Crew Review: Wits & Wagers Family Edition

North Star Games designs "games with personality" as evidenced by the success of their games, Wits & Wagers and Say Anything.  After the wonderful debut of Wits & Wagers they decided to make a more "family user-friendly" version. Wits & Wagers Family follows the same format as the regular version but simplifies the rules and scoring, making it easier for younger children to play.

What's you'll find in the box:

• 150 question cards
• 5 dry erase answer boards
• 5 dry erase pens
• 10 meeples (5 colors, two sizes)
• 1 dry erase scoreboard
• instructions

How to play: Game play is very simple. Once you play one round you'll see how easy this game really is! Each person/team needs their own board and meeples (color coordinated, of course!) and a dry erase pen. Someone reads a question from the card deck and each person writes an answer on their board. After everyone has answered the question, all the answer boards are laid out on the table from the lowest to the highest number.

After the answer boards are put on the table it's time to place the meeples. You can place them on your own answer, on another player's board (if you think they have a better answer!), or both. Meeples don't have to be on the same answer board; split them up if you want to! After that, it's time to score.

Once everyone has placed their meeples someone reads the answer on the question card. The winning guess is the answer that comes closest to the correct answer without going over. There are three ways to score points: 1 point for writing the winning guess, 1 point for placing a small meeple on the winning board, 2 points for placing a large meeple on the winning board. Game play continues until someone reaches 15 points and wins the game. One game takes about 20 minutes to play.

 

What we thought: We LOVE this game! It's great to play when you have friends over and easily accommodates team play or individual players. Our first game included an assorted group of people from six to (almost!) sixty and we all had a good time. There was lots of laughter as people tried to come up with the right answer! Besides the fun game-play, I appreciate the fact that we don't need scraps of paper. The write-on/wipe-off cards are perfect! All they need is a quick swipe with a napkin or cloth after each turn. Very easy to clean up and put away. This game has become one of our go-to party games when we have friends over. It's very fun and easy to learn.

Wits & Wagers Family ($19.99) can be found at Target, Borders, or at specialty toy stores. North Star Games also has two new games coming in 2011! Ready to see what my Crew mates thought of Wits & Wagers Family? Check out the Crew blog for their reviews!

Now for the fine print… I received this game free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.

Review: Biblical Greek 4 Kids

Have you thought about teaching Koine Greek to your young child? Have you been discouraged by the lack of available materials? When the author of Biblical Greek 4 Kids was teaching her child the Greek alphabet and couldn't find anything accessible for young children she decided to create her own curriculum. The first book in the series is now available with 4 more books to follow.

Biblical Greek 4 Kids is a perfect, gentle introduction to Koine Greek for young children. With colorful pictures, engaging activities, and simple handwriting practice, your child can learn the Greek alphabet and simple vocabulary in no time. TJ and I had the opportunity to try out book 1 of this new series.

What's Included: Book 1 of Biblical Greek 4 Kids is a colorful workbook that introduces the Greek alphabet. Along they way children will also learn to blend sounds and be introduced to 25 vocabulary words. The book is divided into four sections:

• Section 1: Includes an introductory section for the parents who have no experience with the Greek language and introduces the child to the Greek alphabet. Each letter has it's own page and the child is encouraged to practice saying the sound the letter makes.
• Section 2: Contains pages for the first stage in reading – learning to blend sounds.
• Section 3: Vocabulary section introducing 25 simple Greek words. Each word has it's own coloring page.
  
• Section 4: This is the appendix to the book and it includes many helpful resources – letter tracing pages, handwriting worksheets, as well as alphabet and vocabulary flashcards.

What we thought: TJ really loves this workbook. It's colorful and engaging. She really enjoys the coloring pages. The handwriting lines are a nice size for practicing the Greek alphabet. I love that it's so simple to use and it really is a wonderful, gentle way to start learning Greek.

The Biblical Greek 4 Kids website is also very helpful – they offer free printables (handwriting sheets, Greek magnet letters, banners) and videos to help you along in your Greek adventure.

Book 1 is available in a few different formats – if you prefer to purchase a hard-copy of the book, it's available in color ($17.98) or black and white ($13.98). They also have the workbook in PDF format for immediate download ($10). If you've been considering Koine Greek for your young child I highly recommend this book and I look forward to seeing the next books in the series.

Now for the fine print… I received this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was provided.