Are you listening? / Diggity Dog

One of our favorite games this year has to do with listening. Diggity Dog (International Playthings $19.99) asks players to listen to the number of times the big electronic dog barks - and then the player must move his game piece that many times. When you land on the space, your magnetized dog picks up a bone. If the color on the bone matches your dog, you keep the bone in your dog house. One of our parent testers loved that kids really had to concentrate and listen. The games involves simple counting and color concepts. The kids loved the sound effects! A good choice for kids 3 & up. For other award winning games visit www.toyportfolio.com.

Candy Land: How many times have you played it?

If you have kids under six, the answer is probably more times than you would like to remember. For many of us we start out with fond memories from our own childhood (the game was introduced in 1949). “How cool is this?” you may say to yourself when you share the game with your kids for the first 20 times. But slowly it comes over you, “did my parents have that same sense of dread when I would run with the box and ask to play it again and again?”

Unlike so many other games for young children, Candy Land has stood the test of time because it is so straightforward and reinforces concepts that young children are working on mastering (counting, color concepts).

Don’t despair! Hasbro’s new Candy Land Castle game is a great alternative for weary parents. The new version has a clever castle form that has a lever (we love levers) –that dispenses a game piece. The goal is to fill up your game board with all of the colors in Candy Land — borrowing on another classic favorite, bingo. While we often complain about ugly plastic design, there’s something pleasing about the castle and playing pieces with this set. For other board games that tested well this season, visit www.toyportfolio.com.