Let the Games Begin!

If you can't get to the Summer Olympics in Beijing, create your own Backyard Olympics. These Parents' Choice Award winners will deliver a stadium full of family fun from August 8 - 24, 2008. Let the Games Begin!

KikaFlik

With this innovative piece of equipment, a child can practice catching and batting a ball without need of a teammate. A 39-inch length of brightly-painted wood has a small fulcrum near one end. As a ball rolls down the incline, it becomes airborne when the child steps on the other end of the board. The child can either catch the ball as it drops, or use a racket or bat to practice tennis or baseball. Three soft, foam balls in different sizes and colors are included.

Sack Racing

On your mark, get set, go! Children had tons of fun racing to the finish in these colorful nylon sacks. Sturdy enough to hold the weight of a ten-year old, the woven handles provide support younger children might need. Each sack set comes with two different animals: frog and monkey or rabbit and kangaroo. When the games are over, these sacks can be used to carry toys, beach towels, or a worn out racer to the car.

OgoSport Super Sport Disk Set

The Super Sports Disk set is comprised of two foam filled rings each with a high strength elastic membrane center. Testers were intrigued to discover that not all balls react in the same manner, and dreaming up rules for an Ogo contest with water balloons.

Speed Stacks Glow in the Dark Stack Pack

Stacking and unstacking 12 plastic cups in predetermined sequence may not sound like the work of Nobel scientists, but it does take more than meets the eye. Hand-eye coordination, focus and ambidexterity are required. Practice counts, big time. Play alone to improve your personal best, or play against others.

Toucanz Trail Obstacle Adventure

Designed to let kids know exercises help prepare them for sports or outdoor activities, this DVD features two distint sections. The first is a complete workout, from warm up to cool down, leading a group of elementary school kids through a variety of moves from sit-ups to push-ups and more. But the second part of the video offers suggestions for creating your own obstacle course, perfect for a backyard olympic event.

Hyper Dash

Known as Hyper Dash, this electronic action game for kids aged six and up comes with a "tagger" as well as five "targets". Targets can be arranged in any space (as long as it is not too big), and the hand-held unit calls out a target that the kids have to run to and "tag." Four different levels of play keep the kids running for hours: level one calls out the colors they need to tag, level two throws numbers into the mix, level three adds special commands such as Double Strike, Triple Strike, Reverse, Double Reverse, and the final level features Compu-Strike (math problems that involve addition and subtraction). No two games are ever the same.

BucketBlast

Buckets and bean bags come together as kids and adults toss, run, balance, chase, strategize, and team up for points and laughs. The kit comes with 15 different games -- 5 indoor, 5 outdoor, and 5 water games. Indoor games include beanbag concentration and a blindfolded bean bag toss. Great for parties.

Boochie

Boochie is a fun new ball game that can be easily played by both parents and kids, indoors and out. In the game, players throw the 12-sided boochie ball, then take turns throwing their smaller bean ball and rings, trying to get as close as possible to the boochie ball. The game comes with a wrist-worn scoring disc complete with iconic Gamewright instructions about how (over your head, between your legs, eyes wide shut) to throw next.

Zoingo Boingo™

When first unpacked, there were more than a few head scratchers in the groups of testers. Cool. Awesome. How does it work? Determination and perseverance (two of our favorite attributes) were put to the test as kids worked to master the balance and the bounce. After about twenty minutes, our testers weren't bouncing off the walls, they were bouncing down the driveway, across the lawn and around the playroom. Brain and brawn combine to make this toy a hit. Safety helmets required.