There has been a pitched battle for Olympic gold going on 1,222 miles from Beijing this week, but it’s likely only aficionados or little girls have watched. The equestrian competition ended in Hong Kong with Germany coming out on top with three gold medals (the U.S. won two, including a gold). Anyone who watched the events marveled at the sheer strength, skill and hutzpah of horse and rider, but in case Michael Phelps and Nastia Liukin distracted you, there are lots of little girls who live and breathe horses. One person even attempts to decipher the riddle of why girls love horses on Yahoo!Answers. Now all these girls are going to need a horsey fix: If she’s around 6 to 8 years old, get her the “Fashion Angels” equestrian sketchbook ($15) from Toys’r'Us, or the Equestrian Challenge for PC for $20. If Barbie is her thing, the omnipresent doll has a complete equestrian outfit for $50 from etoys (if you want the horse and tack, that’s extra). There’s even a lovely book from the American Girls library, Girls and their Horses for $9. Mom, do you remember how much you loved horses? Maybe it was because of the classic movie National Velvet. Lest we forget that Jackie Kennedy made equestrian style chic, England’s Equestrianism.net maintains the standard. More recently, the O’Halloran Co. turned it into couture styling. (If you pay attention to fashion, you’ve noticed the riding boots that designers are churning out, such as Burberry’s $995 pair.) If the grown-ups have become enamored of dressage, this classy coffee table book shows you how to put the horsey into your home décor ($41). Finally, to make sure the holiday’s are just right, grab a Little Girl Riding Horse ornament from Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland for $6.

Pick a number between 1 and 10. Close your eyes and spin around once. Open your eyes. You were thinking of the number 5, right?  Ok, OK, so we’re not as advanced as master magician/illusionist Criss Angel. But we do have some suggestions for getting into the spirit of magic in advance of Wednesday’s (7/23) Season 4 premiere of Criss Angel Mindfreak on A&E. Catch up on Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 via DVD  ($15-$25). Pick up Criss Angel Mindfreak: Secret Revelations Book for $22 at A&E’s Angel shop. It includes 304 pages of intimate revelations and magical insights, plus reveals the secrets behind 40 mindfreaks. The Criss Angel Official Store sells everything from Criss Angel shotglasses to sweatshirts to belly button rings. The Angel 13 sweatshirt comes in 4 sizes and sells for $70. The shot glass set includes 5 glasses with different logos ($22), while the belly button ring features three CA Logos on baby cable chains dangling from a single 6mm crystal stone. For your little aspiriring magician, pick up a My First Magic Set ($15). The set includes 12 tricks created for small hands, plus the carrying case can be personalized. Magic-inspired gifts might be applicable for the casual fan. The magic wand letter opener is handmade to resemble a wand popular in the ’80s — Moon and star cutouts float along with shimmering metallic beads in the opener’s base ($50). The Magic 16 magnetic puzzle, a perfect accent for the executive’s desk, is like a spherical version of Tetris. And while it doesn’t take a magician to solve, it’ll take your own brand of abracadabra to find the solution.

We hear a lot about the decline of reading, often blamed on competing entertainment such as computer games. But for those who devour bestselling crime novels and science fiction/fantasy books, reading and computer games go hand in hand. Wildly popular author, James Patterson (“America’s #1 storyteller,” according to press releases), has expanded his brand to include an interactive game called “Death in Scarlet,” based on his Women’s Murder Club series of novels. The game, which is downloadable on PCs and available all over the web for a free trial, will be released for Windows Vista/XP on Aug. 26 for $29 (preorder at Amazon). It offers gamers a brand new Patterson story about a chilling series of murders in San Francisco. The investigation allows players to find hidden objects inside nine investigations full of brain-bending puzzles and “strikingly beautiful artwork” on their way to solving the psychotic killer’s identity. First of a planned series based on Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club novels, “Death in Scarlet” is aimed at female ”casual gamers” who like simple rules and ease of play. Fans of bestselling writer, Orson Scott Card, will soon have their own video game to enjoy. “Ender’s Game: Battle Room” (based on his novel) is coming to most downloadable platforms, though the release date is unannounced. Card will be a chief consultant on adapting the novel into a game.

Club Penguin, Toontown and Webkinz are online virtual worlds created for children, where kids can safely pretend they are a host of different cartoon or animal-like characters. They can play games, adopt pets and make friends. At Disney’s Club Penguin, a child can create a penguin, name it, dance, wave and send greeting cards or “talk” with other penguins. Before your child starts to play, be sure to read the Parent’s Guide. Club Penguin is for kids 6 to 14. They can play for free, but membership ($5.95 a month, $57.95 a year) lets them dress up their penguin and adopt more than one Puffle (a fuzzy round pet).  Toontown Online (screenshot pictured), also from Disney, is another online multiplayer role-playing game, designed for kids 7 and older. (What is Toontown is helpful for parents.) Children create a character (usually an animal), and explore Toontown. As they run, walk, swim and climb in this brightly colored animated world, they can compete in games and battle evil robot Cogs (which aren’t really scary). Kids can play for free, but a bigger world for members is $80 annually or $10 a month. At Webkinz, by Ganz, you begin by buying a Webkinz toy. The plush pets each come with their own code. By entering the code, players get access to the games and activities at Webkinz. Bbtoystore is one of the sites where you can buy the toys online. For example, a set of four stuffed toys (the Siamese cat, Lemon Lime gecko, Pink Googles the duck and Striped Snake) is $60.  A bullfrog is $12, and a single spotted leopard is $16. At the Webkinz e-store, you can buy accessories for your stuffed animal, like a super bed ($9). Log into Webkinz, enter the code and the pet “comes to life.” Then kids can feed, dress and play with it.

So you’ve decided to bite the economy bullet and head out on vacation. But after the $1,500/week beach rental, the $300 gas tab and food for the week, you’ve already spent the bulk of your budget. Never fear: Stock up pre-vacation with inexpensive recreational activities to keep your clan occupied once you get there. If you’re beach bound, don’t get caught up in the surf store toy mark-ups. Come prepared with a six-pack of water noodles ($10) and a stock of colorful rafts ($15 each). For outdoor fun wherever you’re headed, a bocce set is always a crowd-pleaser ($18). This Frisbee golf set can entertain the troops inside or out ($20), while the Poolmaster floating table tennis game ($80; pictured) or the floating dart game ($90) will undoubtedly keep the kids entertained in the pool or lake. Board games aren’t just for when you’re bored. They’re a perfect family bonding activity for rainy vacation days, plus, they’re an alternative to that money pit that is the beach boardwalk. You can’t go wrong with Monopoly ($20) or Clue ($27), but your kids might thank you for getting something more hip like the Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? DVD game ($18) or the High School Musical 2 DVD game ($20). To spark that creative flame, bring along some craft kits. The Natural Science Smithsonian Gummy Bugs Lab allows youngsters to make their own gummy treats ($13). For more scientifically inded kids, the Giant Volcano kit ($14) simulates a volcanic eruption. Who said vacation couldn’t be inexpensive and fun?

This year, Scrabble celebrated its 60th anniversary. For the past six decades, Americans of all ages have been playing this famous crossword game, with its blue “double letter score,” pink “double word score” and red and much-sought-after “triple word score” squares. Millions of adults and children have wracked their brains (and improved their spelling skills) trying to come up with words from odd combination of wooden tiles like K, N, R, Q, Z, L and S — try making a word out of that. Hasbro is releasing the Deluxe Diamond Anniversary Edition of the game this summer ($48), with a more modern look and a carrying case and two slide-and-store trays for the letter tiles. Scrabble fans can enter the “Diamond Initial Necklace” sweepstakes, where a few lucky people will win a necklace spelling out “DIAMOND” in jewel-encrusted letter tiles — just the thing for your next Scrabble party. For those of you who can’t wait, you can find Scrabble tile jewelry, cufflinks and key chains at Uncommon Goods. I’m a big fan of the classic Scrabble game ($13) with its homespun wooden letter tile racks. Another good choice is Scrabble Deluxe ($30), which has a rotating board so that none of the players have to look at the board upside-down. Scrabble Edicion en Espanol ($13) is the Spanish-language version of the game. For children, Scrabble Junior: The Dora Explorer Edition ($12) has an English-language board on one side and a Spanish-language version on the other. One of the fanciest versions of the game is Scrabble Onyx Edition ($50; pictured), exclusively from Barnes & Noble. It has a rotating board, is colored black and silver, comes with a tiny hourglass filled with black sand, and is accompanied by a silver-accented score book. Of course, any Scrabble fan needs a copy of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary ($7.50), which contains more than 100,000 playable two- to eight-letter words.