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We turned to two innovative companies, Cranium and Educational Insights, for some game playing picks. Here are five ways to teach your kids strategic, creative thinking and give them on the edge of your seat entertainment at the same time.
by Rebecca Klein
Blokus
Educational Insights
Your mission - place as many of your playing pieces on the board, blocking other players as you go. While Blokus is billed as taking less than a minute to learn, it’s a challenging, high-strategy game. Pieces of the same color can only touch on the corners and not side-by-side. Blokus was launched in 2000 in France and released in 2003 in the U.S. The award winning game comes in multiple versions, including a new, more complex one, called Blokus Trigon. Schools use Blokus as a hands-on math lesson. Play a free virtual game at www.blokus.com.
Recommended Ages: 5 and up 2-4 Players
MSRP: $29.99 (for Blokus & Blokus Trigon)
Stores: Available at many locations; visit www.educationalinsights.com to buy online or access a list of stores that carry this brand.
Crazy Creatures
Educational Insights
Young players are challenged to build their own 3-D animals in this just released board game. You start out with the midsection of an animal’s body and try to match up other parts to make a complete and correct animal. Along the way, you just may wind up with a crazy creature that’s part cow, part pig, and part horse. As you roll the dice and move the farmer around the board, you’re asked to trade parts, get new ones, or send a part back to pasture. Fun sound effects add to the action.
Recommended Ages: 4 and up 2-4 Players
MSRP: $24.99
Stores: Available at many locations; visit www.educationalinsights.com to buy online or access a list of stores that carry this brand.
Jam Pack Jam
Cranium
The next time your family packs up the car for a road trip, your little ones may outsmart you when it comes to stuffing in that last toy into a hidden crevice. They’ll become pros after playing Cranium’s new Jam Pack Jam. As the timer ticks, race to strategize and squeeze items such as a birthday cake, a cactus, and even a kitchen sink into a trunk before it pops open, and the items fly out. The challenge changes each time you play as you draw new cards to get your assignment.
Recommended Ages: 6 and up 2-4 Players
MSRP: $19.99
Stores: Major retailers and at www.cranium.com.
Talk n’Tracks, Monkey Safari & Seal Splash
Cranium
Whether you choose the land or sea version, everyone wins in this new cooperative adventure. Put together a set of colorful puzzle pieces to create a journey through the jungle or the ocean. Then, sit back and watch your monkey travel through the jungle or your seal swim across the sea along a grooved track, entertaining you with fun sounds along the way. There are dozens of ways to fit the puzzle together.
Recommended Ages: 3 and up 1 or More
MSRP: $12.99
Stores: Major retailers and at www.cranium.com.
Triple Triumph
Cranium
As you race around the board in this new release, score points as you match up the sides of colorful pyramids, stacking them into different shaped structures and creating obstacles for your teammates. You’ll never play the same game twice.
Recommended Ages: 6 and up 2-4 Players
MSRP: $19.99
Stores: Available exclusively at Target and at www.target.com.
