C's Senior Pics

I can't believe C is about to graduate!  He has been accepted at multiple colleges but is in the final stages of deciding where he wants to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering, stay tuned.  He recently took his senior pictures and I love how they turned out.  Enjoy!

Timberdoodle's 52 Essential Social Skills Review

I want to share with you a set of cards from Timberdoodle on social skills, 52 Essential Social Skills. These cards are geared for kids 5-9 years old or K-3rd grade and are manufactured by Mind Brain Parenting.  It is suggested to use one or two cards a week to complete the deck within a typical school year; however, you can choose the best pace for your situation.

Our set includes the deck and a sturdy tin box

 

While this can be used as a typical deck of cards for games, this set has a bigger purpose.  Each card contains a social conversation to help increase your child's social and emotional skills.

 

G is 8 years old and in 3rd grade so these have been fun to use with him!

 

Each suit in our deck has a specific focus area.  The heart cards are focused on self-awareness, the diamond cards are focused on self management, the spade cards are focused on social awareness and the club cards are focused on relationship skills.

 

Above you can see an example from each suit

These cards seem to be geared towards kids in a traditional school setting.

• Your friend told your teacher that you took her cookie from her lunchbox.  You didn't take the cookie but saw someone else do it.  How would you respond?  How do you get them to believe you?
• You bring a fancy pencil to class, and it falls on the floor.  Another student picks it up and says it's their pencil.  What would you do?  What would you say?
• You're playing soccer, but some students aren't playing fair.  The teacher on duty stops the game and says no one can play soccer for the rest of the week.  What would you do?  Why do you need to respect this decision even when you did nothing wrong?
• Your class is split into two teams to play a trivia game.  Your team loses.  Your friend from the winning team comes over to talk to you after the game.  What would you say to your friend?  Can you feel good and bad emotions at the same time?
  

We attend a weekly homeschool Co-Op and multiple sports and these settings present similar situations so it's been fairly easy to apply them to ourselves without any issue!  These ready-to-use cards are both practical and valuable for parents to use both at home or on the go.  I really like that these communication starter cards help kids learn valuable social skills like empathy, communication, self-awareness, relationship strengthening and so much more.  It's been fun to see how G thinks and talk about numerous life situations with him in a relaxed environment.  He is a very intelligent young boy with a great awareness for others!  Our family also absolutely loves playing card games so having another deck is a bonus.

 

There are additional card sets available as well.  You can also purchase the 52 Essential Interview Skills from Timberdoodle - we definitely need to check these out!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received 52 Essential Social Skills in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope you are wearing green!

Happy Pi Day

Hope you had a chance to have a slice of pie today!  We had cherry, pecan and chocolate silk for everyone to choose from.

Timberdoodle LogiBugs Review

I have had the pleasure of sharing so many games with you recently.  And they have been Smart Games, some of my absolute favorites.  I want to share with you one more from Timberdoodle, LogiBugs!  LogiBugs is a one player game recommended for kids 6 and older or 1st grade and up manufactured by Smart Games.  It's target range is 1st-4th grade.  If your child is less familiar with Smart Games this is a great introductory one.

Above you can see how our metal game board and magnetic ladybugs work together.

What's included in our game?

Our set includes one metal game, 12 magnetic ladybugs (5 red ladybugs with 1-5 dots, 4 orange ladybugs with 1-4 dots and 3 yellow ladybugs with 1-3 dots) and a booklet containing 48 challenges and their solutions.  The 48 challenges increase in difficulty from Starter, Junior, Expert, and Master with each grouping containing 12 challenges.

Our Game

How do you play?

Players will choose a challenge.  The various challenges give hints about the location of some of the ladybugs.  A rectangle with a color means that a player must put a ladybug with that specific color in that location, the dot number does not matter.  A rectangle with a white ladybug with a certain number of dots means that a player must put a ladybug with the specific number of dots shown in that location, the color does not matter.  And lastly, a rectangle with a colored ladybug and certain number of dots means that a player must put a ladybug at that location that is that color and contains that specific number of dots as well.  

Players will then figure out how to place the remaining ladybugs on the game board so that all the bugs of the same color family form a chain either horizontally or vertically.  The ladybug with one dot will also be next to the ladybug with two dots, which will be next to the ladybug with three dots and so on.   Get it?  Each challenge has one unique solution, which can be found at the back of the challenge booklet.

 

Challenge 1: On the top left you can see the set-up for Challenge 1 and under it you can see the solution.  On the top right, you can see our board set-up and under it you can see that we completed the solution correctly!  The ladybugs are in order of dots and stay in their color chains.  Easy Peasy.

G working through a challenge

 

F working through a challenge while G watches

 

I love that LogiBugs is hands-on and great for both visual and kinesthetic learners as is all our Smart Games!  And I'm a huge fan of the travel aspect of this particular game.  Our metal tin is compact and thin and easy to take along or place in a backpack.  The magnetic factor on both sides of the tin with the ladybugs makes it easier for the pieces to stay together and we are less likely to lose them - a win-win in my book.

 

I think this would be a phenomenal game to include in a Unit Study on ladybugs!  Have you ever raised ladybugs?  Years ago we ordered ladybug larvae from Insect Lore and it was so fun.  The kids really enjoyed watching the larvae go through the process of becoming adult ladybugs.  I need to do this again with the younger boys!  This would also be great to have for a ladybug Unit Study.  And on that note, I created a ladybug word search for you to use.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

LogiBugs is another great one player game from Smart Games.  Like its counterparts, it encourages concentration, planning, problem solving and flexible thinking.  And if you have a ladybug lover or want to do a fun unit study, you will absolutely want to check it out!

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received LogiBugs in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Happy National Cereal Day

 Hope you get to enjoy a bowl (or two) today!

Timberdoodle Smart Dog Game Review

I want to share with you today a fun game from Timberdoodle, Smart Dog.  Smart Dog is a one player game recommended for kids 7 and older or 2nd grade and up manufactured by Smart Games.

Game Contents

What's included in our game?

Our set includes the compact game board with transparent lid, 1 dog trainer, 1 dog, 6 obstacle puzzle pieces and a booklet containing 60 challenges and their solutions.  The 60 challenges increase in difficulty from Starter, Junior, Expert, Master, and Wizard.

 

 

How do you play?

Some dogs tackle obstacle courses easily, showcasing both their agility and intelligence, while for others it can be more of a learning curve.  If you have ever watched dogs run agility courses you know they can be fun and impressive!  With Smart Dog, your child can create a path for their "smart dog" to run through its own agility course.  Smart Dog is visually appealing with it's various bright colors and the obstacles are fun (bridge, tubes, hoop).  Your dog travels in a straight line until an obstacle changes its direction.  As your child creates each obstacle course for their pup, they'll not only be entertained but also be incrementally challenged.  The 60 various challenges increase in difficulty from easy to difficult with five levels - Starter, Junior, Expert, Master, and Wizard.

Above, you can see the first 8 challenges at the Starter level 

These easier challenges show the positions of some of the obstacles.

Above, you can see the last 4 challenges at the Wizard level

These harder challenges only show you the positions of the dog and the trainer.

So a player will choose a challenge from the booklet.  They will place the dog and the trainer on the indicated positions on the game board.  Then, they will place the obstacles on the game board to create a path from the dog to the trainer.  They will use every obstacle only once.  The dog can only move horizontally or vertically from square to square, not diagonally.  The dog's path will follow a straight line until the path is changed by a curved obstacle.  The dog's path can go over empty squares in any direction horizontally or vertically and sometimes it will cross the same square on the board twice but from a differing direction.  The path goes underneath the dark blue bridge.  Each challenge has one unique solution.

The unique solutions for each challenge can be found at the back on your challenge booklet.

Above, you can see the solutions for the first four challenges.

It takes a little getting used to the pieces as you place them on the game board.  I love that Smart Dogs is hands-on and great for both visual and kinesthetic learners!

G setting up Challenge 30

Finished!  G solved this one in under 20 minutes :)

Smart Dogs is another one player gem from Smart Games.  Smart Dog encourages concentration, planning, problem solving and flexible thinking and this one has become a fan favorite with the younger boys.  They absolutely love the idea of training their own dog.  If you are looking for a creative single player logic game, we highly recommend Smart Dog.  It's fun and makes you think and works for a variety of ages.

Disclosure:  Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle Blogger.  I received Smart Dog in exchange for my honest review.  All opinions are my own.