During the next few crazy weeks of 2010, make time to connect with your child through play. Whether it’s a quick 10 minute game or a 30 minute one, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you want to share the play space with your child for a while. If you engage in this way playfully with your child on a regular basis, they will also be okay when you say, “Not now sweetie, because I have some work to do.”

Here is a short list of some of my top game recommendations that would be great “bridge-builders” during the long Soccer World Cup holidays. I have chosen them specifically because they:

• are quick and easy to play (no three hour marathon sessions here!)

• have no extra long and complex rules – the simpler the better

• are both entertaining and educational

• are games to play ‘together’ – with you and your child, or as a family – we are after a connection moment that builds your relationship, not just a few minutes of stimulation for your child.

NIKKI BUSH’S WORLD CUP TOP 20 GAMES:

To order email info@brightideasoutfit.co.za . Orders can be collected from us (near Fourways) or delivered anywhere in South Africa at a very competitive rate.

2 – 4 YEARS

Mega Peg ‘n Play (R145.00)

A fabulous giant pegboard with large plastic shapes.  Great for matching, stacking adn first stage threading (threaders have a plastic needle on the end for easy use) - a must for all preschoolers.

No Spill Bubbles (R45.00)

It’s a miracle – bubbles that can’t be spilt!  What a win for parents of toddlers who’s first reaction to bubbles is to pour them out.  Once the bubble liquid is finished, just replace with any cheap bubble solution of make your own.  Putting the wand in and out of the No Spill bubble container is fine-motor, eye-hand co-ordination, and blowing builds the foundations for the ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds.

Zingo (R150.00)

A classic bingo lotto-type game.  Fun for the whole family but easy enough that children can learn how to play without adult supervision very quickly.  If you have the picture on your board of the yellow token that appears when you zip-zap the fun picture getter machine, make sure you shout out quick.  The first person to cover his/her playing board is the winner. As children get older you can play the first to cover a horizontal/vertical/diagonal line is the winner etc.  Up to 6 players. 10 – 15 minutes a game.

Bear Pairs (R75.00)

A wonderfully illustrated first matching game.  Find the matching pairs of bears.  For the littlies start off with the pictures face up and gradually move to playing the memory game with them face down.  There are two sets of each colour, eg two sets of polar bears with subtle differences such as one set has a fish and the other may be wearing a scarf. Ten minutes a game.

4 – 6 YEARS

Throw ‘n Blow (R140.00)

Throw & Blow, a fun first boardgame for the 3 – 5 year olds that is versatile (can be played by 1-4 people) and is unique in that it is a speech game – you blow your way through the game! Players must blow their tokens around the board, picking up matching action cards and following the fun instructions such as:  “Lick your lips as if they are covered in sticky chocolate,” or “Meow like a cat.”   Throw & Blow is great fun for everyone. 15 – 20 minutes a game. **Special on this month, click here for details.

Flip to Win Memory Game (R150.00) Five to nine years.

A fabulous travel version of the memory game.  Flip the elasticated windows open to see the picture underneath. 14 reversible game cards that slot into the back of the game for safe-keeping.  Elasticated scoreboards at the bottom of the game board so you can’t forget who is winning.  10 – 15 minutes a game.

Zingo (R150.00)

A classic bingo lotto-type game.  Fun for the whole family but easy enough that children can learn how to play without adult supervision very quickly.  If you have the picture on your board of the yellow token that appears when you zip-zap the fun picture getter machine, make sure you shout out quick.  The first person to cover his/her playing board is the winner. As children get older you can play the first to cover a horizontal/vertical/diagonal line is the winner etc.  Up to 6 players.  10 – 15 minutes a game.

Hungry Caterpillar card game in a tin (R120.00)

This lovely little first card game teaches the days of the week.  Each player is Teh Very Hungry Caterpillar.  The caterpillar must eat his way through the week to turn into a beautiful butterfly.  If you put down Thursday, I must put down Friday.  If I can’t but I have a wild card, I can put that down instead.    15 - 20 minutes a game.

6 – 10 YEARS

Ducks in a Row (R140.00)

The quacky strategy game.  Use chess-type thinking to get four ducks in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.  Preschoolers will play this game very simply and quickly in 5 – 10 minutes.  Adults and teens love it too and a single game can take 10 – 20 mins as the level of strategic thinking increases.

Question Mark Junior (R140.00)

A wonderful general knowledge game with questions you can actually answer! Each card has three levels of questions on it enabling families with a wide age range to play together.  Level 1 is for beginners from 5 to 8 years.  Level 2 is for intermediate players 9 – 10 year olds.  Level 3 is advanced  for 11 – 12 year olds.  Colour in a space on your question mark pad if you get the answer right.  First player to 10 correct answers is the winner.  15 – 20 minutes a game.

My First Brain Box (R150.00)

An outstanding visual memory game.  Take a look the picture side of the card until the timer runs out.  Throw the dice and answer the question with the corresponding number on the back of the card.  You have to remember what you saw in order to answer the question, eg. how many teddy bears were in the picture, or what colour was the ball?  10 – 15 minutes a game depending on the number of players.

Flip to Win Hangman (R150.00)

Superb for travel.  All letters and parts of the hangman are on elastics so nothing can get lost!

10 – Adult

Sketch-a-Story (R199.00) Eight years and up

Think, draw, tell, laugh like hell! One of the few games that really requires you to use your imagination by throwing stories or tales together in seconds.  This two-part boardgame is played in teams of two. One member of each team is the drawer and the other the storyteller (they alternate with each turn).  The storyteller has to come up with a wacky tale using the pictures drawn by his/her team mate.  For a long game move around the board according to the rules.  For a speedy game, times the number of correct words used by 2, 3 or 4 and move that many number of spaces.

Ducks in a Row (R140.00)

The quacky strategy game.  Use chess-type thinking to get four ducks in a row, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.  Preschoolers will play this game very simply and quickly in 5 – 10 minutes.  Adults and teens love it too and a single game can take 10 – 20 mins as the level of strategic thinking increases.

Brain Box World (R150.00)

An outstanding visual memory game.  Take a look the picture side of the card until the timer runs out.  Throw the dice and answer the question with the corresponding number on the back of the card.  You have to remember what you saw in order to answer the question, eg. how many stars appear on the flag, or what is the name of the capital city? etc.  Great for general knowledge and strengthening observations skills. 15 – 20 mins depending on the number of people playing.

Box Maths (R150.00)

An outstanding visual memory game.  Take a look the picture side of the card until the timer runs out.  Throw the dice and answer the question with the corresponding number on the back of the card.  You have to remember what you saw in order to answer the question, eg. how many thermometres were there, or what was the size of the largest angle?  Covers a variety of mathematical concepts from fractions to decimals, geometry, volume, mass, temperature, time etc. Fabulous for observation skills – noticing detail.  15 – 20 minutes depending on the number of people playing the game.

Number Rings (R265.00)

This is an amazing number game.  Throw the three dice and cover the corresponding numbers with a coloured rin eg. 3, 5 and 2.  Alternatively, use mathematical operations to cover larger numbers eg. 3 x 5 = 15 plus the 2 = 17.  This game teaches creative use of number and strengthens mental arithmetic in a fun and exciting way.   Half an hour.

Indahoo (R150.00)

An hilarious three-round game  for teams using category cards (general knowledge) such as movie stars, movie titles, celebrities, famous places, famous authors, cartoon characters, book titles etc. The three rounds in the game consist of:

1. -  a describing round
2. -  a two-word description round
3. -  a charades /miming round

20 – 30 minutes a game.

Smart Ass in a tin (R120.00) Teen to adult (R120.00)

Who is the Smart Ass in your family? Find out in this fun and outragous card game.  Each Who, What and Where card has 10 clues.  As soon as you think you know the answers shout it out, no turn taking here.  But, if you are wrong you are out.  If you are right you keep the card. The player who wins four cards first is the winner.  105 questions.  15 – 20 minutes depending on the number of players.

Smart Mouth (R150.00) Eight years and up

Zip-zap the lettergetter and two letters appear.  These are the beginning and ending letters of the word you have to come up with.  The first player to shout out a correct word wins the letters.  For different age groups make the words longer. Eg. 7 – 8 year olds will make three letter words and thereafter they must be 4/5 letters or more. There are 6 different word games you can play with Smart Mouth.  Play on your own or with lots of players.  10 – 20 minutes depending on the number of players.

Bananagrams (R185.00)

At last, a modern Scrabble!  Very portable in its little banana shaped sack, and no playing board required.  Everyone builds their own crossword changing it and adding to it all the time and there are only two simple rules in this game.  Each round takes 1 – 15 minutes depending on the number of players – so two to three games in half an hour.  Great for building word power.  Very competitive.

Blokus Duo (R175.00) Seven years and up

A modern chess that isn’t chess.  Only one rule in this game – your 21 differently shaped pieces must touch each other and only corner to corner – that’s it.  It’s a thinking, strategy game.  Block your opponent while trying to dominate the board yourself.  Each game lasts about 10 minutes.

Why not join me for one of my playful and insightful parenting workshops in July: Beyond the Nappy Bag™, Parenting on the Run™ and Big Kid Fun™. Click here for more information or email info@brightideasoutfit.co.za to book.  This blog is also featured on www.jozikids.co.za .  Visit Jozikids for more information on places to take your children during the holidays.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010 at 10:57 pm and is filed under General, Toy Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.