Home School in the Woods Á La Carte

Home School in the Woods has been a favorite vendor of mine for some time, in part because I love Amy Pak's aesthetic for each item that I have used. I have also been fortunate enough to have been on many *reviews for her products over the years, in addition to picking up items independently upon occasion. Generally, each product is fairly comprehensive with many projects to complete. Now, however, Home School in the Woods is offering items, Á La Carte, so that you can reap the benefits of these creative projects if you are studying a particular subject or era, and would like to add a little pizzaz to your current curriculum without diving into a full-fledged extra study, and prices are very reasonable, ranging from approximately $2-$10 depending on the size/depth of the project.

The product range includes Timelines, Newspapers, Games, Three Dimensional Projects, Lap Book, and other miscellaneous projects of historical interest. For this review, I chose two file folder games for my history buff, The Fight for Freedom and Westward, Ho! 

The Fight For Freedom is a game based on World War II. There 105 question cards with topics that include famous people, locations, and general World War II knowledge. I appreciate that the directions include a suggestion to limit the number of cards in play, and even to only use 1/2 of the game board (either the Pacific Theater or the European Theater), especially for somewhat younger players. I chose to use this option, and to remove cards (for now) dealing with concentration camps, and some of the more technical details for my 10-year-old.

In the course of putting together the game, while I had my Youngest coloring in the game boards I read through the questions so that he would become familiar with some of them before we started play. He was also able to answer a reasonable number of them, so that was encouraging.

The goal in this game is to win the most battles. This is accomplished by getting three of your colored dot playing pieces into each battle box by answering questions correctly. There is definitely some strategy involved in that you can choose to try to work on one battle at a time, and hope your opponents go elsewhere, giving you free reign to get your three dots in, or to get one dot in each box, to stymie your opponent. *Side note: I recommend hole punching the playing dots out of cardstock instead of paper~ much easier to pick up! :) Also, I folded some little origami boxes to corral the playing dots, as they tend to want to disperse on their own. ;)

On to the next game. I felt that Westward Ho! was a little less of a stretch for him, in part because he has read a lot of books from that era, AND we have traveled cross country to Montana, visiting many national parks along the way, so he is fairly well versed in that "history."

   

You will note that in my photo this game board is not colored in. After coloring in the first game board (Fight For Freedom), he decided that he would prefer to play on black and white. He has actually asked me to reprint the Fight For Freedom pages in black and white for future play. One of the benefits of homeschooling ~ you can do what suits your child's preferences. ;)

In Westward Ho! there are more playing pieces~ Markers, dice, and "Native Guide" tents. You choose which "trail" you want to travel (Oregon, Lewis and Clark, Mormon/California, and Santa Fe/Old Spanish). Play commences as you answer questions correctly, earning a roll of the die in order to collect your supplies for the journey. From here correct questions allow you to earn a roll of the die to move across the board, and the first one to the end wins.

Games are a great way to mix things up, and the repetition of the questions is a fun way to "drill" the facts! So check it out!

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Home School in the Woods   
• Product: Á La Carte File folder games, The Fight for Freedom and Westward, Ho! 
• Ages: Varied
• Price: $2-$13 for the different projects, mine were $4.95 each

You can interact with Home School in the Woods on any of their social media pages:

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*My previous Homeschool in the Woods Reviews:

• New Testament Activity-Pak
• HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections
• Make-A-State Activity Pak
• Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt
• Project Passport Renaissance & Reformation
• Great Empires Unit

  

You'll want to be sure to check out the reviews by clicking the button below, as other crew members reviewed things like The Art of Quilling and Literary Genres Lapbook Mini-Study (pictured above). As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

#hsreviews  #hsitwalacarteprojects

Timberdoodle Review: Tenzi came and Card Deck

Here's another gift idea from Timberdoodle.com:

TENZI  is a fast paced tactile dice game that can be played with most ages. The TENZI Tube comes with 40 brightly colored dice, 10 each of 4 different colors (enough for 4 players). The most basic play is to roll 10 dice, with the ultimate goal of rolling ten of the same number (similar to rolling 5 of the same number in Yahtzee). It's nice to have a simple game which is good for beginners, and is great for amount/number recognition, but it doesn't stop there.

Included in the tube are rules for 6 or 7 more variations including TENZI tower ~ Stack your dice as you roll the number you're collecting, SPLITZI ~ Roll 2 sets of 5 different numbers, TIMED TENZI and more.

Once you've mastered those,  you can pick up 77 Ways to Play TENZI Game Cards to expand on the play. The cards include specific goals as well as patterns to roll and even some physical challenges (Stand on one foot while rolling the dice for example).

One of the things that I, as a mother, really appreciate is that it really can be a quick game (10 minutes?), for when you feel the need to break things up a bit in the school day, redirect a child, or fill somebody's love bucket with some fun attention, and my 9 year old enjoys playing and rolling all those dice!

TENZI is part of Timberdoodle's 2nd grade curriculum kit, which is a great age to begin playing TENZI, although it could be played with slightly younger children, and it is enjoyable for those who are older as well. Timberdoodle definitely seeks out interesting and fun educational toys to go along with their curriculum, and I value the inclusion of play in a curriculum package.

I think the combination of TENZI and 77 Ways to Play TENZI  would make a very nice gift on their own, or a really nice stocking stuffer for anyone aged 7+. It is very compact and portable, perfect to pack in a bag for family visits, road trips, and camping.

Blessings~

Chara Games ~ Commissioned ~ Cooperative Historical Strategy Board Game for Teens+

Does your family enjoy board games and family game nights?  The TOS Homeschool Review Crew was recently sent a game (that could end up on some gift lists for your older children?) for review. Commissioned is a cooperative, historical strategy game by Chara Games, intended for ages 14+ (Although younger siblings/children can be included in the play).

Top of box

Commissioned is a strategy game following actual experiences of the Apostles, where the players grow their faith (cards) and the church, (small white blocks), while overcoming trials and collecting the Canon of the New Testament.  

Board set up for play

The set-up is a little more involved than my mostly card game, word game, and  physical logic game playing family is used to, but should be fairly familiar for those who play more involved board games.  There are Faith Cards (with point values 1-4) and Apostle Cards (I didn’t realize they were in the same package, so it took a while before I figured that one out the first time playing), Trial cards, Church Member Blocks, Apostle Pawns, and Meeple Missionaries. There are also blocking tokens and other tokens that increase the complexity of play.

Close up of Apostle board, faith cards and apostle cards (Which all have the same back)

Each player chooses an Apostle “Board” and receives their 6 Apostle Cards, and two 2-point Faith Cards. From here the players choose one of 5 Game scenarios to play (some are more difficult than others, and we’ve only played the basic Acts of the Apostles so far), and choose a difficulty level for the trials (Disciple or Martyr level).

   

We found the instructions to be a little confusing, even after watching the half-hour introductory video, but I think that we have finally started to get the hang of it. There were also a few Faith Cards that we couldn’t really figure out, in spite of the extremely detailed Rulebook. However, instead of letting that interfere with our play, we just removed them from the deck, and put them back in the box.

Close up of tokens and board after some time playing

It is interesting to watch my kids play, as they are all quite competitive in their own ways, so playing a cooperative game was a new experience for them. My Youngest enjoyed being part of the game play, even if he didn’t totally understand it all. My Middlest found it the most interesting, and likened it to playing Risk, but with cooperation instead of competition, and a lot more strategy involved with the inclusion of the trial cards (the instructions suggest that this is a one hour game, but we found that it took us longer than that, although with more play there may be a reduction in time). 

    

My Eldest, who is very much a word game, fast-paced card game, strategy game with simple set up type of player would probably not choose on her own to play Commissioned, but could possibly be more interested in a new game which Chara Games has just released after a successful Kickstarter campaign, 3 Seeds. Some of the Crew members will be reviewing soon, so keep your eyes out on the Crew Blog for those reviews. It looks like it could be a nice option for a stocking stuffer if you do those, or even a shared family gift.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Chara Games
• Product: 
• Commissioned Ages 14+, $44.00
• 3 Seeds (I don't have the information for this game yet, so check back for the Crew Reviews later)

You can visit Chara Games on Facebook and Twitter

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Summer STEM learning in a game!

Everyone once in a while I'm sent a fun game to review, and sometimes those games are even educational! I jumped at the opportunity to receive Circuit Maze from #ThinkFun for review. We've had a couple of weeks to play with it, and my *almost* nine-year old has enjoyed using it.

If you've ever used an electrical circuit "toy" then you'll be somewhat familiar with the concept of how the electrical portion of this game works. If you've ever played any solitaire logic games (Rush Hour and the like), you'll be familiar with the logic portion of the game.  What a great idea to put the two concepts together!

The pieces in this product are tokens (squares with metal contact strips in a variety of configurations), a start token that includes the battery power pack, and a finish token.

The concept of the game is to set up the game grid using the game cards~ each card shows the start and finish tokens, as well as some other tokens in a specific set-up. There are also some missing tokens, and the puzzle part of this game is to put them in the right place in order to complete the circuit and light up the light(s). There are three beacon tokens with one green, one yellow, and one red light.

One of the cards my son worked on appeared to be solved correctly, but the yellow light wasn't lighting up... hmmm... sometimes the tokens don't seat firmly and the lights flicker on/off (my only *con* with this game), but this didn't appear to be the case this time around.

After fiddling around with it for awhile, he decided to put it away for the evening.

The next day I asked him to pull the game out again, and retry the challenge. I also reminded him to make sure that the positive and negative sides were matching up correctly so that the current would flow. Sure enough! That was his trouble the night before. Paying attention to direction of the little + and - signs made a huge difference!

I anticipate this being a good game to bring on trips and to use any time that a brain and hands require something to keep them busy for awhile, without being in front of a screen! 

What a fun way to get some STEM learning in this summer without the kids even realizing that it's something other than a cool logic game! 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Think Fun
• Product: Circuit Maze
• Ages: 8+ 
• Price: $29.99

I hope this was a useful review as you search out fun and educational games to occupy your children this summer! 

Blessings~

Sunya Publishing ~ Math Card Game (Review)

Like most homeschool moms, I like to add some spice and fun to our school days, particularly in the "grammar" years, so when I have the opportunity to review a game, I generally jump at the chance. We've been playing Sunya - The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Multiplying & Dividing, one of two new games (not yet available to the public) offered to the TOS Review Crew this spring (the other is Sunya - The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Adding & Subtracting) by... Sunya Publishing.

While both games/manuals are different, it would appear that they are very similar in format. The manual we received included the directions for the game, and 2 sets of cards. The first set includes numerals 0-9, X, - , and =. The basic concept is to use the cards in the players hand to try to "write" a number sentence. If the player doesn't have the correct digits required to make a sentence, they draw one card at a time until they do. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner. Sunya!

The second set of cards are the "fun" cards used as the "Reward" for the winner. The winner chooses one card, and reads the Math/Science riddle or interesting fact card to the other players. If it is a riddle, the players may try to solve it together,  and if it is a fact card, the winning player may quiz the other players to see if they know the answer(s).

The manual is... interesting... the directions are rather convoluted and turn what is (or should be) a fairly simple game into a rather complex foray into rule-reading. I understand that this is a new company, and a new product. Because of that, I am willing to cut them some slack, and I would suggest that the instructions be revamped to be much less complicated...  Many parents/teachers may lose patience with the instructions before they ever give the game a chance (while being "schooled" to teach their charges to play patiently and considerately...)

There is a lengthy discussion of the Hindu roots of the word "Sunya," and Brahmi numerals which are the ancient fore-runners of our familiar Arabic numerals. My feeling about some of the instruction and information through the entire book (including some of the recommended quotes at the end of the manual) is that the authors hope that players will all "get their Zen on"  (or whatever the Hindu equivalent is) while practicing math fact sentences. While the game is a simple math game, I kind of have the same feeling I do about the current coloring craze, when it is focused on Mandalas...  give me the colors and the numbers, not the push to explore the Brahmin or the Zen...

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

Personal summation: this is a fun game, but the manual isn't doing it any favors from an instructional OR philosophical point of view. 

• Company: Sunya Publishing
• Product: Sunya - The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Multiplying & Dividing
• Ages: company says Ages 9+ , my suggestion, 7+

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

Snake Oil Salesmen? (Out of the Box Review)

While I am a self-avowed Curriculum Junkie, we always enjoy it when the TOS Review Crew is sent something extra fun for review. How delightful that our last review for the 2014 run was just that. We were sent Snake Oil ~ Party Potion (for ages 8 and up), a product of Out of the Box Games (other crew members received the original Snake Oil game for ages 10+, so be sure to check out the link at the end of my review to see how these games were received in their homes).

The basic premise is that there is a “Customer” and there are “Snake Oil Salesmen” (with the customer rotating throughout the round till everyone has had a turn). The customer draws a customer card and chooses to be the character on either side. The Salesmen (Everyone else) draw 6 cards each and choose to use 2 cards to create a product that they will pitch to the customer.

Here is an entertaining little video that introduces the game and how to play: 

The game can be played with 3-6 players, or adapted to group play game-show style, with a host, 3 contestants (salesmen), and an audience. We personally felt it worked best with at least 4 players. There was a handful of cards that we decided to remove from the deck since we're not fond of gross humor in our house (potty, snot, pimple, butt) and a couple others (skull, spirit) that didn't fit with us well. Also, for some of my readers who stay away from wizards and magic, there are customer cards that include those characters, but they can be avoided easily enough. 

We enjoyed playing out of the box, and all over the room (the couch, the rocking chair, the desk...), which didn't make for very good picture taking opportunities, but I did record a somewhat edited transcript of some of the rounds so you can get a feel for the game. I am going to list the customers and the products that were being pitched to. You can decide which product you would have chosen as the winner. I will list the winners below my disclaimer in this post, and you can see if your choices match our customers. The participants in this record were Mom, Eldest (17), Middlest (14), and Youngest (7).

Waitress

• Smile Sponge ~ When you wipe the table, your customers will be guaranteed to smile, and less than 10% tips will be a thing of the past.
• Jar Locker~ Holds everything on the plate, so you never need to worry about dropping any plates when your tray is filled to overflowing.
• Tummy Chair~ Releases chemicals that create space in the tummy, so your customers will always have room for dessert. 

Grandma

• Volcano Grave~ If you’re at a volcano that is erupting, you can use the Volcano Grave to ‘Bury” the eruption.
• Memory Ribbon~ Will help Grandmas remember memories~ rub the ribbon while thinking of something, and when you touch it later, the memory will return.
• Yarn Security~ Insurance for your yarn~ will replace your yarn if it gets stolen, lost, or damaged by an act of God.

Fisherman

• Forest Puddle ~ A private Puddle in the Forest, where the largest bass are found more easily, because there is less acreage for them to hide in.
• Video Coat~ A coat that plays videos, for when you’re sitting around doing nothing while you’re fishing.
• Spider Escape~ A spray that will eliminate any spider you run into on the path, on the shore, or in your boat.

Olympic Athlete

• Peace Dust~  Sprinkle it on to calm your nerves before your competition.
• Trail Putty ~  to fix the spots that might be broken or rough (or missing manhole covers on the way to the event venue...).
• Tickle Tub ~  to distract your dog when it’s taking a bath. (?)

School Bus Driver

• Victory Slipper~ Wear it so your favorite athlete or team will win!
• Fact Rug~ for the aisle of your bus~ It will help to avoid spill and slips and falls and bruises, but not only that, it is educational~ it will help the students on your bus learn their mathematical, grammatical, geographical, and any other ical fact they may need on the way to school. AND not only that, it will so entertain your students that they will be quite as mice.
• Guilt Pants~ for the misbehaving children on the bus, that don’t always tell the truth (Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire?)  These are pants that you put on the child (like snowpants), and they will tell you the truth!

OUR THOUGHTS

Littlest: I love playing Snake Oil because it’s fun

Middlest: This is a really great game. It makes people think and be creative. This would be a fun game for Youth Group! 

Eldest: Snake Oil is entertaining to watch people play, but it isn’t great for the literalist.

Mom: Snake Oil is a fun, easy to learn game that helps to promote creativity, and encourage public speaking skills when played with theatrical expression. Out of the Box Games even offers some extra "Classroom activities"  for 5th grade+ to expand on those themes~ I like having more options, and it makes me feel better about having the occasional game days. :) 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: Out of the Box Games
• Product: Snake Oil ~ Party Potion
• Ages: 8 (or early readers) to adult
• Price: $14.99

You can visit Out Of the Box Games on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say about Snake Oil - Party Potion and the Original Snake Oil games. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

*NEWSFLASH* This is my last TOS Review Crew for the 2014 calendar year, and it marks my 250th Review for the TOS Review Crew since it started in 2008. Milestone worth mentioning... :)
Blessings~

Waitress~ Jar Locker

Grandma ~ Yarn Security

Fisherman ~ Forest Puddle 

Olympic Athlete ~ Trail Putty 

School Bus Driver ~ Fact Rug

How did these choices stack up against your choices?