ChessKid.com: Top 10 Things I Love

If someone were to ask me, “Do you want your children to learn foresight, consequences of decisions, resilience, how to handle pressure, determination, and strategic planning?” I would emphatically respond in the affirmative and ask how. If they responded with, “Teach them how to play chess,” I’d be taken aback. However, chess does teach those skills, and there is no better medium I have found to learn the game than ChessKid.com.

The Game: Quick and Easy Review: Simple gameplay meets complex strategy

Best Moment

If a single emoji were to capture our first couple of laughably rough games, it would be the headslap. The concept wasn’t quite clicking with the kids until our third or fourth playthrough. You’d have thought our favorite football team had won the playoffs when we made it through maybe half the deck the first game that they started to really grasp the notion! =-)

Robots Family Game Review: An excellent “filler” game and stocking stuffer!

Best Moment

Our adorable little five-year-old was just learning how to play. The concept of time is difficult for little ones, and it was delightful to see that play out in this game. We would laugh with her as the robot would wait a long time in between beeps (indicating a long travel), and she would guess the very first object. Or, the second beep would quickly follow the first, and she would guess something way down the line. It was SO cute and fun to see her little mind working and trying to understand the timing of the game. =-)

Harry Potter Spellcasters Game Review: A super-simple game for young HP fans!

Best Moment

It was our very first gameplay shortly after opening the box. My four-year-old daughter was bouncing off the walls with excitement for her first turn to be the spellcaster. Once she had the wand in her hand, that exuberance made the shapes she was trying to draw in the air bounce all over the place. We couldn’t tell head from tails as she laughed and kept trying to reproduce the spells with the wand. We all ended up laughing together without guessing a single spell she cast.

Domino Rally Review: An exciting, nostalgic family activity!

Best Moment

My three young kids and I had spent hours putting together three sets into an elaborate set-up across the kitchen floor. After several stray knees and elbows destroyed our progress, we built in some fail safe breakpoints. Finally, we neared the final segment when dad knocked over two entire sections. Ugh! After some massive rebuilding, we finally pulled it all off and cheered as the two cars jumped through the flaming hoop and knocked over the brick wall.

Forbidden Sky Game Review: A thrilling end to the Forbidden series!

Best Moment

We had been working our tails off planning, collaborating, and communicating the entire game. We were leveraging our special abilities well, had a good stock of equipment cards, and were moving along nicely. Luck seemed to be on our side as several near misses turned out okay. Suddenly, as we could practically taste sweet victory, a bad combination of the wind shifting the wrong direction and blowing several times knocked one of our players off with no rope left. We lost. Did we think about taking back those last couple of plays? Yes…yes we did. Did we do it? No. =-) Why is this the best moment? Because it was exciting and memorable.

Googly Eyes Game Review: A creative and silly game perfect for families with young kids

Best Moment

Our adorable daughter who is way into drawing right now took this game so seriously! I could not keep myself from laughing when she’d put on the vision-distorting glasses, chew her tongue, and cock her head from side to side as she tried to draw the picture. When the time was up, she’d take the glasses off, look down at her drawing with curiosity tinged with disgust, then smile, proud of what she had accomplished. Proud parent moment right there. =-)

My Little Scythe Game Review: A captivating strategy game for the whole family

Best Moment

We were nearing the end of the game, and my young daughter had collected the four apples she needed for her last trophy. She was frantically lugging them back to the castle portal to return them for the victory while her big brother raced to collect enough pies for his last trophy. She finally made it first with a loud, “Woohoo!” double fist pump followed by a not-so-sportsmanlike, “Hahahaha!” pointing her finger right at her brother. Mom and dad couldn’t help but chuckle while trying to teach good sportsmanship. =-)