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Posts Tagged ‘Mom’

Loaded Questions

February 23rd, 2010

Loaded Questions




Loaded Questions is a multiplayer game that tests your knowledge of other people’s opinions as you race your opponents. By correctly guessing your fellow player’s answers to probing, opinion-oriented questions, you advance around the board. Over 500 questions are included along with six pencils, one die, six game pieces, a score pad and a board.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Very fun!
We got this gift for Christmas for some friends, and it was very fun! We played it with only 3 people, which was pretty easy for the guesser, so you really do need more than 4 to play. I would highly recommend it!

5 Stars favorite game to date
We play games from time to time with our adult children and friends. Loaded questions is very easy to understand for the first time player and really fun to learn more about the people you are spending time with. Excellent game. We baught one for everyone on our christmas list this year.

5 Stars Such a fun game!!
Just bought this game recently and have only had the opportunity to play it twice – once “for real” and once with just the questions. Both times we had a blast!!

The first time I opened it, before we ever got around to pulling the board out, my sister’s boyfriend and I started posing questions to each other and before we knew it, my mom and sister had joined it. We spent the next two hours going through the questions on their own and had SO MUCH FUN!

Then, a couple days later, I played it the “real way” with my best friend and his wife. It’s a great game as it’s meant to be played. My only complaint is that we knew all each other too well and with only two other players to choose from, it was a bit easy. I could imagine this being best for groups of four or more, particularly if you don’t know everyone in your group that well.

I highly recommend this game for anyone who wants to have fun with friends and learn a few really interesting and funny things about them! Great game and great price!!

5 Stars A wonderful discovery, as fun as Balderdash, but more personal – a great family game or ice breaker!
This, along with Beyond Balderdash have become our favorite game for family get-togethers for times like New Years Eve and other family gatherings. It’s also become a favorite at family reunions, etc.

In this game players are asked questions, e.g., “What is your favorite thing to buy at a convenience store?”, or “Write down one thing you hope you’ll never need.” All players then write down their honest answers, and the person whose turn it is earns points as they make correct matches between players and their answers.

If you think about it for a minute you’ll see how this game can work well for people that know each other well, as well as for people that have just met.

One thing that we learned the hard way about this game is that it can REALLY drag if you try to play it with too many players. We tried to play it with as many as 12 players at a family reunion, and that was a mistake! It took forever to play, since it was so long between a player’s turns. If, on the other hand, you play with fewer than 8 players the game moves along quite nicely.

The game rules suggest that this is a game best suited for teens and up, but we found that if you are willing to pick and choose questions even younger players can join in. Our 9-yr-old, for example, does quite well. The main requirement for players is that they need to be able to read and write well enough to be full participants.

This is a fun game for many settings – parties, family gatherings, etc.

5 stars…just make sure you don’t play it too many times with too many people at a time in too short a time period :-)

Game on!

5 Stars Great Fun for Girl’s Game Night
Loaded Questions

My friends and I started playing this game every Saturday night about 3 years ago. Basically, you pick a card that has 4 questions on it. One person guesses who said what. Then it goes to the next player, etc.

This is a laugh-out-loud game. A good sample question is “If the devil lived next door, what would his name be?” Our answers ranged from Beelzebub to Stan (from the person who thought the devil would try to blend in.) We make up our own rules. We don’t do the “reversals”, we allow picking cards till we get one we like, we don’t stick to matching a colored square to the same color on the card, and so on.

I am buying the adult version and think this will be a good fit for the girl’s night. At our family holidays, though, we play the regular Loaded Questions.

I rated it high for educational, and my reasoning is that I’ve learned a lot about my friends and family. It won’t teach you to count and it’s nothing like Trivial Pursuit or other games that require you to think. That makes it perfect for us.

This game has no right answers, no timers, no buzzers, and the only thing required is that you have an opinion. It’s fun and relaxing.

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Rummikub

February 14th, 2010

Rummikub




Rummikub is played with a set of 106 elegant tiles that are as durable as they are easy to handle. Like Rummy, players build melds of run of the same colors – Red 7, Red 8 and Red 9 – or sets of the same numbers – Blue 8, Red 8 and Black 8. If you’re looking for a fast action game where the outcome is undecided until the last play and has a never-ending variety of strategies and play situations, you’ll love Rummikub! For 2 to 4 players. Game includes: 106 engraved plastic tiles, 4 sturdy two-tier racks, 8 rack holders, and instructions.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars BEST EVER FAMILY FUN GAME
My mom introduced us to this game, and we played it the first time to humor her. It proves the old adage that truly “MOM knows BEST!” This is a game you can come into with no knowledge of the rules and enjoy your first round of play; in fact, you may even WIN your first round!

It causes you to THINK, yet you don’t feel like you have to WORK too hard to be successful. The analytical types will resonate with Rummikub the most, and it’s for THEM that the 2 minute rule exists! They’ll take forever if you let them because they can SEE all the options through that analytical portal in their brains many of us lack. USE THE TWO MINUTE RULE!

We have a huge family, will be together for family vacation this weekend, and we intend on bringing SEVERAL Rummikub sets and having either (1) two simultaenous games with a playoff or (2) combine them for a massive game and see how that works.

BTW…if you have more than 4 players who wish to play, team up.

TIP of THE DAY…Use the camera on your phone to take a photo of the sets on the table as they exist BEFORE a player begins tearing everything apart in order to reinvent sets to play his tiles. IF the player judged incorrectly and can not complete the play and he has to return the sets to their original state, the photo will be INVALUABLE!

Best investment of the year for us. Have FUN!

5 Stars Fun Game
Very good family board game with durable tiles – As little as 2 people can play this game – exercises your brain

5 Stars Have fun and improve your mind at the same time
This game is incredible….challenges visual perception…mental acuity…number recognition and alignment….is an excellent way to keep the mind alert and exercise cognitive and visual perception while playing a game. Also good for eye hand coordination. Great for people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.

5 Stars Great Game
You cannot go wrong purchasing this game. It’s perfect for teens to adults. We spend hours playing. It is very easy to learn and the games go quickly.

4 Stars rummikub fun fun fun
Great game. Played it with me mom on vacation and got addicted. Now play it every night after work with my wife and it’s truly like making sand castles. Takes your mind off the stress of the day and evolves the better you get. fun fun fun.

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LeapFrog Sing Along Read Along

February 9th, 2010

LeapFrog Sing Along Read Along




Ready to add a fun twist to reading time? You can motivate little ones to read on their own with 12 engaging music videos on DVD and matching books. Each music video brings a story to life through lively animation, songs and words on-screen; and the 12 matching storybooks reinforce the learning experience. Books are great for take-along fun, too.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Excellent
Our children (ages 3 and 4) love watching and singing along with this DVD. But even better, the cute stories have really motivated my 4 year old to read the books on her own. In a very short time we have seen a significant improvement in her reading thanks to this set. The little skits in between the songs/books on the DVD do a great job teaching vowel sounds. I highly recommend this set for any pre or beginning reader. It is a great educational product that the kids actually enjoy.

5 Stars Educational, fun and love the tunes!
I love LeapFrog! They come up with the most entertaining educational stuff! I have a two year old and four year old and they both equally love it! My daughter is really getting into reading and sounding words out, so this is perfect! Both my children and I love the tunes, it’s surprisingly entertaining for Mom too! I also really like the segments that go over phonics and sounding out words that were covered in the song/stories.

I think this system works best if you watch the DVD first, and read the books together later; as the speed of some of the songs/reading is quite fast for even me to keep up with (to follow along and actually go over w/ your child). I think it’s a great addition to the LeapFrog library of toys and videos. Hope the review helps!

5 Stars Great for beginning readers
I was a little hesitant to make this purchase, but I found it about half off at a local discount store and decided to give it a try. As described, it includes 12 short phonics based (with a FEW sight words(is, the, on, and, in, the, etc.))readers. There are 2 books for each vowel sound, an introductory book that introduces the characters, and a cumulative book wraps up the set. They’re a good quality paper, stitched bindings. I see some reviewers are watching the dvd and then tackling the books, and whatever works is great. We are reading the books first, and then as a reward, she’s “unlocked” (as her brothers do on Wii Fit) the corresponding video. Each of the 12 are listed on the menu, so we play only the ones she’s “unlocked”. She loves the music and dances around the living room. I agree it would be difficult to sit down to read with the books and dvd together. If it helps anyone, we’re about halfway through the yellow (kindergarten) Hooked on Phonics book, and this is right on target – sight words from cards we’re using, and she can sound out all of the words, but the video afterward adds an extra motivator.

5 Stars Great for learning
My 4 year old loves to watch the DVD and it helps him learn how to blend letters into words. The books are wonderful because most of the words are simple words that he can sound out and there are not too many words per page. It is a great way to work on reading skills.

5 Stars greatt first step at phonics
I love this product. I was looking for simple books that use only words that have the most common letter sounds. words that once your child learns the phonetic abc’s, they can start sounding out words. we loved the leapfrog letter and word factory and wanted to utilize what our child had learned from it. but even the most simple books out there (that I found) used more advanced letter sounds and combinations. this product has 12 books that use words that can be sounded out from the basic 26 letter sounds, with the exception of maybe 2 words. that in itself is great. then add to that, that they have a dvd and songs that go along with it. the words light up on the screen as they are being said. and there are tiny skits regarding the short vowel sounds also. very educational. yet, fun and nice simple but entertaining funny animation. some kids’ videos annoy me, but this one is fun. not as beautiful as say, word world. more simple, but just great. the songs are great. very short, very simple, but perfect for what they are trying to achieve. my only complaint would be that since it is a leap frog product, it would have been nice for them to use the same letter animation themes regarding why “I” says “i”, etc… and also buyers should be aware that the 12 books are tiny paper pamplets. oh, and they use lower case letters. but regardless, I am so happy that I found this product.

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Uno Card Game

December 14th, 2009

Uno Card Game




America’s number one card game, UNO offers hours of fun. It’s easy to learn, always unpredictable, and never dull. It can be played with 2 to 10 players, individually, or in teams. And it can even be educational, teaching younger kids number recognition.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars amazing!
I’ve been playing Uno since the early 1980’s and I’ve yet to not have fun playing this game. The game is simple enough for a young child to learn, and losing is just as fun as winning.

Game play is usually frenetic, and calling “uno,” whether you have your last card in hand or calling out one who has forgotten to do so, is one of the best calls in any game hands down.

A must for everyone.

5 Stars Always a favorite!
I got Uno to play with my mom. I had forgotten how much fun it was! We use modified rules to make it more interesting.

5 Stars Uno card game
We enjoy playing UNO very much. We are on the hunt to find a UNO deck that is just like the ORIGINAL deck. The original deck has the words on the cards spelled out, like: SKIP, REVERSE, DRAW 2, etc., instead of the symbols for the words. We thought we had finally found some through the ad we found on Amazon which said, THE ORIGINAL set. When we got the decks, they were just like the ones we already have and not the original ones UNO looked like with the words. So, if there is anyone out there that knows where we can find the ORIGINAL cards, please let me know.

5 Stars UNO is a game for all ages!
I know there are several newer versions of this game, but the old standby is just as much fun as it ever was. Even a game between two people — I play with my 8-year-old grandson — is a lot of fun, and it’s quality time well-spent with my loved one.

5 Stars Good, classic fun!
If you don’t love Uno, you don’t love fun. I keep a deck around for moments of boredom. It’s always good to kill some time and it’s always enjoyable. Fun, laughs and competition… Good stuff! :)

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Ultra Stomp Rocket

December 8th, 2009

Ultra Stomp Rocket




Stomp on the Launch Pad and a blast of air propels the Stomp Rocket over 200′ in the air the kit contains four rockets with the OG-1 Nosecone. The ultra is designed for ages 8 and up.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Kids love it
Not much to say other than this toy is a lot of fun, the kids really enjoy using it, and it holds up to a lot of use.

5 Stars Hours-long entertainer for all ages
The Ultra Stomp Rocket kept our family (~30 people) having fun for an entire evening. It was hard to get the children to stop long enough to eat! Even the little ones got a chance to try to launch the rocket. It survived plenty of heavy use, with even Grandfather challenging the children to a distance contest. He had so much fun he came home and ordered two.

5 Stars Stomp rockets get the kids outside!
Eleven year old daughter used these Stomp Rockets in 5th grade class as they went over laws of physics. She had so much fun she wanted a set for her birthday, so we ordered them. She enjoys coming up with different ways to stomp them (cartwheel stomp, roundoff stomp, running backwards stomp…). She has taken them to events and the other kids just line up to have a turn. The 8 year old boy across the street is begging his mom for a set, too. They will get your child moving, as you not only stomp them, but you have to go retrieve them, as well.

5 Stars a wonderful toy at a great price
a wonderful toy at a great price..

my 4,5 and 7 year old love this and play it for hours…

4 Stars Lots of fun but a big flimsy
My 4yr old loves this toy…but the stand is a bit flimsy so it sometimes falls apart and we have to fix it. He can shoot these rockets all over the yard and just laughs at how high he can make the rockets go. It is a joy to watch him play with this toy. We saw it at a party of kids from 13 all the way to 4 and all the kids were enjoying it.

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