For those of you new to this blog, I am devoting Fridays during the holiday season to recommending “Gifts for the Gifted”. You can see the three posts that I have done so far here, here, here and here. You can also visit my Pinterest board on Games for Gifted Students. A lot of these are not just for gifted students, but would be appreciated by many children – and adults.
I bought “Camelot Jr.” several years ago on sale at Barnes and Noble. Back then, it was called “Royal Rescue”, and I liked the idea that a little bit of building was integrated with the logic puzzles. This game can be played alone, or with a couple of people. The challenge is to find a way for the knight and the princess to meet. There is a book of puzzles, and they are in order of difficulty. You are given a picture showing the initial construction, with the knight and princess on opposite sides, and shown pictures of which blocks can be used to create a “road” that will join the two figures.
This is a great game for children five and up. Don’t let them skip to the middle because it seems too easy at first. Each challenge teaches you something, and you can use your experience from previous, easier challenges, to help solve the harder ones.
If you read the reviews, you will see that many people felt that “Camelot Jr.” was a fun activity for kids and adults. As I’ve watched my daughter and many of my students work through it, they have reached puzzles that I definitely can’t solve mentally, and it’s exciting to observe the children problem solving, reaching the edge of frustration, and then crowing with triumph when they finally reach the solution.
