This past spring I told you about the game Spot It! by Blue Orange Games, it has become a staple for family game nights. Now I’m going to tell you about Tell Tale Fairy Tales. Tell Tale Fairy Tales is a great game for families with kids ages 5+. I played it with a group of 3rd-5th graders and they keep begging to play it again.

Tell Tale Fairy Tales is a progressive story telling game that helps kids with literary development, storytelling, creativity and imagination. There are four different ways to play this game which includes 60 two-sided picture cards to aid in story creation. The games can be played with 1-8 players depending on how you use it. This game has great re-playability which is only limited by the player’s imaginations. We played eight games the first night we played and the kids wanted to play more, but we ran out of time.
To tell a new personalized bedtime story each night, parents can improvise a tale based on 10 cards selected by the child. No matter how you play it, the wonderful illustrations and library of images will whisk you away to another time and place in just a few words. This is a fun and educational games suitable for play at home, school, daycare and in homeschooling situations and at $12.99 it is an affordable addition to your family game collection.

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thinkSMART software is developed to enhance and encourage reading skills, critical thinking & logical problem-solving, and do so in a fun creative way.

Crazy Machines (DS & Wii): Think outside of the box and push the boundaries of creative thinking as you utilize random objects (anvil, rolling spheres and more!) to build a variety of increasingly complex contraptions that cause chain reactions. Big picture thinking, big fun and big points await in the construction of Crazy Machines!

Labyrinth (DS): Based on the popular board game, Labyrinth drops players in a series of mazes where logical thinking and problem solving skills are the only way out.  Move the walls with the stylus and discover all your treasures in the labyrinth before your opponents do!

Scotland Yard: The Hunt for Mr. X (DS): The chase is a-foot! Scotland Yard is searching for Mister X in London, New York, Berlin, Paris & Amsterdam.  Deductive thinking and procedural logic are key as players aid the famous detectives in the capture of the elusive Mr. X.
I gave all 3 games to my 16 year old son for him to play and review for me, here is what he had to say.

The two DS games I tested (Labyrinth and Scotland Yard) were really lacking on instructions. They basically tell you the story of the game and then tell you to play without telling you what to do. After I figured out how to play the games they were both a lot of fun and highly addicting!  They are themed for a little younger kids, probably between the ages of 8-12. They both take alot of thinking and stratagy. The Wii game (Crazy Machines) was a lot of fun as I do enjoy making and watching Rube Goldberg Machines. This one is also themed for a younger audience than myself, and it’s pretty tricky! Even I got stuck on some levels. There were a few minor glitches in the game. I did have to exit and restart the game after it randomly froze on me.

All in all the games were fun but not very intuitive. They could all use more instruction at the beginning of the game.

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Players race their pawns around the board to be the first to collect all the letters of the word SYNONYMS. A roll of the die and a card is selected. The player has one minute to earn a letter by naming the designated number of synonyms- unless a competitor declares a challenge! Minds race at maximum brainpower as each tries to top the other. Pass and Challenge cards add strategy and equalize the odds for all players.

Each word card has a list of synonyms on the back and you have to name the synonyms to that word. We found we didn’t do very well naming synonyms that were listed but we named several that we all agreed were acceptable synonyms for the given word. The game says it is for ages 10 and up, I would not want to play this with an 8 year old, my 15 year old got frustrated playing Synonyms. This is a very educational game and there are ways to modify it for the group you are playing with. There are 3 different colored sets of word cards and if you are playing with a younger group of kids I would recommend playing with only the green cards as they are the easiest.

An example of a green card is the word powerful. The synonyms listed are: able, almighty, athletic, concentrated, enduring, firm, forceful, hale, hardy, mighty, muscled, potent, robust, strong and tough. An example of a moderate difficult green card is the word thoughtful. Synonyms being:astute, attentive, aware, careful, caring, chivalrous, concerned, considerate, cooperative, courteous, diplomatic, discreet, friendly, gracious, helpful, introspective, kind, meditative, obliging, pensive, polite, prudent, reflective, sensitive. on the most difficult red card is the word adequate= acceptable, all right, capable, comfortable, commensurate, competent, decent, enough, equal, fair, fit, fitting, ok, passable, plenty, satisfactory, sufficient, suitable, tolerable.

This game would be great for homeschoolers or for use in a classroom setting. We did find the directions for using the challenge cards a bit difficult to understand so we chose not to use them at all.

Click the link to purchase Synonyms.

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