The 50 States Game

Here’s a fun way for the whole family to learn about United States Geography. Go to the 50 States game at Addicting Games. You will see an outline of the U.S. with outlines for Alaska and Hawaii below. One state shape is at the top, along with its name. . Each time you play, it’s a little different because the states are offered in random order. Click on the state and drag it, placing it on the map as close as possible to where you think it goes. If you are correct the shapes stays where you dropped it. If … Continue reading →

Make a Guess by Touch Game

The other day at the toy store I noticed a new toy. To play, you stick your hand in a small black plastic dome. The door to the dome is covered with strips of fabric so that don’t see inside. The toy also comes with small plastic objects, the idea being that you try to guess what object you are touching. I’m sure the prepackaged game is fine, but it’s so easy to make your own. One of our standard Christmas party games is to guess what’s in the stocking. It’s a great game for utilizing your brain, and developing … Continue reading →

Webkinz Toys and Extravaganza

This weekend is the Webkinz Extravaganza celebrating the third anniversary of the Webkinz toys. If you aren’t familiar with these stuffed animal toys that come with a code for online playing, you can read my earlier review here. For the celebration, many retailers are offering a free Webkinz with any $10 purchase. A lot of the stores are offering free parties with Webkinz themed games and prizes. Our stores here are hosting games like the Wheel of Wow, the Wishing Well, a live Gem Hunt, a Coupon Machine, coloring contests, a Jellybean Challenge, and a fashion “Stylekinz” contest. I do … Continue reading →

Cranium Super Showdown

Here’s another game that brings a lots of laughs to our house. Cranium Super Showdown is similar to Apples to Apples in that the players take turns being the judge. On each turn the judge picks a “Contest Card”. These cards say things like “climb to the top of Mt. Everest the fastest, or “kick a winning goal”, or “make someone laugh until milk shoots out of their nose”. Each player picks from his or her hand of challengers. The “Challenger Cards” have characters like Pinocchio, Barbie, Willy Wonka, a nurse, a librarian, or a frog prince. The players each … Continue reading →

Harry Potter Scene It? The DVD Game

Movie fans should give the Scene It? DVD games a try. Our family got the 2nd edition of Harry Potter Scene It? for Christmas. The game can be played with two to four players, or in teams. We divided up into three teams, my husband and one nine year old were one team, our other nine year old and I were another team, and our fourteen year old was on his own. He skunked us all. I’ve heard that kids can trounce adults in the Disney version, too! You do need a DVD player to play the game. An on … Continue reading →

Apples to Apples – Game Review

Last night our family played Apples to Apples. We laughed harder than we have in a long time. It only takes a few minutes to learn how to play, is a fast moving game, and it is great for multiple ages. The game comes with red apple cards and green apple cards, no dice, no board, no other pieces. Players take turns being the judge. The judge puts down a green card. Green cards have descriptive words like cowardly, refreshing, dainty, frazzled and heartless. The other players each choose a red card. These red cards each have the name of … Continue reading →

A String and a Button Toy

Tonight one of my nine year olds was playing with a long strand of beads that we use for Christmas decoration. The way he was twisting the strand to make the beads spin reminded me of a very old toy. You take a button and a long piece of string or yarn. The button needs to be the kind with holes through it, not the kind that is flat on front and has a single hole on the back. You put the string through a hole in the button and tie the string. Or you can put the string through … Continue reading →

Silly-Silly-Bo-Billy, Banana-Fanna-Fo-Filly…THE NAME GAME!

(Note to editor: don’t even bother spell-checking this one!) Oh what fun the name game can be with a preschooler still learning words, sounds, rhythms and rhymes. This is, quite possibly, my oldest girl’s favorite pastime right now. She is mildly obsessed with taking every single family member or schoolmate’s name, animal, food item and proper noun she has stored away in her brain and running it through the semi-famous and ever-enduring Name Game! The Name Game is simple and fun to play. Start with smaller, game-friendly words and names like Mickey, Billy, etc. Soon your kids will get the … Continue reading →

My Mind Reading ESP Trick

I’m going to share with you my ESP mind-reading trick. A friend of mine taught me this years ago. It works great at Halloween parties. It even manages to confound adults! For this to work, you need be sitting a little bit away from the group so that no one can see over your shoulder. You ask for a volunteer to tell you his or her three favorite TV shows, or three favorite books, or three favorite anything. Let’s say the first TV show the volunteer says is “Arthur”. You write down “Arthur” on a small strip of paper. You … Continue reading →

Halloween Relays for Parties

Here are two fun relay races for Halloween parties. I’ve played both of these with many classes of elementary school children. They’d be fun for a family, too. Slime Relay is definitely an outdoor game. The slime is made of cornstarch, water, and a few drops of food green color. I would love to tint the slime a dark nasty green, but I don’t want to stain anyone’s clothes, either. To make the slime combine one cup of cornstarch to one half cup of water, and add a few drops of food color. The cornstarch slime should feel solid when … Continue reading →