.com and send links to relatives for the holidays. Or they can use pictures they've taken to create low-price gifts like calendars or cool photo books at sites like Snapfish, MyPublisher, or Shutterfly ($5.99 and up).

Reuse! Buy used games. Stores like GameStop are in most major shopping malls and allow gamers to purchase and sell used titles for all of the major systems, from Nintendo Wii to Xbox 360. New gamers aren't always looking for the hottest, newest games -- what's old to one gamer is new to the kid who just got a gaming console for the first time. ($2.99 to $19.99)

Go Old School. Wii recently released Hasbro Family Game Night, which lets players try digital versions of their favorite board games. But the original "old school" versions are lots of fun, too. Connect 4, Boggle, and Yahtzee can still be entertaining, and board game prices (assuming you don't already have them stored in a closet somewhere) are about as reasonable as family entertainment gets. ($15-$25)