S’Match!

No, this was not one of the Christmas presents that Josh and Zoë got. It’s actually from the stash of toys/games that I bought earlier this year. I tend to buy, on-the-spot, toys/games and even clothes that might not be right or age-appropriate at the time I buy them. So, yes, I do have a stash of toys and games for “emergencies” –e.g. for trips, last-minute presents, when they get bored.

Two weeks of no school over the Christmas holidays means more TV time than usual and I am not very keen for them to be glued to the set the whole morning, but neither was I up for cleaning up after them after a “painting” session. So I dug around. And I found S’Match.

I’d always loved memory games as a child. I think one of the best presents I got was a memory game that came with (removable) plastic tiles mounted on the game board. You could easily “flip” the cards over with your finger for matches. I think my parents must have given that game away and I have not come across anything anywhere close to that game since –in terms of set-up. Anyway, when I saw S’Match, I thought it would be something that Josh and Zoë would enjoy. Besides, it’s from the makers of Zingo! (ThinkFun), so how could I go wrong?

Despite the big box, the only contents were --

• 1 S’Match!® Spinner
• 30 Picture Cards - very small, but sturdy ones
• 1 Parent’s Guide

S’Match is very similar to your usual memory game in that you have to make matches, but S’Match is literally a memory game with a spin. Before each turn, the players get to spin the spinner to find out what type of match they’re supposed to make: A match by Color, by Number or by Category.

On the box, it says for Ages 4+. If you have a precocious 2-year old, even she can join in –and win! I think luck had a hand in Zoë’s winning against Josh by one pair in the first game they played. She just seemed to be able to pick all the right cards at the right time. Seriously, though, because the cards had both words and pictures, for as long as your pre-schooler understands color concepts, can count, and understands how certain objects belong to certain categories (musical instruments, things that ‘go’, animals), she can definitely join in and have fun.

The Parent’s Guide that comes with the game has plenty of great tips on how to improve your child’s thinking skills –including some that take you beyond the game itself.

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S’Match is available from Amazon.com for US$19.95. Here in Hong Kong, it retails for HK$179.90 and should be available at any of the following: Seibu, Bumps 2 Babes, Toys ‘R’ Us, Apita or Wing On.

No-Sew Quilt

I did some early Christmas shopping this year and spotted this:

Alex Knot-a-Quilt Fleece No-Sew Quilt Kit

It said on the bag that it was 6+. There are no 6+ little girls in my life right now, but I got it anyway. Because I thought Josh and Zoë would love the colors… and to be honest, I thought it would be fun to make my own quilt. Heh. Yes, I got myself a present designed for 6-year olds.

It took me weeks to finish the whole thing, but I’m pretty happy with the result. See?

There are 48 pieces of squares in six bold colors and all I had to do was to knot the fringes on the squares together. I did have to undo some knots a few times to redo, because I’d missed a fringe. That? Not so fun. Totally my fault, though, for not paying attention.

It makes for a nice throw or a blanket for a pretend picnic. Josh and Zoë are having fun with it and I’m having fun watching them having fun.

Brain Quest®

When we were going away for the summer, I had meticulously packed a whole Trunki full of activity books, stickers, simple games, snacks, puzzles, coloring pens, crayons… well, basically anything that I thought would make the long-haul trip more fun (for the kids) and bearable (for us!).

Included in the stash was a set of Brain Quest® cards that I had bought. I was actually very pleased with myself for finding that at Dymocks, knowing that this alone would keep both Josh and Zoë occupied for at the very least 30 minutes or more.

Image: Brain Quest®

I never really got to test it on the plane, because we forgot the entire Trunki in our mad rush to the airport.

BUT, I finally opened the Trunki last week and dug out the little treasures stashed in there. It was a lazy afternoon and I decided to give Brain Quest® a try with both Josh and Zoë. See, I had bought the Ages 3-4 one, because I thought the Ages 2-3 one would be a bit too easy for Zoë. I was right, as Zoë was able to answer about 90% of the questions asked in the cards that I’d shown her so far –and she’s not even 2-1/2 yet (just had to mention that)! Josh, of course, zoomed through pretty much all of them. Okay, bragging moment over.

What I really liked about these cards, though, is how much fun we all had while going through them. The cards are colorful, of high quality, AND are all attached together at the bottom with a grommet so that you’ll never have to worry about misplacing any one of them. We had moments of intense concentration (from Zoë), giggles and squeals as they try to beat each other to giving the right answer. While you can just read the questions straight out and move on to the next as soon as it’s answered, you can also ask follow-up questions to the original questions and engage your children in a mini-discussion.

The questions in the Ages 3-4 pack cover a range of topics, from letter recognition to math concepts to general knowledge –all designed in a fun, age-appropriate manner, with colorful illustrations.

I am off to get the next pack –Ages 5-6, –for Josh.

You can get them here in Hong Kong at Dymocks for HK$110.

Time’s Up!

I don’t know how I am going to get through the day without this. This timer here is the voice of authority around here. When it buzzes, my children know that it is time. Time to turn off the TV. Time to stop playing and (get dressed, eat dinner, etc.).

It’s amazing how a little inexpensive digital timer like this can help so much with setting limits. I can tell Josh and Zoë to stop doing something, but sometimes they’d negotiate or whine. But when I set the timer and tell them that they have stop whatever it is that they’re doing when the timer buzzes, they stop. With nary a whine or “but, Mommy…”

What does a timer have that I don’t?! Hmmph.

Mighty Mind® / Super Mind®

Sorry for the long period of silence. I’ve just been busy with other stuff. I’ll try to do a post at least once a month (or more!), starting again in September, as July/August will be busy months for moi. Thanks for visiting!

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I remember having fun with tangrams when I was growing up. Only seven pieces of flat shapes, but endless possibilities. Very challenging, although at times frustrating, but always lots of fun.

When I saw these games at a toy sale, I immediately grabbed them. This was when Josh was only 2 years old. Yes, I’m a hoarder. Guilty as charged.

Anyway, one lazy afternoon, when we were bored with the usual games and I didn’t want him watching TV or playing on the computer, I remembered about the Mighty Mind® game and brought it out.

Here is Josh, working on the first few puzzles:

The pack came with 30 image cards and 32 geometric shapes. Each of the cards are numbered and follow a logical sequence of patterns starting with two half circles that the child manipulates to form a full circle. Each card “guides” the child through different shape combinations and increases in complexity.

It was wonderful seeing Josh’s “Aha!” moments when he realized that X plus X shape makes a Y shape. You could almost see his increasing confidence as he moved on to each card. After sitting down and explaining to him how the game works, I pretty much left him to his own devices and he would just call out to me to go and see each time he completed an image. He kept at it for quite a while –at least an hour, --which was awesome and allowed me a little bit of peace and quiet to do my stuff.

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Once you are done with Mighty Mind® (Ages 3-8), you can move on the Super Mind® (Ages 5-9). Super Mind® follows the same concept, except that the images are more complex and more challenging.

Josh is pretty self-motivating most of the time, but sometimes he’d take a look and would go, “Aw, Mommy! It’s so tough!” Because of this, I was a bit wary about introducing Super Mind® to him now, lest he finds the complexity of the patterns too overwhelming and be turned off and not enjoy the game anymore. But we’d pretty much gone through all the cards in Mighty Mind® and he wanted a “surprise” from me for finishing his Math worksheets yesterday.

To my surprise and delight, he eagerly tackled the new patterns and actually completed the first five (photo of Pattern #36 above) before deciding to “save it for another day.” I think he surprised himself, too, because as he progressed, his excitement at completing each one grew. Look at this, Mommy –all done! I did it!

Great game for the preschoolers. Even Zoë was doing the first few patterns on the Mighty Mind® set. Zoë did it, Mommy!

Upon further research, I found that this game is apparently a winner of the Parent's Choice Toy of the Year award and has been nominated four times by Parenting Magazine to the Toy Hall of Fame, among other accolades and citations.

I got these two sets from Toys ‘R’ Us, but I do believe that these are also available at Apita and possibly Wing On, too. I can’t remember the exact cost, but for sure, each one was under HK$200. If you can’t find them anywhere here in Hong Kong, I’m pretty sure that you can order the games through Amazon.com.