My kids are 7 and 11, so finding games that both will play is already a trick. But finding a game that I find fun is also a challenge. We’ve been trying fast-paced card games and have found a few to recommend.
This genre I believe, is relatively recent. These card games requires the ability to read symbols or do simple addition at a fast pace while slamming cards down. Each new card changes the problem to be solved, and while none of the challenges are very hard, it is hard to solve one after another in quick succession to win the game.
Here are the games that we have tried.
February 13, 2011 – 1:26 PM
Uses laser technology in a game tower to enhance the game and add new features.
December 10, 2010 – 11:00 AM
One key thing all dads (and moms) should be looking at when choosing a new toy is whether dad is going to have fun with it too. Quite often this aspect is overlooked and the new toy that was meant to give so much joy becomes a source of conflict or frustration between a child who wants to spend more time with dad, and the father who can’t imagine playing “just one more game.” Here are some toys and games I’ve played with over the past year with my son who is now six years old, but would be good for kids 5+, including readers.
Citiblocs. – We’ve reviewed these simple pine blocks before. Because they are thin, you can use them to create all kinds of different structures, doubling or tripling up as needed. Dads can re-find the fun of construction. Sometimes, simple is just better.
November 5, 2010 – 3:02 PM
Your kids will love
Loopz, even if you can’t stand to have it in the same room. Loopz is one of those sound memory games that comes out every holiday season, and I’m sure will be a big hit this year. At $30, it’s a little pricey, but still affordable and your kids will likely get their (or your) money’s worth. Like a lot of games in this genre, Loopz uses colored lights and robotic sounds and tones in patterns that players must memorize. Again, like many of these games, Loopz can be played by one player with the game providing patterns the player must imitate. Or, ideally two players build a pattern of sounds with each turn, which must then be imitated,
November 4, 2010 – 12:10 PM
We love the new Perplexus, a new toy that takes the old Brio Labyrinth to the third dimension. Perplexus is a clear plastic globe, with a labyrinth inside. It requires turning the 1 foot in circumference ball over and over to move the ball through a series of maze boundaries and obstacles. Perfect for developing space and motion skills in a six year-old or 40 year-old, this is a toy you and your kids will fight over. Blissfully, turns are very short since it’s hard to keep the ball in play before it falls off a ledge. That doesn’t mean that it’s too hard to be fun. Each challenge is eventually easy to overcome and the player keeps on learning the trips and traps until eventual success. 
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