George is the only boy out of four kids and third in birth order, so you’d think at the age of 3 and with no former instruction whatsoever, he wouldn’t know what to do with a Yo Baby Kick Flipper if one landed in his lap. One did, so to speak, and somehow that boy knew exactly what to do with it. He hopped right on his new Yo Baby Kick Flipper (Yo Baby for short) and started scooting his way around the carpet, and though he had a long way to go before becoming the next X Games champ, I could see how the Yo Baby was going to help him learn a little bit about skateboarding—without the risk of stitches or broken bones.

Designed by Bob Ellis, father of four and extreme sportsman, the Yo Baby from GarageCo Toys is a lightweight, wheel-free board that simulates skateboarding, surfing and even snowboarding. You can use it indoors or outdoors on surfaces like carpet, sand and grass (trust me when I say avoid newly mopped tile…). To see the Yo Baby in action you have to watch the video on GarageCo Toys’ site. (Click on Watch Video on the left-hand side of the homepage.)

Though it’s safe for pre-boarders age 1 1/2 on up, my almost 18-month-old thought the Yo Baby simply a cool place to sit and my three-year-old didn’t do much than step on one end and spin while holding on to the counter. Of course he did this over and over and over again and probably would have tried a few more tricks if someone had shown him how. Unfortunately he was born into a non-extreme-sport family unless you consider returning Blu-Ray DVDs to Netflix in record time an extreme sport! Luck for us GarageCo Toys now has a Trick Tips manual we can download. Now that he has the 180 spin down we’re going for the peanut flip.

At 21 inches long and only 5 1/4” inches wide, the Yo Baby from GarageCo Toys shows that really cool things—and really great exercise—comes in small packages. The Yo Baby is made in the USA with material that is 80% post consumer and cost around $12. Yes, I said $12. (If you’re not thinking perfect Christmas gift then you’re not thinking.) That’s a heck of a lot more affordable than the latest sports video game. Sure, you can snowboard with the Wii, but how long do you think that Wii board would last if ridden down a sandy hill? That’s what I thought.—Emily

** Giveaway! GarageCo Toys is giving away 10 Yo Baby Kick Flippers! Please leave a comment with a valid email address for our drawing. We’ll draw the winners from the comments and contact them via email. Deadline: December 22, 2008 (midnight). The winners will have 24 hours to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen.

tags free board, fun, GarageCoToys, Giveaway, skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, toys, Yo Baby Kick Flipper

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Daily Dish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.