Zooreka – Game Review

Zooreka from Cranium games won the Toy Industry Association’s 2007 Game of the Year. I can see why it won. It’s unique and imaginative, a good simple math equivalency lesson and a good first lesson or at least an awareness of probability. It’s also a good game for different ages to play together. My children love animals and were excited to get the chance to build their own zoo. Zooreka can be purchased for under $20. The game is for kids eight years old and up and for two to four players. It takes around half an hour to forty … Continue reading →

Indoor Baseball

Up until recently, the weather has been frightful on the East Coast. The first few weeks of the baseball season have seen postponements due to snow and sub-freezing temperatures. It is for this reason that my family has taken to playing an indoor, more imaginative variation of our national pastime. Around 7pm when our hometown Major League ball club, the Philadelphia Phillies, take the field, we recreate a baseball diamond on our living room floor. Using nothing more than three square pillows from the sofa, an old toy hardhat, a washcloth bear from the bathroom, a small stuffed animal duck … Continue reading →

Lilly’s 3 For All – Game Review

Lilly’s 3 For All is a boxed card game for ages 4 to 8 from Gamewright, which won a Best Toy Award from Oppeheim Toy Portfolio. I can see why the game won an award. It’s actually three games in one, which is always a nice bonus. The cards are colorful, and are also extra sturdy and oversized, which makes them great for little fingers. None of the three games requires reading. And it can be hard to find a game that is challenging, but doesn’t involve reading. When you have some children who can read, and some who can’t, … Continue reading →

Mission: Possible

Last week, we took my brother and sister-in-law out for a night on the town. It was our Christmas gift to them – dinner, ice cream, live music and whatever else came up while we were downtown. Over an amazing meal, they relayed a story of a game that they play with their kids, ages 6 and 8, which was sparked by a recent viewing of the new movie Night at the Museum. I was fascinated by their story. I thought it was a wonderful and unique game, and I promptly obtained the green light to pass this creative idea … Continue reading →

Finger Play Fun

The other day I was playing with a friend’s preschooler. He started doing a finger play about bees that I used to play with my children. Sadly, our days of finger plays are long past. But I remember using them to occupy toddlers and preschoolers at restaurants, doctor offices, and while riding in the car on trips. Since then I’ve learned that games like these actually help children with auditory skills, rhyming skills, and story prediction. All of which will help them learn how to read when they are older. Who would have known? I thought I was just having … Continue reading →

Rivers, Roads, and Rails – Game Review

We’ve been doing a lot of cleaning out of old toys and games. Some toys I can give away without hesitation. Others make me sad for the days when the toy was a favorite. And some, I’m keeping. Rivers, Roads, and Rails by Ravensburger is one I can’t bring myself to toss. Although our boys have moved on to much more complicated games, something about this one still charms me. And I’m sure we continue to break it out on sick or snow days. Rivers, Roads, and Rails sells for under twenty dollars and is recommended for ages five and … Continue reading →

Hiking with the Family

The weather is finally warming up here in Colorado. This year we’ve had the snowiest, iciest winter in the fifteen years we’ve lived here. As the days are finally getting warmer, we are all anxious to be outside. I love to hike. I’m a slow hiker and I like to take my time and notice the changes the seasons bring. I look for wildflowers, or the way the ice has formed at the creek edges, the autumn leaves laying on the ground damp from a recent rain, or the way the wild roses form rose hips in the fall. So … Continue reading →

Wallet Photo Fun!

There is a simple little thing that I started doing in the car during road trips that makes my girl laugh uncontrollably. I have, over the last couple months, kept wallet-sized photos of my niece and nephew tucked away up in my sun visor. They were given to us while visiting my brother’s house sometime last year and never quite made their way into our home. What started as sheer laziness and forgetfulness is now a staple of every sunny day journey. The pictures will probably never leave the car now! Every time the sun is shining in my face … Continue reading →

Planning a Valentine’s Party for School

Today I am busy planning games for the Valentine’s Day party for my twins’ third grade class. Their winter holiday party got canceled due to a blizzard. So I want the Valentine’s party to be extra special. I’m trying to think up fresh ideas or at least fun slants on old ideas. I think we might do the old guess how many valentine heart candies are in the jar game. But since they are learning multiplication now, I think I’ll throw a multiplying slant to it. How many candies would there be if there were three jars with just as … Continue reading →

Tangrams

Tangrams are an ancient Chinese puzzle. They are also called the Seven Board of Cunning and the ingenious puzzle figure of seven pieces. A square is cut into seven geometric shapes – two large right isosceles triangles, a medium triangle, two small triangles, a parallelogram, and a small square. Each of the seven pieces is called a tan. The shapes are rearranged to form familiar objects like cats, candlesticks, bridges, diamonds, hexagons, and birds. Using these shapes or tans to make other shapes is a great exercise in spatial pattern recognition. It challenges the player to think in new ways, … Continue reading →