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By Mom Unplugged, February 26, 2008 5:58 pm

Santa gave the 4 Way Countdown Wooden Game to my 7 year-old daughter because he was hoping it might be a fun way to work on memorizing math facts.

The board consists of a simple square wooden box. Each side has ten wooden numbered bars that flip up and down. The object of the game is to be the first to flip up all your numbers. Players take turns rolling two dice. They can add, subtract, multiply, or divide the two numbers appearing on the dice in order to equal a number on one of their bars. They then flip up that bar. To make things a little more interesting, if you roll and eleven, you can of course flip up the 1 (6-5=1) or, instead, make another player flip all their bars back down. Fun, but beware: if you roll a twelve, then you must flip down all your bars!

This makes for a surprisingly entertaining game. What I like best about the game is how it can grow with your child’s abilities. Younger children can play by simply adding and subtracting. Multiplication and division can be added later as math skills progress.

I must also mention that even I like playing this one. Since many games aimed at children are deadly boring for grownups, I am always excited to find one that is at least tolerable, at best fun.

So, did Santa pick wisely? Yes! This game makes basic math facts easier to memorize and is way more fun than flash cards. Thank you Santa!

4 Way Countdown is also fairly practical as a travel game. The box is about 10.5″ x 10.5″ and 1.5″ thick, doesn’t weigh much, and the only loose pieces are the two dice. Dice are rolled inside the box, so are unlikely to escape during play.

Great math practice for 2 to 4 players (or you could even play alone). It would also be a great addition to a homeschool classroom.

PS. My daughter just saw me writing this post and wants to play 4 Way Countdown now. I’ve got to go so we can get in a quick game before dinner!

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By Mom Unplugged, February 18, 2008 9:08 pm

This game may be very well-known, but I had never heard of it until I read this post over at Celtic Mommy’s blog.

I told myself at the time, that it seemed like a fun game, even if only for the kids to play with in creative ways. Well for Christmas this year, I decided to buy it as a family present. What a fun game!

It says it is for ages 5 and up and my 5 year-old can certainly play it, in fact he often beats us all.

Players take turns placing different shaped plastic pieces on the grid (tokens are composed of squares stuck together and remind me of Tetris pieces). The winner is the one who succeeds in placing all his pieces, or who has the fewest number of squares remaining. The rules are very simple, in fact there really are only two major ones: 1) you must always place your piece so its corner touches the corner of one of your other pieces. 2) your pieces may only touch one another at a corner.

Easy to learn and play, but very complicated to master! A great family game night choice.

Thanks to Wikimedia Commons and photographer Roy Levien Aldaron for this photo. View license information here.

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By Mom Unplugged, September 26, 2007 8:42 pm

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!

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By Mom Unplugged, May 2, 2007 3:43 pm

The object of this classic game is to get four in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. This tiny version comes in a little 4″ x 5.5″ tin that is ideal for travel or a stocking stuffer.

I generally prefer travel toys with very few small pieces, so all these little balls could be a car or airplane disaster. I only recommend this as a travel toy for children old enough to manage the balls without spills (also not good around babies). But for older kids, or even adults, this is a great game!

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By Mom Unplugged, February 15, 2007 7:48 pm

What I like about this game is that children have as much chance as grownups (sometimes even a better chance).

The idea is to remove the pawns without causing the spring bar to move. The larger the pawn, the more points you get, but the riskier it is to take out! If you are too greedy, then…SNAP! This game calls for some strategy and a delicate touch.

Definitely a family game night favorite in our household!

Available here.