#active fun

This Pongo Portable Set lets you play ping pong on any table in the house

Pongo Portable Table Tennis Set by Umbra Ages 7 and up $40 Buy one on Amazon

First off, this is not a review of ping pong. We already know that ping pong is great. It doesn’t matter if you like to overhand smash like Kramer, or you have a nuanced brush style like Ma Long. It doesn’t matter if you’re barely able to reach the table or you have the reach of an orangutan. Ping pong is the low impact tennis for the indoor kids. The only problem has been that you need a table, and where are you going to store this table? If you’re living in a downtown apartment you probably have space for one table, or you eat off a kitchen island, or you need to go to the local starbucks to see one of these tables people talk about. But now you don’t need a table to play table tennis. All you need is the Pongo Portable ping pong net and paddles from Umbra. Now any table becomes ripe for some tennis.

A regulation ping pong table takes up a good nine feet by five feet. Most likely even if you fold that table in half and store it away somewhere that’s still taking up a large enough footprint for something that you use occasionally. Unless you might also start eating dinner off it, that’s just too much square footage to give up. But this kit lets you turn any flat surface into a ping pong table, irrespective of regulations. A kitchen island or peninsula? Now it's a ping pong table. You only have a coffee table? Now it’s a coffee tennis table. You don’t own your own table? Go to work and convert the boardroom table into a break room table with a quick conversion. What may be the best feature about this add-on net is that it just sits on the surface without the need to clamp onto the sides of the table.

The kit comes with more than the net – there are also balls and paddles to complete the package. The net unrolls and rolls back up to be very compact tangle-free during travel. And the winding mechanism makes it possible to get a taut net even on narrower playing surfaces. And if that wasn’t enough of a feature set for a net, it also stores the balls! But the compacting doesn’t stop there. The handles of the paddles fold into the head of the paddles. Does this make them less than ideal paddles? For the connoisseur, absolutely. The provided paddles do however provide enough grip to put spin on the balls and control your slice. Though I must say they make an interesting hollow noise when struck that brings way more audio impact to your game. – Evan Abrams

I cooked a great meal with the GoSun solar powered stove

GoSun Solar Cooker by GoSun $279 Buy on Amazon

I’ve never used a solar cooker, so I didn’t know what to expect when I made a meal with one. The GoSun is a 3.5 pound, portable, folding solar stove/oven that uses reflective metal panels to concentrate sunlight onto a double-walled Pyrex tube that is black on the outside, and a fiery orange-red on the inside.

It was a sunny 88-degree day in Los Angeles when I tried it. First, I chopped up a large butternut squash into one-inch cubes and mixed it with olive oil and salt. I put the cubes into the long cylindrical cooking pan, slid it into the Pyrex tube, took the cooker into the back yard and pointed it at the noonday day. I went into the house for 20 minutes and when I came back and slid out the pan to check, the squash was sizzling. I like my squash well done so I let it cook for another 20 minutes. Oddly, the Pyrex tube was not hot at all. All of the heat was inside the inner chamber. And the squash was nice and browned. (It has a rated maximum cooking temp of 550F.)

Emboldened, I cooked some chopped and marinated chicken next. After 30 minutes it was ready. It was probably ready before that, but I didn’t want to take any chances. My family remarked on how tender it was.

The next day I cooked sweet potatoes. This thing is awesome. I can’t wait to take it to the beach.

As a bonus, my cats are using the shipping box for a bed. – Mark Frauenfelder

Like a springy hacky sack with feathers, jianzi can travel 30 feet between players

Kikbo Jianzi Kick Shuttlecock by VIAHART Ages 8 and up, Set of 2 $10 Buy a copy on Amazon

This summer our family got to take a dream vacation to Vietnam. While my wife sets up the slide projector and screen, let me tell you about this thing I bought during a stroll through one of Saigon's beautiful parks. A number of young adults were kicking around this thing that's sort of a hacky sack with feathers. And what they were doing with this thing was amazing. They were kicking this thing back and forth, 30 feet between them, often back-kicking it over their shoulder with the bottom of their foot. As I watched in amazement, a street vendor approached me with the product in hand. I said, "No thank you," and kept walking. I didn't need anymore stuff. By the time I got to the next group of folks playing with one of these, the 10-year-old inside me had won. Clearly, if I had one if these things, I would be able to perform these amazing kicks just like these people could. I spotted a vendor, our eyes locked, and she reeled me in. After very little haggling, I purchased a large and small version for about three dollars, if I did my conversion correctly.

When I got home last week I did a little internet research and learned that I had bought a jianzi, or Chinese hacky sack, or da cau in Vietnamese. One online encyclopedia tells me that the da cau is the national sport of Vietnam. There are a variety of versions with different names that are played across Asia, but Vietnam is where it all started around 500 B.C.E. Here's an example of how it's played.

So the family took our new toy to the backyard. We soon learned that the traditional hacky sack circle was too small for the da cau. I don't know if the da cau is heavier or more aerodynamic than the hacky sack, but a nice kick sends it farther, and with a bit more practice, I suspect the feathers will aid in accuracy. Also, the stack of curved disks at the bottom of the da cau acts as a spring, and delivers a satisfying pop when you solidly connect. I haven't mastered the over-the-shoulder kick yet. But our new da cau has been a great reason for our family to stand around the backyard after dinner to play and laugh and visit. And that's certainly worth three dollars. Or even ten on Amazon. – Matt Sears

Crossbow Pistol – a powerful weapon that is great fun for target practice

80lb Draw Crossbow Pistol By Ace Martial Arts $26 Buy one on Amazon

I bought this crossbow pistol because my family’s favorite character on The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon, uses a crossbow to take out zombies, and we thought it would be fun for target practice. It was only about $25, and I didn’t expect it to be very powerful, but I was wrong. A bolt shot from this thing could kill someone. It easily penetrates plywood. I’m not sure if a bolt could go through someone’s skull, but it would definitely lodge itself in a leg, arm, abdomen, or neck.

If you buy this, give it the same respect you would a firearm. It’s not a toy, but it sure is fun. That said, I don't think anyone under the age of 18 should use it without adult supervision.

It doesn’t require a lot of effort to cock it, but a smaller kid would not be able to figure out how to do it. The safety automatically engages when you cock it, thankfully. The crossbow comes with three aluminum (very sharp) bolts. You can buy a pack of 36 additional bolts for $12. – Mark Frauenfelder

Like mini trampolines, you can play OgoSport Discs like volleyball, Frisbee, or paddle ball

Mini OgoSport Discs by Ogo Sport Ages 4-99 $28 Buy one on Amazon

My daughter got a Mini OgoSport Discs set as a gift last March and we finally broke it open last week. It has quickly tied first place with bocce ball as our new favorite outdoor summer game. Like miniature portable trampolines, these 12-inch discs can send the “ball” (a rubber stringy pom) bouncing higher than a hundred feet and are perfect for a game of Ogo-style volleyball (volleying without a net or formal rules). You can also throw a disc like a Frisbee, or play it like paddle ball without the attached elastic string. Lightweight and small enough to toss into a backpack, I look forward to packing it up the next time we head for the beach. – Carla Sinclair