Board Games

Now that the weather is going from bad to worse, board games are again in session. This was engaged Sunlight Boy for hours and hours last week. I played with him, his sister played with him, his grandpa played with him, he played by himself for hours and hours. We did not follow the competitive rules, we just tried to stack the shapes over one another and thing and maneuver so they do not fall down, we talked while making the attempts, we laughed when everything toppled over. Oh, what a fabulous pass time.

 Then Ballet Girl discovered a very tiny black and white, travel size chess board and asked to learn the rules and play. This is in my dad's realm so he engaged in this activity. We looked, but did not find, our bigger chess board. We are currently waiting for my mom to return from the east coast to tell us where the game is in the house. I do foresee this being a popular pass time this winter for the big girl.

Jenga is on the floor, not on the table because Sunlight boy is using the blocks as blocks to build garages for his cars. It is great. He builds open and closed garages, single and multi-floor garages. Overall, very grateful for something so simple that boosts creativity and provides hours of engagement.

Yes, both kids have been playing. They both understand the rules and the actions required and the meaning of the cars. I am going to introduce the next level of difficulty the next time the game appears on the floor-you place the cards in the order in which you think you should execute them and then you maneuvre your turtle according to that order and see what happens. If things didn't happen as intended, you modify your 'code' until you turtle can achieve its goal. I gave this game a low review on Amazon because I think it is very basic. I think that programming per say is a very easy think to do. Understanding the programming, debugging is what is more difficult. Improving efficiency is the hardest. The game, in my opinion, only addresses the mechanics of programming, but now I realize that with some nuance it can introduce the concept of debugging. Efficiency is out of scope until you hit the road and do some real experimentation and measurement. This for us is a few years down the road.

Overall, winter is great in that we can finally play some good games are home.

My kids do not touch electronics such as laptops and tablets. When the school gave permission to Ballet Girl to read books on the application Raz-Kids and when she expressed interest I let it be. However, I disliked very much the program. Ballet girl quickly rushes through the books, passes the quizes and moves on without retaining or thinking about any information. I firmly believe that reading is about obtaining information and critical thinking, not about memorization. Now, this application is off limits too. I went back to the old fashioned-read a few pages, but think about them-approach.