Aveline likes to circle wishlist items in the Timberdoodle catalog (seriously; who needs Toys R Us?) She’s a mathy kid with an artistic twist — a fan of tessellations, logic puzzles, intricate geometric art, and Mondrian’s blocky masterpieces — so Illusion Cubes immediately intrigued her.
Continue reading “Illusion Cubes: Create Your Own Optical Illusions”
My kids are 12 and 3, so on any given day, my brain swings from helping with algebra to helping with play dough — and back again.
It’s a wild ride.
Continue reading “Fanta Color Baby: An Independent Game for Toddlers and Preschoolers”
Phew, a new year! Are you ready? Flipping the calendar page this year has been crazy. Our January has been an absolute blur, and not in a good way. (Go away, germs. You’re no longer welcome here.) With everyone at my house being in various states of illness and quite frankly disrepair, independent activities for each person have been a lifesaver.
Continue reading “8 Reasons You Need IQ Six Pro, A Popular Logic Game”
When cold weather rolls in, we get the jigsaw puzzles out. Is this true in your home, too? There’s just something about the chilly weather and cloudy skies which makes puzzles especially appealing.
It’s hard to know which one-player games are worth playing, isn’t it? Games kids can play alone are a great way to foster independence and critical thinking in your homeschool, but how do you sort through all the games designed for solo play and pick out the best ones?
I tend to navigate towards single-player logic puzzle games, as they’re a great exercise in thinking skills. Puzzle games require careful thought, planning, and thinking outside the box. And if you have a particularly rigid-thinking child like I do, logic puzzles are a good way to practice the flexibility and creativity needed to solve problems.
Continue reading “Games for Kids to Play Alone: Walls & Warriors Review”
We’ve had a lot of indoor time lately — and I’m not even talking about sheltering-in-place due to COVID-19! Since baby Lochlan’s premature entrance into the world seven months ago, our usual social outings have been stripped back a great deal. (Master Lochlan would rock a shirt with the phrase, “I was social distancing before social distancing was cool.”) Our family has always loved games and building sets, but this rainy housebound winter, we’re enjoying them even more than usual.
[Disclosure of Material Connections: I received a complimentary GraviTrax set from Timberdoodle in exchange for writing and publishing this review. All opinions — and photographs! ;) — are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.]
Continue reading “GraviTrax Review: Homeschool STEM and Physics”
Forgotten Passages, a nonviolent video game suitable for kids and adults, is a celebration of beauty, curiosity, and adventure. Plus, it was created by a homeschooling dad — my husband!
Continue reading “Nonviolent Video Game Created By Homeschool Dad”
Using games as teaching tools is such a popular practice in homeschool circles there’s actually a term for it: gameschooling. Have you heard of it? While gameschooling might conjure up images of a large family gathered around the dining room table, it doesn’t always look like that. There’s a place for single-player games, too, especially logic puzzles which teach deductive reasoning skills. My daughter particularly loves these sorts of challenges!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary Chroma Cube from Timberdoodle in exchange for writing and publishing this review. All opinions — and photographs! ;) — are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. Aveline’s sweatshirt is compliments of Primary.
Continue reading “Chroma Cube: A Single-Player Game for Gameschooling”
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