Toddlers &
Preschoolers
Count Your Chickens – Players work together to help Mother Hen collect her chicks and bring them back to the coop; if they are successful everyone wins!
Hello Sunshine – Hello Sunshine is a plush sun with a sweet smiley face and a Velcro-enclosed pocket on its underside. In the pocket is a group of 18 double-sided cards. Each card features a picture, along with matching text, of a hiding place for the 'Sunshine'. The object of the game is to draw a card and hide Sunshine wherever the card directs you to hide him.
Hide and Seek – Attractive images of familiar objects are pictured on small discs. Put colored plastic discs over five pictures, roll the color die, and try to name what picture is under the matching disc. A good language, color, and memory game for two or more players.
Hi Ho Cherry-O – Round and round she goes. Hi Ho! Cherry-O is the counting game in which players race to be the first to have 10 cherries in their basket. A spin of the arrow determines your fate. It will instruct you to pick one, two, three, or four cherries from your tree and put them in your basket
Hungry Hungry Hippos – We all remember this game as kids! These four Hungry Hungry Hippos want to munch a bunch of marbles! The faster you press their tails, the more marbles they try to chomp. If your hippo gobbles the most, you win!
KeeKee the Rocking Monkey – KeeKee the Rocking Monkey is a simple and fun balancing game. It includes a twelve-inch wooden monkey with outstretched arms and a banana hat. The game consists of players taking turns carefully placing balls on the monkey until either he tips over or one or all of the balls topple from him.
Memory – This game comes in every theme these days. From Marvel Superheroes to Curious George, your child will learn about taking turns and matchmaking as they try to make pairs of familiar objects. Played alone, Memory is a quiet activity for developing concentration and memory. With more players, it's even more of a memory challenge to remember where the cards are that have already been turned over..
School-Age
Ambiguity – Ambiguity is a game that makes the brain squirm. The concept is simple—roll eight-letter die, set the timer, jot down as many words as players can make out of the letters—but mastering the game isn’t easy.
Apples to Apples – Select the card from your hand that you think is best described by a card played by the judge. Whoever persuades the judge that their card best fits the description wins the round!
Battleship – Dare to defeat the enemy fleet in this classic game of strategic combat. Command a fleet of five ships as you search out the enemy, fire at coordinates and score hits. Comes with 2 plastic fold-and-store game trays, 10 plastic ships, 84 red "hit" pegs, 168 white "miss" pegs.
Blurt! – Listen to a definition and race to respond! The first player to "Blurt" correctly moves ahead on the game board. Make it around first and you win!
Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That! – This is not your traditional board game. I Can Do That! comes with imaginative props inspired by the classic children's book The Cat In the Hat by Dr. Seuss, as well as a deck of color-coded cards that provide funny, challenging activities.
Chess – It’s an oldie but a goodie! All you have to do is learn the proper movements for each piece and play against an opponent. If you really enjoy it, you can compete in chess tournaments (they have them for ages 8 and up).
Clue Jr. & Clue – Give junior detectives a chance to solve the case with this specially designed game--a classic Whodunit for ages 5-8! Find the clues to find out who stole the cake and ate it, too! It's classic CLUE fun for kids! If you want a more challenging version of the game, check out Clue, a fun original version for older, more experienced detectives.
Connect 4 – The rules are simple: try to build a row of four checkers while keeping your opponent from doing the same. Sounds easy, but it's not! The vertical strategy creates a unique challenge: you must think in a whole new way to block your opponent's moves!
Cranium Cariboo – This game is an enjoyable way for your little one to learn the ABC's, numbers, shapes and colors. Each turn gives kids a chance to match fun drawings, unlock secret doors and discover hidden treasure. Designed especially for young children, ages 3 to 6 yrs.
Hedbanz – Got something on your mind? You sure do! It's a picture, but of what? Maybe you're a rhino, or a pitcher, or an apple?! You'll have to guess! When it's your turn, flip the timer and ask your friends as many yes or no questions as you can until the sand runs out.
Mermaid Beach – Soak up the fun down at Mermaid Beach! Join the colorful cast and see if you can collect the most seashell cards. A game that is sure to please all the little mermaids in your family.
Pictionary – Draw a card with a word on it. Flip the hourglass, and you have sixty-seconds to try to draw the word on the card! Whoever guesses the object first wins, and they become the next artist!
Scrabble or Scrabble Jr. – Score as many points as you can by forming words using the letters on the tiles. A classic!
Set Junior – SET Junior, a spin on the familiar version of SET, is a challenging board game for children ages 3 and up in which players must look at cards with different color items, shapes of items and number of items and determine if three cards make up a set.
What’s It? – What's It is a guessing game in which players team up and play against a character called The Doodler, instead of each other. The rules are basic. One player rolls a die to select the category, such as "You wear it" or "You use it." Then a Doodle card is flipped over and all players write down what they guess the doodle might be, according to the category.
Uno – Players take turns matching a card in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck either by color or number. Special action cards deliver game-changing moments as they help you defeat your opponents. Be the first player to get rid of all your cards!
So, you’ve decided to give up. No New Year’s Resolutions for losing weight, you say! You’re fed up of all the diets that have promised you great results yet left you hungry, tired, irritable and weak. You’re fed up of all the "wonder workouts" that have promised you amazing strength, fitness and flexibility ‘in just minutes a day’ but that have left you feeling tired, sore, stiff and, truth be told, no firmer or less flabby than you were before. But most of all, you’re fed up of all those fitness "experts" out there who tell you how easy it is, how little time it takes and how amazing you’re going to look if you follow THEIR program (ONLY theirs, mind you, no-one else’s will even come near to what they’re offering).
Leading child development authorities often report that much of a child's early reading success depends on the level of support given at home. Children who are given the opportunities and tools for learning to read both at home and at school have a better chance of success. The following are ten tips that can help parents know when they are on track helping their children prepare for reading success.