Game Spotlight: Q-bitz

No reading involved.

Arrange the cubes as quickly as possible to match the cards.

We add a timer to the game so that our youngest player is on par with other family members.  (His assigned head start is 40 seconds.)

As short or long a game as players want it to be.

We all win!
Play on!

Game Spotlight: Dragonwood

Dragonwood by Gamewright

Hey!  Our friends shared this game with us recently, and we loved it so much that it showed up under our Christmas tree!

Meets our family game criteria: 
Fun (obviously)
Easy to learn
Game stays fun for the entire length of play
Excellent for non-readerss
Good for 2 players as well as for more

Bonus gems:
Good for early math learners
Inexpensive
Reminds me of Castle Panic (though this is not a cooperative game)

Game Spotlight: Solitaire Chess by Thinkfun

We started with Attila (by Blue Orange). Clever little game where all of the pieces move like knights in chess.  What a nice entrèe for those who don't know how to play chess!

We just picked up Solitaire Chess (by Thinkfun), and both kids are really enjoying the challenges and learning some chess basics at the same time.  Me, too!  Also making it a great family choice: it can be played alone.  Sometimes we get at a loose end here, with one child assigned a task and the other not...

Linus likes to make up his own boards -- a little more math and some letters thrown in to boot!

2015 Board Game Challenge

We did it!  The challenge was to play 10 games 10 times each in a year.  We didn't officially register (our games weren't exactly the kind of games others were doing), but I loved the idea.  In some cases, the challenge helped us to get more solid on the rules -- very helpful!  In some cases, it pointed us in a direction when we needed focus.  But in every case, it provided us with a relaxing activity that we all enjoy.  

We learned new things, we worked together, and we made use of our bulging game shelves!

We've started with Fandooble this morning -- we should get another board going...

I Heart Games

Honestly, I heart a lot of things.  All my friends know that I'm no minimalist.  And our game corner certainly reflects this fact!  Christmas brought some fun new additions, and as game-presents under the tree multiplied, Misa shared a cool challenge from BoardGameGeek that I'm excited to be trying.  I think she referred to it as the 10 in 10 Challenge -- the idea is that you play ten games ten times each in 2015.

Battlesheep by Blue Orange

I had planned to share this in January...  BUT, if you love games, or your kids love games but you don't, or you want to be sure game-playing doesn't get pushed out of the week, or you want to encourage game-playing, or or or -- it's not too late to jump on board (heh -- no pun intended there)!

As an added bonus, the challenge has encouraged me to pull out all of our games and look at the ones that we never (ever) play.  I piled them up, and we're playing through them and giving each a thumbs up or down.  And even if it's a thumbs down, we got a play in!  We gave it a fair shake, shared an experience, and reviewed it together.

Winning!

I'd say more, but when Linus saw what I was writing about he asked to play a game!  Gotta go!

Game Spotlight: Iguana Factor

I was green.
I did not win.

Iguana Factor has been on our shelf for years.  Correction, it's been between the shelf and the wall for years.  I thought it was a game useful only for practicing  multiplication facts.  Which is fine.  Multiplication facts are important.  Knowing them makes a lot of things easier to do.  But...

I realized yesterday that maybe I should check in on multiplication. Honestly, I can't keep up.  What does my sixth-grader know these days?  I thought this might be an interesting way to get some insight.

Guess what?  It's a FUN game.  It's really as much a game of strategy as it is a game about multiplication.  It works for players at all levels.  Linus was on my team -- great even for number recognition and practice.  Don't let the "educational" look fool you  -- it's like a two-for-one!

I've got to go -- I promised more rounds!

Game Spotlight: Jumping Pixies

We had to leave a friend's house before we had the chance to try out this game.  She loaned it to us (you know, because we have no games of our own) -- and it is just lovely!

It meets so many of our game criteria:
:: It's FUN
:: It's fun for each family member (where abilities and interests range widely)
:: It doesn't have to be long

BONUS: 
Launching is involved.

Bonus Bonus:
It makes us all giggle.  A lot.

Bonus Bonus Bonus: it's SO CUTE.  I mean, would you look at this little pixie?!

I need to make some of these.  Yes, maybe as part of a game re-creation.  But maybe just because!

Don't you think we could find all sorts of things to do with them?
(I'm seeing them filling our pockets...)

Weekending

To know someone is to know what makes them truly happy.  If you know me, then you know this weekend's "weekending" with my littles was my absolute heart's delight.

My big girl learned to pour the pancake batter she's been perfecting and to know when and how to flip her cakes.  She was so proud.  That face!

We threw in a big kid how-to-clean-up-after lesson, too.  She did the dishes like a champ.  

(Bonus: she also now knows where the expression "first pancake" comes from.  And that it's all a part of the process.  Good life lesson shared.)

There were many games of Sleeping Queens -- special request of my sweet little guy.  He loves the game, but more so, I'm quite sure he loves that it's the first game in which he isn't on a "team."  He positively beams from his side of the game.  And, I do, too.

And while they made up their own radio show, I made good progress on a blanket stitch I can finally live with.

Thanks to Amanda, my inspiration for snapping a few shots of our weekending!

Leaping Game Spotlight!

Happy to have on our shelf a game with a name that says it all: Leaping Frogs.  No need to sit still!  Funny frog bean bags to bounce off a lily pad trampoline - perfect for us all.  

(Feeling mathy?  Make up your own rules about what to do with the numbers.  Feeling crafty?  Make your own frogs.  And lily pads.  What would you build as a trampoline?)

We must have frogs on our minds.  We're listening to The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker and yesterday Book! Book! Book! by Bruss & Beeke was excavated from our book stacks.

Wonder what else will pop up?

Here Comes Science Sampler: ROY G BIV

Today's Song:  ROY G BIV

First of all, Dress the Part (naturally).

Then... find something to do!

Read about it.

The Rainbow and You by E.C. Krupp
The Magic Schoolbus Makes a Rainbow by Cole
What Makes a Rainbow: A Magic Ribbon Book by Schwartz
A Rainbow of My Own by Freeman

Take your experiments outside. 
We used:
Exploratopia: More than 400 Kid-Friendly Experiments and Explorations for Curious Minds by Murphy

Barron's Science Wizardry for Kids
Experiments with Colors by Tocci

You can use whatever you have on your shelf, go to the library, or just use your favorite search engine for ideas.

Explore.

Discover.

Be amazed.

Play some games.

Start with Rainbow Sudoku

Make a rainbow maze.
(Try using drinking straws and 1-inch graph paper.)

Read some more.
A World of Colors: Seeing Colors in a New Way by National Geographic has us all WOW'd by its' simple and stunning exercises.

Be on the lookout for more related activites!

Have you ever noticed the rainbows on bubbles?

What else do you know about light and colors?

Ever been on a rainbow hunt?
How many creative ways can you play with color mixing?
Where would you hang a prism to make wondrous rainbows every day?

How about rainbow art?

How delicious can a rainbow be?

Just like the rainbow, there is *no end* to the possibilies.  There is, however,

...plenty of gold.

Game Spotlight: Yoga Prenzels

Well, okay, it's not technically a game.
And it's actually Yoga Pretzels.  But this is how Linus says it.  And he won't always say it this way.  One day, he'll call it Yoga Pretzels.  And he'll ask for pretzels to eat, too.  Just like everybody else.  So, for now, we all call'em prenzels.

First offering...

No takers.


Sweetened the deal with a fun book...

Nope.


Yoga mats silently appeared on the scene & look what happened...

Well, these mats are just fun no matter what the activity.  (Or attire.)

Homemade Mancala

I heard my niece ask for an egg carton.  I heard kid busy-ness.  I heard the rattle of beads.  I'd seen masking tape show up in a number of self-initiated activities all morning.  I peeked over the counter to find this:

My niece taught Sela how to make a homemade Mancala game!

Thanks to simple construction (although brilliantly designed) & all the requisite supplies having been left scattered around the game-play, here's how they did it:

Cut off the lid of the egg carton, and

cut off each end of the lid.

Tape each lid-end to the ends of the bottom of the carton.

(I noticed the game worked a little better when the lid-end was taped on at a slant, forming more of a "well" -- the beads didn't fall out as easily.)

And you know what goes well with games?  History and geography!  Have fun!

Game Spotlight: Mastermind for Kids

A little old for Linus, a little young for Sela now, but with an adult, it's actually fun to play in trios.  It's time to get Mastermind -- same idea, more challenging, but no jungle animals.  Still totally worth buying : )

Game Spotlight: Labyrinth

So far, so good.  I "put it out in our space."  Right out in our space.
And people keep playing it!
Great game for logico-mathematical & spatial skills.
Made by Ravensburger.

Right out into our space, as you can see.  This messy dollhouse (okay, I may have added the cobwebs) reminds me of a book we really love -- Big Susan by Elizabeth Orton Jones.  The dolls are alive, but they can't move on their own.  And the author describes how the house gets gradually more and more messed up, even without anyone playing with it -- but they can't move for most of the year to clean it up.  The first time I read it I thought, "Well, how does it just get messier & messier if no one is playing with it?"  I still don't know "how" it happens, but I now know it "does."  Great book -- check it out!

Game Spotlight: Farkle

I love games.  We have a lot of games.  A lot of games.  And there are still so many games I want!  We go in waves of playing and not playing them.  Right now we're in a not-playing-them period.  What a shame!  So, I think I need a little nudge to change the tide.  Here's my commitment: Each week I will pull out a game, put it out in our space & see what happens.  I'm starting with a new favorite of ours (which also made a fun & fantastic Valentine this year).

It's great for practicing: addition, regrouping, place value & probability.  (Which shouldn't deter "big kids" who already know how to do these things -- it's still a really fun family game!)  It's easy for family members of all sizes to "play" together (when you toss in some extra dice) -- and there are no gameboard & markers to fuss about who moves what, know what I mean?  The game length is easily adjustable.  We bought a packaged game, but if you already have six dice and a cup, this site has the rules.  It is so easy to learn and play.  It's been a really nice way to wrap up the day -- it's calm, uncomplicated, and we do it together happily (unlike the teeth-brushing that tends to come after...)

Fresh Air!

Time to get outside for some old-fashioned fun.  Running and hopscotch - classics for a reason : )

Try some variations of hopscotch - and take a trip around the world!

And for more driveway fun, check out these activities, including Do-the-Math Hopscotch - a favorite of ours.