Have Board Will Play: A great toy for your child’s balance and fun

Sometimes a thing is remarkable more for what it isn’t than what it is; for it’s simplicity rather than it’s sophistication. Such is the case with GarageCo Toys Yo Baby practice board. The Yo Baby is a small plastic skateboard deck without wheels or trucks (axles for those not versed in skate lingo) that is designed to let little kids pretend they are skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, etc. While pretending on the Yo-Baby, they’re picking up balance and coordination skills.

The idea seems painfully obvious and simple, but no one else came up with it until Bob Ellis did. Ellis, father of 4 and an extreme sports afficinado and entreprenuer, decided to develop ‘extreme imagination’ toys based on extreme sports. The goal was to create a toy that trained and entertained. The Yo Baby certainly achieves both and does so without batteries, noise, elaborate instructions, an expensive price tag or rules for that matter.
It doesn’t matter if your child doesn’t know an ollie from an olive or a kick-flip from a kick-off, they’ll figure out how to have fun quick enough. The balance skills they’ll pick up are real and are applicable to anything active, not just board sports.

My boys love theirs and, when no one else is looking, I play with the Yo-Babys to rekindle old skateboarding memories. The Yo-Baby retails for $9.95 to $11.95. Check out the GarageCo Toys website for information on where to buy.