Strollerderby : games

Battleship – The Movie? Really?

SunnyChanel — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:30:00 GMT

There was the cinematic ode to Clue, there is currently a Monopoly movie in production (directed by Ridley Scott) and now another film based on a classic board game may be in the works – Battleship: The Movie.

Peter Berg who directed the action film Hancock is in supposedly in negotiations to direct a film version of the fun and excitement that is the game Battleship. Two hours of people saying “B2”, “A8”, “D4”? Yes, the “you sunk my battleship” action will be much more thrilling but how will this film differentiate itself from the regular everyday Naval adventure epic? Will the sea be a grid of squares? Will the protagonists of the film be two elementary-aged school boys hanging out in their basement playroom?

Regardless, I think this is a pretty big stretch of the imagination to actualize the game just to create some name recognition with the Hasbro franchise. I think a film version of Candyland, which is also in the works, will be a much more delicious and watchable endeavor.

Toys R Us Can't Be Serious. But They Are.

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Does your daughter have a burning desire to play Ouija board? But clearly she can’t since the game is totally for boys? Well, for only $19.99, you can make your daughter’s dream come true, because Hasbro just came out with a new “just for girls” Ouija board!

What makes this edition different from the original Ouija board that can be handmade in minutes? I’ll give you one guess. You got it: It’s pink!

Not only that, but this new edition also comes with 72 question cards, since a big problem for young girls is that they always freeze up when it’s their turn to ask a ghost a personal question about their lives.

According to the product description, girls needn’t worry their pretty little heads any longer:

It has always been mysterious. It has always been mystifying. And now the OUIJA Board is just for you, girl. With 72 fun questions included, you'll never run out of things to ask. Who will call/text me next? Will I be a famous actor someday? Who wishes they could trade places with me?

Who would have guessed that a splash of pink is all it takes to get the catty, boy-crazy girl ghosts to spill the beans?

You might be interested to learn that the game is marketed for girls between the ages of eight and twelve. Now third graders don’t have to worry whether that “special someone” will send them a text. They can just ask a dead person! Progress never looked so good.

Image: AV Club

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No Longer Teenaged

JeanneSager — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:21:00 GMT

Dude! Our kids are watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and we were around when they came out. Cowabunga, we're old.

The TMNT were on top of the Empire State Building this past week because apparently that's how turtles celebrate their twenty-fifth birthdays.

Wait, twenty-five? I know! Somehow, this one is really getting to me. It's only a quarter of a century, but I distinctly remember being sucked into my baby brother's TMNT sword fights (I was always April O'Neil, the grown-up, wisecracking reporter . . . go figure, huh?) and trying desperately to return the TV to something more my speed after he'd commandeered the VCR with yet another showing of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with an as yet relatively unknown Sam Rockwell.

A prankster to this day, his first "joke" came when he was three - about a turtle talking on his turtle-com. So unfunny it can ONLY be the stuff of family legend, it was rooted in his love of all things green and half-shelled.

So check out the picture gallery over at the Best Week Ever, and call in your kids. They'll be impressed when you can name all four . . . and their favorite food. Throw in a "cowabunga, dude," and you might even earn some serious street cred.

Image: Best Week Ever

Lego Rock Band Video Game Announced

Brett Singer — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:00:00 GMT

People are excited by the news that a Lego Rock Band video game will hit stores soon.

PC World says that this new version of the popular pretend-to-be-a-rock-star game will likely be more "kid-friendly", which would fit nicely with previous versions of the Lego-whatever franchise.

The thing is, all of the Lego games haven't been hits. Lego Star Wars is a lot of fun and seems to be popular with every kid gamer I know. It's also the only game I know of where kids are likely to have more than one version of the same title, such as Nintendo Wii and also DS. Lego Batman is OK, but as far as I know it wasn't nearly as popular as Lego Star Wars. And Lego Indiana Jones didn't really catch on.

Lego Rock Band has a chance to be fun, but details are currently slim. PC World's Matt Peckham asks some reasonable questions: "How's the DS version going to work? Do you mean DS as in DS-original-only? Or DS-equals-original-DS-plus-new-DSi? How's the LEGO version supposed to be any more family friendly? Isn't the original already?" The latter I don't know if I agree with. Rock Band isn't exactly Halo, but it can be intimidating for a young game player.

Still, if Twitter is actually the bellweather that many technopundits believe it is, lots of folks will be buying the game as soon as it comes out. Lots of tweet-a-rific Lego Rock Band chatter today.

Source: PC World

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Judge Sentences Families to Do Puzzles

JeanneSager — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:25:00 GMT

Riddle me this: how do you make parents and their teens work together to create something meaningful?

If you're Judge John Sholden, you assign them a thousand-piece puzzle to put together . . . or pay a $500 fine.

I'd be picking the puzzle, how about you?

With recent news about judges who require their parents to spank their children and judges who give the go-ahead for desperate mothers to collect their dead sons' sperm, it was nice to hear about a magistrate whose taking out-of-the-box justice seriously.

So what if it's out of the puzzle box? It's still sound reasoning - if parents and their teens are so disconnected that the kids are getting in the type of trouble that lands them in a courtroom, putting them in a room together to work toward a common goal puts them on an even playing field. And doing so with a pile of puzzle pieces instead of requiring the traditional "sit down and talk it out" method allows for an icebreaker, lets two people who might have been doing a lot of fighting instead of talking to focus on something outside themselves.

Sholden has a second motive - getting kids who are skipping school to understand that they can tackle major undertakings and come out on the other side. "When you open a puzzle up, it's a mess. But you get it in your head that you can solve the problem. Once student have a sense of accomplishment, it transfers to accomplishment at school also," the judge told a Dallas newspaper.

Some judges are hanging judges, but I'd take the puzzling judge any time.

Image: TheCincyBlog

Why Do Parents Cheat at the Easter Egg Hunt?

JeanneSager — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:35:00 GMT

They're apparently one of the most foul creatures on earth - the parents who help their kids a little too much at the Easter egg hunt.

Excuse me while I cough this one into my hand - that was me, last weekend. I followed her around, hinting, "Honey, look to your right. No, your other right."

To be fair, it was FREEZING in upstate New York, and my daughter had spilled a bottle of Yoohoo all over my winter coat the day before. So while the other parents stood outside wearing down-filled parkas, I was wrapped in my decidedly spring weight poncho, my fingers jammed in my jeans pockets while I whined like the little kids to the mom who set the whole thing up. My daughter is also only three and a half - of all of the kids present at the birthday party, there were only two younger than her, including the birthday girl's little brother. I didn't pick any of the eggs up off the ground, nor did I drag her around the backyard. But you better believe I stepped in when she had five eggs and six more to go to get to her eleven (the number put out for each kid by the mom organizer) to offer up some big hints.

So I read this story in the Daily Item about overbearing Easter egg hunting parents with a little bit of self-loathing. Just a little - because to be honest, I was much too cold to do any heavy duty helicopter movements. Whirring around would have required removing my hands from my pockets.

But I have met this kind of parent, the one who not only instructs their kids as to where to find the eggs but picks them up FOR them, and will yank an oblong piece of plastic with a bunny tattoo inside out of the hands of a two-year-old. And celebrate their massive victory!

The Easter egg hunt brings out the competitive streak in normally docile parents, the type who instruct their kids on helping old biddies across the street. Suddenly, their kid needs to gather some three thousand eggs, and who cares if little Jimmy from down the street has a single one.

The best part of our weekend hunt at the birthday party was the eleven egg limit per kid. Letting them have a goal of a certain number makes it more challenging, and it ensures no kid is left behind. But I can tell you my kid wasn't going to get to eleven without a little help. So is it wrong that parents step in? Do you help your kids?

Image:SagerScenes

Things You Should Never Say at a Chuck E Cheese Birthday Party

Cole Gamble — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT

“Hey why don’t we skip the pitcher of beer and just set me up with an IV, eh Chuck? Just kidding, but seriously, keep those pitchers coming. Dad’s in some pain and he needs his medicine.”

“Hey kid, go ask that breastfeeding lady if she’s single.”

(Before playing head-to-head pop-a-shot against a seven year old) “I’m gonna take you down to Chinatown!”

(After tying with the seven year old and heading into sudden death tiebreaker mode) “Ooo, this shit just got real.”

(After beating said seven year old in sudden death) “Grow a pair.”

“No sir, I didn’t come here with a child. Is that some kinda rule?”

Also not acceptable, walking around with a string of prize tickets hanging from the zipper of your pants asking, “anybody know where I can cash this in?”

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Do You Let Your Kids Cheat?

JeanneSager — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:55:00 GMT

My in-laws came to town for the requisite weekend of spoiling, and left as always, some new habits with my daughter.

The artificial southern accent will go away soon enough (to my displaced southern husband's chagrin). It's the cheating I'm worried about.

Because, in true grandparenting style, my father-in-law let our daughter win at every game of Go Fish. But he didn't just bumble his play. He let her reach over and pick cards out of his hand. He let her shift through the "fishing" pile. He let her run right over him.

I've been asking around, and most people tell me to just ignore it. She's three; it will go away. It's cute.

Yes, she's three, and I don't expect that one game of cards is going to ruin her for the rest of her life. But shouldn't I be breaking this bad habit now? Maybe I'm reading a little too much into a pile of cards covered in different kinds of fish, but I can already see a life's obsession with having her way and always getting to win. She's already an only child, and we're aware of that slippery "spoiled only child" slope that we have to navigate. Letting her get away with cheating at cards seems like it would put at least one foot on the sandy edge of that slope.

Is it really OK to encourage a three-year-old to cheat because "it's cute?" What happens at five or six, when it stops being cute and starts becoming obnoxious?

Image: Kelly's Kindergarten

Review: Olivia the Pig Comes to Nickelodeon

Desperately Seeking . . . Grandparents

Is It Ever Too Late for the Thank You Note?

Dad Jailed for Threatening Kid's Softball Ump

JeanneSager — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:22:00 GMT

Why do parents think the best thing for their kids' sports futures is to enrage the coaches and umpires their poor kid now has to play in front of for the rest of his or her youth sports career?

A dad from Illinois who threatened the umpire in his daughter's softball game with bodily harm followed up this boorish behavior (in front of the kids, I might add) by spitting saliva and a mouthful of sunflower seeds on a responding cop.

He's been sent to jail for five nights (that's it?), charged $500 and ordered to attend anger management classes.

The sports-rage parents aren't just how cruel they are being to another human being (and needlessly so), but they carry out their rage-fueled over-the-top acts IN FRONT OF their kids. In this particular case, a dad committed felony acts of aggravated battery. He resisted a police officer.

All in the name of what? Making sure his kid got an extra base? It's a prime example of unsportsman-like (not-to-mention illlegal) conduct, and it's a classic way to teach your kid "he who screams loudest, wins." There's no mention of practice, play hard, and you'll score the next run, earn an extra touchdown.

Michael Beck has also been ordered to perform community service. Might I suggest it be in the form of volunteering for the local kids sports non-profit (softball, soccer, football . . . whoever will have him)? He'll be chewing through sunflower seeds by the bag trying to keep up with every movement of every little kid on that field.

Image: Time

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

Mom Shoplifts Parenting Book With Kids in Tow

Pistol Packing Preschooler Shoots Babysitter

Old Bat Who Kept Kid's Football Sues His Family

The Pooping Log - A How-To Guide To a Christmas Tradition

SunnyChanel — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Are you looking for a new family tradition to start this holiday season? Perhaps I can entice you with a popular Spanish Christmas custom. The Catalan magic of the Tió de Nadal, or what it is popularly refered to as the "Caga tió". Translation? The Pooping Log.
Now you’re probably wondering how you, yes you, can participate in such a glorious family event.

• Get your self a hollow log about 30 centimeters in length, stand it up with two or four sticks, paint a smiling face on the end, stick on a three-dimensional nose and then finish him off with a red sock hat (a barretina as it is known in Catalan).

• On December 8th, the beginning of the Feast of Immaculate Conception, start to give your little tió a little something to “eat” each evening.

•    Before you go to sleep cover him with a blankie so he doesn’t get cold at night.

•    On Christmas day (or Christmas eve if that’s when you party it up), put the tió part way into the fire place and order him to “poop!” (you don’t need to use the fireplace if you don’t have one).

•    To make him “poop” “one beats him with sticks, while singing various songs of Tió de Nadel (lyrics below).

•    Tió’s poop is generally small items such as candies, nuts, torrons and the occasional dry fig. And that’s not it, “When nothing is left to "poop", it drops a salt herring, a head of garlic, an onion or ‘urinates’.”

•    Share all the poop and pee with your family and friends, they are “communal” gifts.

Here is a song of the "caga tió":
caga tió,
caga torró,
avellanes i mató,
si no cagues bé
et daré un cop de bastó.
caga tió!"

Translation:

poop log,
poop turrón,
hazelnuts and cottage cheese,
if you don't poop well,
I'll hit you with a stick,
poop log!

Source

Thanks to Jenna for turning us on to this lovely cultural tradition!

Grand Theft Auto player saves family

Brett Singer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT

That whole "video games are bad" thing took a hit last week when an 11 year old girl named Audrey Plique helped her family get out of the family car after it rolled over on the highway. How did she know what to do in a situation like that? From playing "Grand Theft Auto."

Click on "source" below for the full story, but here are the basics: the driver, Audrey's dad, felt lightheaded and their Jeep went off the road. The vehicle, "struck a guardrail and flipped four times before coming to rest on its side in the ditch. The roof of the vehicle caved in and the back window broke out." Audrey got the family out in time: "She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up," her mother said.

Everybody survived; only the father had serious injuries, but he is expected to recover.

Now, since I'm not insane, I don't actually think that "Grand Theft Auto" saved this family's life. That said, playing GTA also doesn't make you a killer. Good for Audrey. She should fight crime when she grows up.

Source/image: mywebtimes

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Step on a Crack, Updated

Miriam Axel-Lute — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:24:00 GMT

If "step on a crack, break your mother's back" was feeling a little too simple for you, a little too black and white in a world of bureaucratic grays, or just not quite challenging enough as a pasttime for your super-intelligent kid, five-year-old Ada Norton has a new, expanded version for you, in 14 steps. (It's even translated into Spanish.)

Number 8 is "If you step on the lines 71 times, then you can't step on squares anymore, and you have to step on the lines." and number 9 is "If you go to sleep when you have 6 lines, you will have 0 when you wake up." But it's the whole package in all its randomness that really shines.

I love five year olds.

Photo by Nate KS.

5 reasons it's a good thing I had boys

Brett Singer — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:05:00 GMT

I was going to say, "I'm glad I have boys" but that didn't sound quite right. That is, I would love girl-children just as much as I love my guys. But there are a few ways that having boys has made my life – mine, specifically – a little bit easier.

1. No pink ponies: It doesn't seem like having a Y chromosome should automatically mean that one is interested in superheroes, videogames, and action figures inspired by superheroes and videogames. But experience says otherwise. While there are definitely girls who love trucks and boys who follow the Frasier and Niles Crane path – a love of opera, Broadway and snappy clothing – my guys are way into Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Pokémon, Wii, Playstation 2, and so on. If I had to learn whatever there is to know about My Little Pony, I think my brain would crawl out of my ear.

2. Miley-free zone: Thus far Things 1 and 2 have shown zero interest in Billy Ray Cyrus' little ~~meal ticket~~ girl, which means I can continue to go through life knowing almost nothing about her. Maybe this will change when they get older, but hopefully by then Miley Ray Hannah Montana Stewart Cyrus will have either pulled a Britney Spears and had a meltdown, grown up and started singing jazz standards, or retired to spend her days sitting on a giant pile of cash gazing longingly at Nick Jonas. OK, I guess I sort of know something about her, but that's just from trying to keep up with pop culture. I have nothing against Miley or the Jonases, but not having to listen to their music or attend their concerts is something I will never, ever complain about.

3. No batting of eyelashes: My wife has pointed out many times that if we had had girls, odds are I would be putty in their hands. I wish I could say I disagree but I think she's probably right. Little girls are so cute, and seeing them cry is much more painful than seeing boys cry. I know that's stupid, sexist, and stupid (did I say that one already?). But I've seen, more than once, little girls who lead their dads around by the nose. It's probably best if we never find out whether or not I would join their ranks.

4. Less irrational over-protectiveness: Again, I am fully aware that this is unfair, stupid and sexist. But if I had girl-children, I would be very tempted not to let them leave the house until they were 30. I guess going to school would be OK, as long as they dressed like those Mormon sect people.

5. No High School Musical: When this monstrosity first started airing on the Disney Channel and the CD went to number one, I tried to watch it out of curiosity. I made it through about 15 minutes before I realized that it would probably be more fun to chew glass. The songs are lame, the characters are dull, the story is… Feh. Anyway, the boys seem immune to whatever charms that thing has, and for that, I am grateful.

image: Amazon.com

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Bored games

Brett Singer — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:30:00 GMT

They're meant for kids, but sometimes I wonder if even they enjoy these dull gaming concoctions.

	Clue Jr.: When I was young, I played regular Clue. (My mother used to torture me with the cards in a way that has scarred me for life, but that's another story.) Clue Jr. is actually more complicated, and also less satisfying.
	The Game of Life: If actual life were as dull as the Game of Life, our nation's suicide rate would quadruple. You spin. You move. You do what the space says. You spin. You move. You do what the space says…Hm. Maybe it is like real life. Only much more boring.
	Candy Land: With little children, this is fine. But once they can string a sentence together – "Candy Land sucks, can we play something else?" for example – it should be time to move on.
	Monopoly Jr.: What, pray tell, is wrong with regular Monopoly? They even make different versions now in order to satisfy even the most media-addled brain: Star Wars Monopoly, Your-Favorite-Sports-Team Monopoly, Marvel Super Heroes Monopoly. In Monopoly Jr., you build lemonade stands, presumably because hotels are too complex a concept for young minds. In our house, my youngest seems to have lost the game board for this one, so he and his older brother were "making rain" with the lemonade stand pieces. That seems like a better use of them. (I skipped an explanation that in the rap world, "making it rain" has a slightly different meaning.)

There are probably more, but I have to get back to a marathon 'Clue Jr.' session. Isn't it time for school to start?

images: theair1morningshow, Amazon.com

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Update: School Reinstates Tag After "Reorientation"

Kelly Mills — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:32:00 GMT

The Virginia elementary school that banned tag may again allow kids to be "it". A few weeks ago, principal Robyn Hooker outlawed the game, saying it had gotten out of hand, with students being tackled and piled on and dragged into games unwillingly. Some outcry among parents ensued, and so school administrators instituted a week of "reorientation lessons on playground safety" (sounds so ominous, like "reprogramming") in P.E. classes, and should be allowing the game to begin again today.

Now clearly we are a blog divided on this issue, and I have the feeling Jen will not condone my practice of tackling each Strollerderby writer at the annual holiday party and administering either a noogie or a wet willy. But I am the crotchety libertarian again, it seems, and I couldn't get behind the ban. I mean, it doesn't seem like tag is an inherently violent game, and I imagine you could outlaw tackling and dogpiles instead. But I think the real problems rest in our understaffed schools, with minimal supervision at recess, and in our inability to work on constructive solutions with kids that don't involve making big, sweeping rules. And this is coming from someone who, as a kid, would so have been at the bottom of that dogpile.

Tag: No Longer 'It'

Jen Chaney — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:02:00 GMT

When I first saw this story about a McLean, Va. elementary school that has banned tag at recess, I thought it was absurd. First schools started outlawing dodgeball. Now we're putting a stop to tag. What's next, a moratorium on four-square? A cease-and-desist order for hopscotch?

But then I read farther into the article, and I realized I was wrong. It turns out the principal at Kent Gardens Elementary School was right to halt, at least temporarily, the playing of tag. And here's why.

The kids at this school are not simply tapping their opponents to make them "it." They are knocking down kids who aren't even playing and often piling on top of each other, an approach to the game the principal characterizes as "the nouveau tag." In other words, students are getting hurt. And the bottom line is that if kids are getting injured on a regular basis, whether it's physically or emotionally, it's the principal's responsibility to take control of the situation. We should not, as one of the parents quoted in the article does, spend our time asking why "we are regulating the fun out of normal childhood activity," although I understand why someone would have that reaction. If indeed these children can't play nicely, we should be asking why they insist on behaving so aggressively, then correct the behavior so that a normal childhood activity like tag can be a normal, no-big-deal activity again.

Every time a violent act is perpetrated on America's young people by another young person -- whether it's a Columbine or a mass shooting like the one that took place a year ago today at Virginia Tech -- the shooter is almost invariably characterized as someone who felt bullied or harassed by his or her peers and built up more rage than he or she knew how to handle. Now, I am not saying that anyone who gets knocked down during a game of tag is going to grow up to become a murderer. But before we all find ourselves scratching our heads over yet another national tragedy, I think we need to look at the seemingly small things -- the kids being knocked down over and over again at recess, or the cheerleader getting beaten up on YouTube -- and do what we can to prevent those incidents from piling up and leading to something bigger.

All that said, I must object to something else noted in the article: The office of risk management in Fairfax County, where Kent Gardens Elementary is located, keeps a list of activities prohibited at school. In addition to dodge ball and tug-of-war, another no-no: Break dancing. Now that's just not right. If China winds up raising a generation of kids who can do the worm better than American young'uns, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Photo: Myspacehun.com

Yu-Gi-Oh No, Please, Stop Talking

Brett Singer — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:00:00 GMT

ParentsConnect has an essay called "I Hate Yu-Gi-Oh!" which, if you have a kid who is into a similarly bizarre pastime, should remind miserable you that you have company. We've established here that some kids' games are cult-like in their strangeness. As for the writer asking, "To be a good mom, do I need to learn to duel?" I'm going to say no. Smiling and nodding works pretty well, and eventually the kid will either find people his own age to battle with, and/or get into something else. Like, you know, beer and girls, at which point you will probably be wishing that he would pull out his old trading cards and return to more innocent times.

image: 4KidsTV

Kids Games Revived For Adults: Cardboard Tube Smackdown

Kelly Mills — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:01:00 GMT

I don't know what they do in your neck of the woods, but here in the glorious SF Bay Area, there's been a serious resurgence of kid games for grown-ups. And kids, but we definitely get the adults involved. There's been large-scale pillow fights and kickball leagues and organized tag and so on. I think many of the trends start in far-off places like Oregon and New York, but here we have the right combination of mild weather year-round and earnestness and web-savvy people and geeks (hi!) to take these competitions to the next level.

This weekend was my favorite so far: the Cardboard Tube Fighting Championship. Little did I know that my and my sister's epic battles with those empty wrapping paper tubes would prove to be excellent training for an actual tournament, though we never thought to make cardboard armor. The rules included no stabbing or goring, no defending with anything other than cardboard, and no face blows. As far as I know, no one was beheaded or hospitalized, but there's always next time. And if you can't get behind cardboard tube battles, you are dead inside.

I'm thinking of starting a hopscotch league, if anyone is interested.

Go Fish Solves Crime, Could Help Parents

Kelly Mills — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:09:00 GMT

This idea is so smart and easy, I think a parent must have come up with it. Florida gives inmates playing cards. (Are they part of a kit that includes a harmonica and a picture of woman to cry over? Gawd, I've been watching too many old movies.) Anyhow, the decks aren't just everyday playing cards--they highlight 104 unsolved cases, with details about crimes and so on. Okay, so last week some of the inmates were playing Go Fish (Really? "Do you have any stabbing victims?" "Go fish.") and one of the guys paid attention to the card that had info about the 2004 murder of James Foote. He gave authorities a tip that resulted in the arrest of Derrick L. Hamilton for the crime. See how teaching your kids to play simple card games now could someday help them win earlier parole.

I think this idea could be applicable for parents. Make up a deck with some key unsolved mysteries of the house, like who left the refrigerator door open all day, and which sibling beheaded Elmo, and who ate the entire box of Newman-O chocolate cookies in one sitting? Let the kids play Texas Hold 'Em or Go Fish and wait for the tips to come pouring in. Now that's crime fighting.

Delicious Droolicious: Zimbbos Game from Blue Orange is Fantastic Fun!

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:43:00 GMT

Posted by Mir

A Dr. Toy Product of Excellence, this Zimbbos game from Blue Orange is sure to please kids of all ages. Roll the dice, stack your elephants. Learn strategy, balancing, and that a bunch of elephants in a pyramid are pretty giggle-worthy. For ages 3+, and one to four players; $17.48 at Amazon.

Also today at Droolicious:

Gorgeous shoes from Pablosky
Green and pretty dress from Bamboo Baby

Don't Fight Over Who Has to Change the Diapers - Try Playing Spin the Baby!

Alisyn — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:10:00 GMT

"I did the last one!"

"It's your turn!"

"One, two three... NOT IT!"

These are just some of the things my husband and I say to get out of changing poopy diapers. C'mon... you do it too. So why not turn the diaper changing drudgery into an exciting - if not slightly dangerous - game of chance, like these folks did?

To be fair, not all kids would take to this "game" the way young Gabe seems to have done. That little guy was spinning around so fast, I'm amazed that he was able to up at all, much less get up without blowing chunks everywhere. But hey, it's worth a shot - you have a 50% chance of getting out of diaper duty! I call those some pretty sweet odds. It's the parent's version of Spin the Bottle... except no one gets drunk, and instead of making out with your best friend's boyfriend, you get poop on your hands.

Aaaaaaand that pretty much sums up parenting in general, I think.

Weekly Check Up: Good Workout Toy

Kelly Mills — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:24:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of the "old-fashioned" kid workout: you know, tag, hopscotch, kickball, stuff we used to think of as fun rather than childhood-obesity reducing exercise. But I also embrace the new, and that's why my family is currently all over this Hyper Dash toy. It is, as my child says, "hecka fun." You get this tagger thing, and you have to tag these targets in the order the tagger calls out while it times you. There's something a little "Simon" (remember that game?) about the whole thing, and lemme tell you, set those targets far enough apart and you end up doing some serious running. Um, I mean, your kid does.

Anyhow, I like the athletic nature of it, and there's even a level that requires some basic math computation as part of the course that might be helpful for kinetic kids who have trouble with numbers. We haven't tried the hide-and-seek setting yet, but I'm sure we'll get around to it, as soon as I whup Hyper Dash ass just one more time... And my kid is now getting the additional workout of wrestling the tagger out of my hands.

Adults Like to Play With Each Other, and Not THAT Way So Get Your Mind Out of that Gutter!

Karen Murphy — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:36:00 GMT

Where I live, the only people playing on sports fields are usually under 5 feet tall. Their parents sit on bleachers or mill around at the edge of the field, talking to one another and sporadically yelling things at their kids. Wow. What a great time (yawn). Which is why I was so amazed in my recent vacation in Vancouver to see adults actually playing at a city neighborhood park. With one another! There was a large soccer game going on, mainly 20- and 30-somethings, but also some amazingly buff-looking 50- and 60-somethings, all playing together and seemingly having a wonderful time. There was also quite a lively game of cricket going on just down the field, and the whole park would resound with a roar whenever some apparently good play was made (the whole thing was a bit mystifying to me).

But still...adults, playing. Together. And looking like they did it regularly, not just on annual beer-soaked occasions.

Is it a city thing? A pacific northwest thing? Well, no, because I sorta know a guy who plays with a frisbee, having renamed it a disk and calling the game "Ultimate", and he takes it quite seriously. Apparently. As well he should!

As do these people and their playing. Scavenger hunt? Bring it! Dodge ball? Four square? Kick ball? But of course, and why not? I've said before that parents need to play, and I think this is ideal. I am taking my kid's scooter and making my escape to the park right now. Who wants to join me for a game of four square?

Cardio For Your Kids

Kelly Mills — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:03:00 GMT

Something about this makes me a little sad: here's an article on how your kids can get cardio exercise. I just hate that we think of it as "cardio" now, it sounds so freaky fitness. Of course the suggestions are real simple: soccer, dance, swimming, physical video games (don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em,) jump rope, tennis, hacky sack...

Wait a minute--hacky sack? Do you really want your kid to grow up to be one of those people in the park who whacks around a teeny rasta-colored bean bag all damn day, recycling old expressions like, "far out" and unable to find gainful employment because they are too busy groovin' on Phish?

Yes, I'm kidding, so back off all you rabid hacky sackers. No need to hate in comments over a little joke. Dude, I went to UC Santa Cruz for a whole year.

Anyhow, I'll add a few more "cardio" tips to the mix. Tag, kickball, hopscotch, martial arts, walking a big, eager dog, and frisbee with bad aim. Or you can try two of my favorites for younger kids. One, say, "Can you walk like a bear? Can you move like a monkey? Can you jump like a frog?" and so on. Two, "Okay, sweetie, how fast can you run to that pole over there?...Whoa, are you back already? Okay, how about the one just past that?" Though we never considered it cardio, we thought of it as, "please dear god, let her get tired enough that she actually falls asleep before ten tonight."

Board Games That Might Not Bore You. I Mean, Are Great for the Whole Fam!

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:03:00 GMT

If I have to play a game of golf with my kid, the one where I inevitably get the broken foamy club, or a round of Simon Says where every single command begins "Simon says," for the rest of my God-given parental life, then please kill me now.

It's not that I'm a stickler for the rules or a game hater. It's just that as much as some of us want to let our inner children soar during Red Light, Green Light and Candyland, quality family times can sometimes be mind-numbingly dull. Give me a board game that doesn't have 8,000 pieces that are sure to end up in someone's esophagus or buried in the carpeting, has a theme that doesn't feature licensed characters and something to do that will be fun for longer than 30 seconds. After all, we're TRYING TO BOND as a family here, people!

Maybe staying relatively alert and engaged will be a bit easier with this list of new family-friendly games where the fun and challenge might actually include you. Cranium Zooreka looks to be a classic board game with funny twists and an eco-theme that even includes gorilla babies. Who can resist gorilla babies? I Spy With My Eagle Eye is one I think my toddler would love and seems like a great game to throw in the carry-on for trips. Nerdy Wordy would be fun for kids beginning to grasp spelling and reading and older and is sure to bring out the crazy logophile in every geeky parent.