It took us a couple weeks longer than planned, but we're ready to launch the BPA-Free Sippy and Straw Cup Showdown, Toddler to Pre-K Division tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for being patient while we put 17 kids' cups through their paces as life continued throwing life events our way.

We covered infant and toddler sippy cups in our Baby and Toddler Division, and we're moving on now to cups for kids you aren't sure you can call "toddlers" anymore - everything from two-year-olds wiser than their years up through five-year-olds who could still use a little help. Some of these cups are great for older kids, too, but we're focusing here on how well they perform for children in the "toddler to pre-K" age range. This is the demographic where straw cups, sports tops, larger volumes, and cooler designs start playing a bigger role. We nixed the spill testing, as it's almost impossible to make a straw cup that doesn't leak when fully opened, unless you make it difficult to drink from.

As in our Baby and Toddler Division, every cup we are including in this showdown meets the guidelines of the ZRecs Guide to Safer Children's Products, meaning we've researched its chemical status with well-placed company officials at every brand and have given it a clean bill of health based on their published and verbal statements. Additionally, we've tested them all - we don't do armchair "reviewing" here at Z Recommends... everything we discuss has been thoroughly tested and evaluated here at the HQ.

Our first stop in this division of the showdown will, once again, be the crowning of a "Worst" - last time it was the World's Worst Sippy Cup; this time it's the Worst Straw Cup. We'll reveal it tomorrow morning and then step into the bottom of our three tiers of rankings tomorrow evening, with Middle Tier rankings revealed Tuesday and Top Picks announced on Wednesday or Thursday.

For those that may not have noticed, the Safe Sippy rocked the house in our Reader Rescue Poll from the Baby and Toddler Division, earning 41% of the nearly 200 votes cast. We've added the listing to the Top Picks post, and will be offering readers the same chance to raise an unjustly slighted cup in our Toddler to Pre-K Division to Top Pick status.

As always, we love to hear your own thoughts on the cups we rank and how they have worked - or haven't - for your family!