Tag Archive for Games

Creating a Peaceable Kingdom With Board Games

July 20, 2011 Uncategorized One comment

My 3-year-old niece is staying with us for the summer, and the home front is anything but peaceful with 2 three-year-olds and a 6-year-old.

Seriously, do we have to fight over what color cup the water is served in?

Anyway.

In order to avoid a nervous breakdown (mine, not theirs), I’m up for anything that encourages harmony.

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Such as? A cooperative board game. “Cooperative” means that no one wins, and no one loses, we all strive toward a common goal.

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In Count Your Chickens!, 2 to 4 players ages 3+ help Mother Hen collect her chicks and bring them back to the coop.

Count Your Chickens!™ is stress-free, and a good way to practice counting and cooperation.

Estimated time to complete a game is about 15 minutes.

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Count Your Chickens! was the 2011 Creative Child Game of the Year!

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Learn more at http://www.peaceablekingdom.com/

3D Sneaky Puzzle from Patch Products

March 7, 2011 Games, Reviews, Toys One comment

Patch Products

Through BSM Media, I was sent a 3D floor puzzle for review! It is a 3D Sneaky Puzzle with a “Singin’ Sea Creatures” theme.

Jojo has always had a knack for puzzles and model kits, but the 3D effect adds a neat twist.

The 46-piece puzzle is designed for children aged 3 and older.

First, you put the puzzle together, and then you get to put on the included yellow plastic 3D glasses that make the sea creatures pop out at ya!

Jojo of course tried to pet them.

Why is this puzzle “sneaky”? That is because within the picture is hidden all 26 letters of the alphabet AND numerals 0 to 9. So after you put together the puzzle, you get an I-Spy kind of challenge!

 

3D glasses from Patch Products

touching the 3D image

3D Sneaky PUzzles retail for $14.99 and come in two other designs: Midnight Safari and Lightning Bugs All Around.

Learn more about Patch Products through theirFacebook Page, or follow @PatchProducts on Twitter!

 

X-Ceter-O Giveaway from Endless Games

January 1, 2010 Games, Giveaways, Reviews 174 comments

I used to play tic-tac-toe a lot when I was a kid, particularly to quietly pass the time during religious services.
Don’t hate, you know you did it too!
In most games, there is a winner and a loser, but that is not always the case in tic-tac-toe. That is one game that can end in a tie quite frequently, making it very unsatisfying!
The good people at Endless Games have a new slant on tic-tac-toe that can NEVER end in a tie!
X-Ceter-O guarantees that there is ALWAYS a winner, making for a very interesting, highly competitive family game.

Designed for family members ages 7 and older, assures that the game soldiers on for 8 or more moves until a definite winner is declared!

Beyond the typical strategy of placing an X or O, in X-Ceter-O, the O pieces are numbered “1”, “3” and “5” while the X pieces are numbered “2”, “4” and “6.”

Players place their Xs and Os as usual, but in numerical order. O always goes first and moves the “1” piece. When the first six moves are exhausted, O moves his “1” again to any open space. X again maneuvers his “2” and so on. The fun continues until someone wins – and they always do!

The suggested retail price is just $14.99. X-Ceter-O comes with a board with 9 squares, 3 “O” game pieces and 3 “X” pieces, and complete instructions.

Enter to win X-Ceter-O from Endless Games!

1.) To enter to win, visit http://www.endlessgames.com and leave me a comment the name of another Endless Games product that interests you! I think they have lots of cool stuff!

Please don’t just comment with “Enter me” or “Sounds great”. That totally annoys me. Those entries are not eligible to win.

One winner will be chosen by random number generator.

This giveaway is open to those with a US mailing address.

2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.

Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.

Want to subscribe? Just click here:  Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)

3.) Twitter about this giveaway (include a link to this page and @MomMostTraveled ) and comment here with your Twitter name.

4.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post. Leave me a comment with the link so I can check your post!

5.) Become a fan of Endless Games on facebook and let me know you did so.

This giveaway will close on January 10, 2010, 11:59 pm EST.

Goliath Games

December 6, 2009 Games, Recipes No comments

When I was a kid, I loved the game Guess Who?, but as I got older it was a little too simple.
Goliath Games have improved this guessing game concept with That’s It!.

In That’s It!, you try to figure out which image your opponent secretly chose, asking only yes or no questions.

That’s It! has four different sets of images so you can play with a different focus.
Asking questions to figure out which animals, vehicle, child of the world, or flag is on your opponent’s board is great for language and critical thinking skills.

That’s It! is designed for two to six players ages 6 and older!

Exago is a “four in a row” game with a twist!
Each player tries to get 4 of their tiles in a row, but other players can strategist and block your moves!

Sound easy? It depends on your opponents. Hubs loves strategic games and rarely ever loses, thanks to his math and logic skills.

Exago can be played by 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and older.

Exago would be fun to pull out after the family holiday dinner, instead of vegging in front of the TV!

Exercise your mind and have fun with this high quality game!

Goliath Games has 16 unique, high-quality games in their repetoir.

Check them out for the game lover on your list!

Thank you, Goliath Games, for sending us review samples of That’s It! and Exago. My family and students are grateful!

Dr. Toy’s Best Green Product, 2009

December 1, 2009 Books for children, Games, Green, Reviews No comments

ICherishGame2I Cherish Planet Earth Book and Matching Game is a unique, fun, and age-appropriate resource for teaching young children to be good stewards of the Earth.

Instead of conservation tips that are out of reach for children (walk instead of driving, keep your thermostat set conservatively?), I Cherish Planet Earth uses beautiful illustrations and succinct principles that appeal to children.

I celebrate peace. I grow a garden. I love the mysterious.

I love the minimal packaging and waste of the I Cherish Planet Earth memory game and book set. Besides being made in the USA and printed on recycled paper and cardboard with Vegetable-oil based inks, the cards are packaged inside the book. Once you punch them out, they can be stored in the included cotton drawstring bag.

I like the way the drawstring bag of memory cards doesn’t take up much storage space on our game shelf!

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The set includes 24 pairs of beautiful card to match, A love letter to Mother Earth, Affirmations, tips on how to extend the game for different ages and levels, and a donation to the 1% For the Planet Organization. The packaging and materials are earth-friendly with a Cotton drawstring pouch to hold game pieces; Printed on recycled paper and cardboard with Vegetable-oil based inks. Made in the USA!

I teach 3K, and my office is connected to Jojo’s 4K classroom.

One day he came into my office and said he needed something quiet to do, because his classroom was too noisy (me too, honey).

I let him play a solitaire version of the I Cherish Mother Earth matching game. It was the perfect relaxing, quiet activity for him.

I Cherish Planet Earth is intended for ages 4+. I plan to use the book and cards in my class to prepare for Earth Day next spring. We will focus on one page or card a day in order for my older 3′s and younger 4′s to be able to access and digest the concepts.

This neat little set recently won the Dr. Toy Green Product of the Year Award, and is useful at home and in the classroom.

I Cherish Planet Earth is part of the Challenge & Fun family, and is produced by FocusBloom.
Buy one:

Get yours on Amazon, MyToysMart.com, Three Sisters,
Tree Hollow Toys, or My Little Green Room.

Win one:

*I Cherish Planet Earth Giveaway at Paisley and Pretties, ends 12/09
*Giveaway at The EcoChic, ends 12/10
*Giveaway at Jamie’s Precious Peas, ends 12/14

Learn More:

Sage and Savvy Review
Non-Toxic Kids Review
Challenge and Fun Blog

We are grateful for the complimentary I Cherish Planet Earth that we were given for review.

Great Games From Haba

November 27, 2009 Games, Giveaways, Reviews 104 comments

I am a fan of Haba, a Germany-based toy company with a high standard of quality and an understanding of good fun!
Jojo loves knights, so we were grateful to receive Castle Knights, a cooperative game from Haba for ages 5 and older.
The premise of the game is that the castle must be completed before the king returns.
Players actually work together to complete construction before the king arrives, so it is more a “race against time” than direct competition with other players.
Castle Knights comes with a Castle Bottom (Bottom of Game Box/Packaging), a Game Board Constructing Tool, a Wooden Princess Figure, a Wooden Prince Figure, a Wooden Ghost Figure, 6 Wooden Building Blocks, 24 Cards, 1 Plastic Hour Glass, and 1 Set of Multi-Language Game Instructions (English Included).
Players draw a card, then use a stretchy band to lift the castle pieces and place them in the same configurations shown on the picture cards.
Race against the timer, and don’t use your hands!

Castle Knights is on sale for $24.99 at Maukilo.com

Maukilo.com has many fabulous Haba games! I haven’t tried them all, but Animal Upon Animal is a cute stacking game for ages 5 and older. You can get that one for $12.49.

Wiggling Cow is another fabulous find from Haba that has won accolades from The Toy Man!

Pile up the hay/flower cards and carefully pull on the cow’s tail and balance him on top of the cards.

Use the hayfork to harvest a card while trying not to tip over the cow. Whoever collects the most cards wins! The rules permit the cow to tip up to 3 times during a round.

Wiggling Cow is for 1 to 4 players, ages 4+.

The Toy Man® eChoice™ Award, the exclusive and prestigious award which is given to products 'which have what it takes,' by Rev. James G.W. Fisher, ( Chief editor and Product Evaluation Specialist of The Toy Man® Product Guide ), and staff. These products have demonstrated that they possess the potential as well as high probability to be top sellers.

1.) To enter to win your choice of one of these three games, leave me a comment with A.) your choice and B.) another HABA game that interests you.

Please don’t just comment with “Enter me” or “Sounds great”. That totally annoys me. Those entries are not eligible to win.

One winner will be chosen by random number generator.

This giveaway is open to those with a US mailing address.

2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.

Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.

Want to subscribe? Just click here:  Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)

3.) Twitter about this giveaway (include a link to this page and @MomMostTraveled ) and comment here with your Twitter name.

4.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post. Leave me a comment with the link so I can check your post!

This giveaway will close on December 4, 2009, 11:59 pm EST.

Thank you to HABA for sending our family the Castle Knights game, and for donating the prize for this giveaway. We are grateful.

Blurt!

November 21, 2009 Educational products, Games, Reviews, Toys No comments

I love games! Blurt! is right up my alley; easy to play for a wide range of ages and language abilities, not technical in the least, and often hilarious!
Blurt! is all about thinking fast: be the first to shout out the correct word that accompanies the definition read aloud on the card to earn the right to advance your token around the board.
There isn’t a penalty for “blurting” out the wrong answer, so things can get a little crazy (and noisy!).

There are a total of 1800 different clues of varying difficulty, so this game stays fresh for a long time!

The first player to make a complete circle around the colorful jumbo game board wins!

Blurt! can be played with 3 to 12 players and is recommended for players ages 7 and up.

Since I have studied 3 foreign languages, have two preschoolers, teach preschool by day and have taught ESL for many years, there are plenty of times when I can’t think of a simple English word. (Hand me that…you know…the…what do you call it?…Keys!) Moms, can I get an “amen”?

The human brain is a mysterious and wonderous thing, and also sometimes a fickle friend.

The clues in “Blurt!” aren’t that tricky, you are trying to match words like “rasin”, “seatbelt”, and “fin” to their proper definitions. The hard part is that rapid recall aspect!

Besides being tons of fun, Blurt! is great exercise for your mind and would be fun learning game, especially for older elementary or ESL students.

Even my husband, who is a math and physics teacher, can really get into a competitive game of Blurt!

Blurt! gets two thumbs up from me for a fun after-dinner game for those of us who don’t like trivia or war-based board games (I know there are more of us out there!).

Thanks, Playmakers, for my complementary Blurt! game!

Preschool Games That Burn Energy!

October 24, 2009 Coupons, Games, Giveaways, Reviews, Toys 106 comments

Preschoolers have an early bed time, which is good because you need that “mommy time” at the end of the day to unwind.

The problem is that preschoolers having seemingly boundless energy during the daylight hours. How do you channel The Force and keep them from turning your house upside down?

Hasbro has the right idea with their Elefun and Friends collection of games, designed for active play and lots of laughs!

Games in the Elefun and Friends series include Hungry Hungry Hippos, Gator Golf, and two new games that Hasbro sent us to try out: Giraffalaff Limbo and Hasbro Scatterpillar Scramble!

Giraffalaff Limbo is a kid-friendly limbo game in which players spin a spinner to find out which of the 6 ways (classic limbo, crabwalk, crawl, giraffe walk, forward, and backward) you have to limbo.

If you bump into Giraffalaff, he starts laughing! The player who goes the lowest is the winner!

Giraffalaff Limbo is contained enough to be played indoors, but it can really be a workout!

Scatterpillar Scramble focuses on fine motor skills, as players hurry to place all of their 8 marbles in Scatterpillar’s hands as he wiggles about! It is actually quite challenging!

Scatterpillar Scramble and Giraffalaff Limbo are great games to pull out when you are trying to resist the urge to turn on the television.

Jojo loves playing online games. He just turned 5 so I’m always on the look out for age-appropriate online fun. Elefun & Friends has online action at www.elefunandfriends.com.

Find the special code inside each Elefun & Friends game box, enter the code, and kids can access The Tangled Tale, an Elefun & Friends animated short.

The Elefun & Friends online experience also lets kids play games and sing along to songs.

If you want to buy one of these games, be sure to download a printable coupon for $4 off any Elefun & Friends game! This valuable coupon offer is valid until December 31, but it’s only available for download through October 31, so print yours off today!

Through Hasbro and My Blog Spark, I got these two great games to review, and I also have a set of two games to giveaway to one reader!

1). To enter for your chance to win Giraffalaf Limbo AND Scatterpillar Scramble, leave me a comment sharing some ways you and your kids enjoy silly, active play!

2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.

Already a subscriber? Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.

Want to subscribe? Just click here:  Subscribe to Mom Most Traveled by Email (Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)

3) You can tweet about this giveaway once each day for extra entry. Be sure to include a link to this post, and @MomMostTraveled. Or, just copy and paste this text below for your tweet:

Win 2 great games from Hasbro @MomMostTraveled http://bit.ly/1CClme

Leave a comment here for each tweet. Be sure to include your twitter ID.

4.) One extra entry for every social bookmarking site you submit this post to (examples: Digg, StumbleUpon, posting on Facebook). Leave a comment for each with your user name.

5.) Blog about this giveaway, including a link to this post.

This giveaway is open to US residents only. This contest will close on October 31, 11:59pm CST

Contest closed and winner notified!

A Great Race with Thomas and Friends

December 2, 2008 Educational products, Games, Giveaways, Reviews, Toys, Videos 107 comments

Before I had children of my own, I wondered how my friends with kids could remember things such as the names of every vehicle from Thomas and Friends.
Now, my own boys can’t get enough of Thomas, so I am pleased that Briarpatch has character-themed games that allow them to get their blue engine fix and learn something at the same time.

Thomas’ Great Race is an exciting game for preschoolers ages 3 and older.

No reading is required in this game, but that doesn’t mean no learning takes place!

Thomas’ Great Race game helps children master concepts like counting,sorting and color matching.

Players count items on cards drawn from the pile.
The cards have questions written on them (how many blue wheels?), but if the player can’t read or figure out the question from the context, the answer is on the back of the card.

At each turn, “coal” is earned that pushes the trains up an incline.

After just a few turns, the train reaches the top of the hill and speeds to the bottom by itself!

This game is very short; great for a preschool attention span. Jojo asks to play it again and again!

I like playing this game with Jojo before bed, because it is short enough to allow me to consent to the pleas of, “One more time!” without disrupting our night time schedule.

Briarpatch is giving away a Thomas’ Great Race game to one Mom Most Traveled reader!

To enter, visit Briarpatch and find another game that someone in your family might like for Christmas. Tell me what it is in the comments!

This contest will close and one winner will be chosen on December 11, 12midnight CST.

This giveaway is open to US residents.

*Congrats to Misty!*

Fun and Games Giveaway: I SPY Private Eye

September 19, 2008 Educational products, Games, Giveaways, Reviews 154 comments

It is the FIFTH and FINAL giveaway of “It’s All Fun and Games” week at Mom Most Traveled!

I’m excited to share with you a fun new game from Briarpatch called I Spy Private Eye! This fun game for ages 5 and up and 2-4 players recently made Dr. Toy’s Best 10 Games of 2008 list!

If you are familiar with the I SPY series of books from Scholastic, created by Walter Wick and Jean Marzollo, the I SPY Private Eye game delivers the same “spying” excitement with extra intensity!

In I Spy Private Eye, players look at the picture blocks for only thirty seconds, trying to memorize as many of the images as possible. After the timer beeps, the picture blocks are covered and players draw an I Spy card and try to see how many of the pictures on the card were also on the blocks they just tried to memorize!

This is fast-paced and exciting! If you think someone might have missed a match, you can challenge them and win their card!

Dr. Toy favors this game because it is educational and also teaches social responsibility. She suggests combining this game with the I Spy books to reinforce the game play and learning.

Each I SPY Private Eye game includes 9 I SPY picture blocks, a Jumbler with built-in 30 second timer, 24 I SPY cards, a magnifying glass token (for challenges) and complete rules!

Win I Spy Private Eye from Briarpatch!

To enter, look at all of the I Spy games from Briarpatch and comment here telling me another game that looks fun!

One winner will be chosen at random.

This giveaway will close on Friday, September 26, 12 midnight (Happy Birthday, Uncle Chi Chi!) .

Winner will be contacted by email (if you remember to leave your contact info!).

*Congrats to stacey moore who blogs at http://www.gseemoore.blogspot.com! Her comment was, “we would enjoy the I Spy In Common Game! thanks!”*

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