This is such a cool game! You can just feel your brain cells expanding as you play. Since no reading is required and play involves pattern recognition, even younger children (maybe age 6 and up) can learn to play and beat the grownups!
Check out the Set Game website for more info on how to play. The website also has a great online tutorial as well as a puzzle challenge which changes daily.
If you play the online daily game, you might get lucky and win one of the other “Set People’s” card games. They draw a winner randomly every week from amongst all the players. Let me know if you win, since I never have!
cards/card games, family games, games, stocking stuffer, Toy Recommendations, travel activity
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adult games, card games, family games, games, online games, Set Game, Toy Recommendations, Toy Recommendations
We just returned from vacation and a great unplugged travel game that I discovered for the trip home is a cute travel-sized version of the game “Connect Four.” The goal, or course, is to get four pieces in a row before your opponent does. This is such a simple concept, yet it encourages the development of strategic thinking skills and can lead to quite a complex game. Plus I can also highly recommend it since it kept my 5 and 6 year-old entertained for the better part of a 4 hour flight (although we might have lost a few pieces on the plane).
Another really nice one (but a bit harder to find) is Haba’s 4-In-A-Row game. We have this one and my husband and I play it more often than the kids! I should have thought to bring it on the trip because the small size (a 4″ X 5.5″ tin) is ideal for travel. Plus, it is wood so it feels like it will last forever. You can buy it here for $6.99.
brands, Everything Else!, family games, games, Haba, stocking stuffer, tin game (Haba), Toy Recommendations, travel activity, travelling with kids
| Connect Four, European toys, Four in a Row, games, German toys, Haba, tin game (Haba), Toy Recommendations, Toy Recommendations, travel games, travel toys, wooden toys
The subtitle of this game is “Bingo With A Zing!” It really is a simple version of bingo that kids ages 4 to 8 can play by themselves (always a plus in my opinion).
Last year someone gave us a real bingo set. It turns out that my kids LOVE BINGO! Bingo is a great learning game, but the real thing takes a long time and requires considerable parental involvement at this age. That is why I thought we could try this for those days when no parent has the time/energy to bring out the “real” bingo. The kids love the Zingo version too.
Kids match plastic picture tiles (also have words on them for learning purposes) with pictures/words on their card until they get a “Zingo.” Cards have two sides allowing for more or less competition among players. There are options for varying the game depending upon the skill-level and attention-span of the players. Since pictures as well as words are on the tiles, non-readers and early-readers can play too.
I should also mention that one of the most fun aspects for kids is “The Zinger.” The tiles are stacked in a sort-of sliding box (“The Zinger”) and the dealer slides it forward to reveal the tiles underneath. Everyone wants a turn as dealer!
This game / puzzle / toy is wonderful in its simplicity and versatility. It consists of twenty distinctively shaped colorful wooden blocks, each with its own matching wooden “card.” It all comes packed in a drawstring bag.
The main game consists of drawing a “card” and then finding the matching piece in the bag entirely by feel. My kids also like to lay out the cards and fill them in like puzzles. Children can sort the blocks by shape or color. They can even play a memory game by laying the cards shape side down, drawing a shape, then trying to find the matching card by memory. My children have even played with the blocks as blocks and made up little stories with them (some shapes are people and animals).
This is my favorite sort of toy since the possibilities are almost endless! 3D Feel & Find
encourages imagination … plus think of all the play possibilities you get for the price of one single toy!
brands, games, Guidecraft, puzzle, Toy Recommendations, wood
| 3D Feel and Find, creative play, Feel and Find, games, Guidecraft, Montessori, puzzles, Toy Recommendations, Toy Recommendations, wooden toys
We have several Selecta games, and they are all good quality, simple, nice games.
This one, “Grief Zu” in German, “Grab It” in English is fun for younger players. Adults joining in will have to slow down a little.
There are 24 wooden tiles (images are printed and lacquered on to last - not like glued on paper which peels off quickly) and four dice, each side of which depicts a very simplified, silhouette image of one of the tiles.
Players take turns throwing the dice, then all players try to be the first to find and grab the matching tiles. The player with the most tiles wins.
Adults will find this boring, but little ones really seem to enjoy it. Plus it is built to survive a lot of play.
Another great thing is that the picture tiles can be used for sorting or story-telling activities too!
brands, games, Selecta, Toy Recommendations, wood
| creative play, European toys, games, German toys, Selecta, Toy Recommendations, Toy Recommendations, wooden toys
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Themocracy