Fun Games For Kids and Families: Review and Giveaway

Giveaway open to US and Canada.

I can't think of a better way to bring the family together than to sit around the table with a great game. (In truth, my favourite activity is sitting around the TV, but that makes me sound a little lazy and antisocial. Therefore I'm going with my second best.)

Today I'm recommending a terrific new family game called "Bubble Words". This one is for ages 8 and up (the post-Candyland crowd) and refreshingly involves no dice or markers. Instead, the materials are simply a stack of 150 photos, and  300 caption cards, with speech bubble sayings such as "Maybe I should get my eyes checked", "I hope I'm not overdressed", and "This is soooo gonna leave a mark."

Each player is dealt 7 speech bubble cards, and has to choose which one is the funniest match for the hilarious photo card which is turned up in each round. A judge decides on the winner, who is awarded the photo. The object of the game is to collect as many photos as you can.

You may be wondering how I tried this game out, when my daughters are too young to play. Fortunately, I have daily access to a room full of game-loving eight year olds...and man, do they LOVE Bubble Talk! It's a fantastic little supplement to my language program (with reading, oral communication and media literacy components) and let's face it, kids are funny.

Some of the sayings are mature ("Come here often?") and there is occasional bathroom humour (e.g. a man holding his nose outside a port-a-potty) but everything is age-appropriate.

My students still ask every day if we can play, and I am certain is will be a well-used rainy-day recess option.

The  second game I tried out is the new Rubik's Slide - an electronic game with over 10,000 puzzles, reminiscent of the original Rubik's Cube. The goal is to slide and twist the game until the squares light up in the required pattern. This is definitely not my idea of fun, so I again called on my students to try it out at recesstime (a great motivator, let me tell you!) As someone with experience in Gifted Education and Multiple Intelligences, I also think it's important to encourage and develop both the visual/spatial and kinesthetic aspects which are incorporated in this game. The manufacturer is promoting it as a perfect game for the hard-to-buy-for 8 and up crowd, and I would definitely consider it if you have a child in that age group on your list.

You can win both of these games (total retail value almost $50!), simply by leaving a comment below and asking to be entered. For additional entries, leave a separate comment letting me know that:

• You follow This Mom Loves publicly on Google Friend Connect
• You subscribe to This Mom Loves through email (be sure subscription is activated)
• You follow @thismomloves on Twitter
• You follow @BubbleTalkGame on Twitter
• You follow @Rubiks_Slide on Twitter
• You like Rubiks Slide on Facebook

The contest is open until Friday, December 3rd at 11:59 p.m., after which time a winner will be chosen through random number generation. Good luck!