Game Review: Battle Sheep versus Battleship

Today we played Battle Sheep and then played Battleship to have a battle combo!

In Battle Sheep you control stacks of sheep and try to get as many sheep in their own pasture.
Mom thinks Battle Sheep is a very good game for every family to own.

 Battle Sheep:

Matias gives it: 9/10

Mom gives it: 10/10

Results: Mom won best of 3

 In Battleship you call out coordinates and try to sink all 5 of your opponent's ships before they sink yours!

Battleship:

Matias gives it: 9/10

Mom gives it: 8/10

Results: Tie 1-1

Game Review: Hive

Today we played Hive: A Game Crawling with Possibilities

Hive is a 2 person game that has 5 different types of bug pieces. Just like in Chess, each piece can move in a different, specific way. The best thing about this game is that it is portable, it doesn't take very long to play (5-10 minutes), and if you like it there are game expansions you can buy: the mosquito, the ladybug and the pill bug. Overall a good game!

Matias gives it: 9.75/10
Helen gives it: 7/10
Game Results: Helen won the best of three.

Game Review: Pompeii

Today we will review The Downfall of Pompeii.

The Downfall of Pompeii is a very fun game that includes lava, escaping, and throwing people into a volcano. The COOLEST part of this game is the 3-D volcano on the board that you throw your opponent's pieces into.

This game has two halves. First you put people into the city, then the volcano erupts - BOOM - and you try to get your people OUT.

The rules in the first half of the game are a little more complicated than necessary and it is not that great, but the second half of the game is a lot more fun. You get to throw people into the volcano, and of course, you are required to scream when your guys burn up. A little violent, maybe, but fun.

Matias gives it: 9.5/10
Helen gives it: 7/10
Game Results: Matias beats Helen 18 to 16. Yea Matias!!!

Welcome to GAME REVIEWS!

Welcome back to the Handley Home. Long time no see!

This Summer we've decided to play our way through ALL our board games and review them for you. As you can see, this might take us a while. We hope you enjoy the reviews!

~Helen and Matias

GAMES REVIEWED SO FAR: 2 out 68
The Downfall of Pompeii
Hive

We've Moved!

Hello!  This blog has moved to a new location...in order to protect our anonymity as we begin the journey of foster care.  If you would like the link to my new page, please comment below or contact me at helenhandley @ gmail.com and I would be oh-so-happy to redirect you to the right place!  Thanks!  Helen

Planting

It may only be Spring in the calendar sense at the moment, but oh, we can feel it coming....

Angles

Matias and Violet have been learning about angles recently.  We encountered the concept while building our Rube Goldberg Machines.  At first I thought that this was going to be a difficult concept for them, but it turns out that angles are everywhere, and they are visible and tangible, and really not that hard at all!  A few things we did with angles:

So, how about those backwards < and > signs?  We knew what we meant :)

We discussed the difference between obtuse and acute angles (awww, isn't it so a-cute?!)  Matias does taekwondo, and he has already learned to jump 90 degrees, then 180 degrees, then 270 and 360 degreee circles, so he immediately grasped that idea.  I had no idea he already knew that much.  Cool!  We got a good workout practicing jumping those different angles- a few 360s in a row, and I was quite out of breath!  I don't think there is any learning quite as solid as building a physical memory of a concept (and I will not soon forget just how far around 360 degrees is!!)

Next we pulled out the protractor and measured some angles around our house: the fireplace screen, the art drawer, the door frame, etc.  The kids have been noticing angles all over the place ever since!

Then, while the little ones napped, Matias used the miter box to saw some angles into some old boards (leftover from taekwondo testing, actually). That was a BIT hit!  

It just goes to show that most complex concepts can be introduced at an early age, especially if the child is eager to learn about them.  Obviously, we don't care if they master the concepts, learn to measure angles perfectly, or teach formulas...we just introduce the ideas and tools and play around with them.  Hopefully, in the future, they will encounter angles in a more formal way and they will say, "hey, I learned about this when I was little...this is easy!"