Category: Games

Games

Gifts for the Gifted – 13 Subscription Ideas

Terri Eichholz

Several years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season.  I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually (except for 2019) every November and December.  These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child.  For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, including my ongoing 2022 list, you can visit this page. I also have a Pinterest Board of Games and Toys for Gifted Students and one for Books for Gifted Children or Anyone who Loves to Learn.

If you are reading this post and looking for a 2022 Christmas gift, then it is most likely too late to order something online without paying exorbitant fees to get it delivered on time. In that case, you may want to consider purchasing a subscription, instead — something that will keep on giving throughout next year. Here are some ideas:

Box Subscriptions

  • Bitsbox — I wrote about this service for students who are interested in coding way back in 2015. My gifted students really enjoyed the free sample we received, and one student convinced his parents to purchase a subscription so he could receive a new box with fun app coding ideas every month. Even my daughter (12 years old at the time) enjoyed playing around with it. If you are gifting a child between the ages of 6-12 who is avid about creating apps, consider one of the many subscription options available here. It is best for children who have access to a device with a keyboard to create the code and a mobile device to test it out.
image from Bitsbox
  • Kiwi Crate — I’m actually gifting this subscription to my 3-year old nephew, but you can find options for children from anywhere between ages 0-12+. Each month includes a box of age-appropriate STEAM based projects delivered to your door. As of this date of this post, Kiwi Crate is offering a discount of $15.95/month for any of their plans using the code, HOLIDAY.
image from Age 5-8 Kiwi Crate

If you are looking for other Box Subscriptions that can appeal to students with interests from reading to cooking, this article from Good Housekeeping has even more great suggestions.

Digital Subscriptions

Prodigy Math Example
  • Storybird — Although my students were using Storybird over 10 years ago, the site has added even more features, such as challenges and classes, since then. With beautiful artwork that students can choose from to create their books, comics, and other forms of written expression, it is an inspiring site for any budding author from elementary to high school. There is even a course on writing for video games. Available for desktop or mobile, you can try it for free before committing. The monthly cost begins at $4.99. Stories can be published online publicly or privately, and you can even pay to print physical books if you love your creation! (See “Book Printing” in the FAQ section here.)

Some other digital subscriptions that may be of interest (but I don’t have experience with them) are: NightZookeeper (another reading/writing app), Outschool (not technically a subscription because you pay per class — but the classes look super fun!), and DIY (an online maker community for kids, which appears to be free as far as I can tell?) You can also visit my article on CoSpaces from 2020.

Magazine Subscriptions

image from video in Brainspace Magazine’s “School of Rap” article
  • National Geographic — There are a “Kids” version and a “Little Kids” version of this magazine. My daughter loved the latter when she was young, and my students found the “Kids” one fascinating in our school library. If your child does not have access to this at school, they will enjoy receiving the 6 issues/year in their mailbox.

I’m very intrigued by the Puzzlemania series from Highlights magazine, but I haven’t reviewed them. I did like Highlights as a kid, but I was more delighted by the Games magazine subscription my mother got for me. However, the latter only has a small puzzle sections for kids, while the rest of the puzzle might be frustrating for children who are not yet in their teens. (I actually get this magazine now, and my 20 year old daughter and I solve puzzles together when we have time.)

This article from Fatherly has even more recommendations for magazine subscriptions. I saw several new-tome suggestions that I would definitely consider if my child was younger, such as: Muse, Chickadee, and Kazoo. You can also check outmy blog post about beanz magazine.

How to Gift a Subscription

Since subscriptions purchased right now won’t make it under the tree in time, you can try printing out a picture of the subscription and wrapping that. To make it even more of an experience, print out this free scavenger hunt that leads to the surprise.

Other Last-Minute Ideas

Speaking of experiences, last year I wrote about gifting these. Also, I linked to some DIY gifts here. And remember that Time with You is always the best gift!

Visit again tomorrow for one more suggestion for 2022!

3-12, Critical Thinking, Games, Teaching Tools, Writing

Gifts for the Gifted — I Dissent

Terri Eichholz

Several years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season.  I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually (except for 2019) every November and December.  These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child.  For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, including my ongoing 2022 list, you can visit this page. I also have a Pinterest Board of Games and Toys for Gifted Students and one for Books for Gifted Children or Anyone who Loves to Learn.

I’ve already referenced this article by @LindsayAnnLearn once in the last few weeks when I posted about her “Bring Your Own Book” game. Let’s just say that I found a lot of gift ideas on her list, and “I Dissent” is one of them. Inspired by the great RBG herself, this game is an entertaining way to give participants practice in the art of arguing, although the stakes are much lower than cases brought before the Supreme Court. In fact, you don’t need to worry about any hot button topics like politics and religion. Instead, be prepared to debate whether it’s okay to wear socks with sandals or if playing video games should be considered a sport.

“I Dissent” states that it’s for ages 14+ on the game instructions, but I looked through all of the topic cards and didn’t see any that I wouldn’t use with my elementary students. There might be some vocabulary you will need to explain, such as the word, “irrational,” or something children won’t care about (“the 90’s were better than the 80’s,” for example), but I doubt you’re going to get any parent phone calls for cards like, “dogs would make better drivers than cats.”

The number of players could easily be adjusted to include a whole classroom or a small family of 3. Technically there are enough sets of “Voting Cards” for 9 people, but playing in teams wouldn’t be a problem. Basically, each player/team gets a set of “Voting Cards” with the numbers 1, 2, or 3, and two opinion cards (“Agree” and “Disagree”). A topic card is turned over and whoever is the “Chief Justice” for that round chooses how long players can argue the topic. When that time is up, players choose an opinion card and how many votes they are willing to give up for that opinion. The opinion that wins that round is the one that scores the most votes, NOT the opinion that appears the most. You can only use each of your 8 votes once, so you need to be judicious — pun intended — with your choices. Winners of each round get to keep their “Vote Cards” from the round face up in front of them to count towards the end of the game, while losers of the round return the used “Vote Cards” to the box.

You continue playing 7 more rounds with each person/team getting a chance to be “Chief Justice.” There are also “Dissent Cards” that can be put into the mix, but I’ll let get your own game to learn those slightly complicated rules. At the end, you tally up all of the scores on the “Vote Cards” in front of you to determine the winner.

Once you get the hang of the game, it’s easy enough to make up your own controversial topics to debate, and this could definitely get interesting with a variety of inputs from any age. As Lindsay mentioned, you could also bring in curriculum with home-made topics. And you can add a persuasive writing assignment to tie things together afterward.

I like this game because I really do feel that, as a society we have been regressing in our ability to conduct civilized debates. “I Dissent” can appeal to different age groups and still be hilarious and fun while we guide children toward arguing respectfully. If you want to extend that lesson, try a “Socratic Smackdown” or two once you feel like the conversations are ready for more complexity!

3-12, Books, Games, Math

Gifts for the Gifted — Math Games with Bad Drawings

Terri Eichholz

Several years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season.  I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually (except for 2019) every November and December.  These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child.  For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, including my ongoing 2022 list, you can visit this page. I also have a Pinterest Board of Games and Toys for Gifted Students and one for Books for Gifted Children or Anyone who Loves to Learn.

I envision today’s recommendation being given to: teachers who like to engage their students with different games, families who are looking for ways to have fun together away from screens, kids who have a somewhat adversarial relationship with math (as I once did), and geeky people like me who appreciate humor, logic, puzzles, and the surprising elegance of math.

Find Math Games with Bad Drawings here or your favorite local bookstore.

Math Games with Bad Drawings is the third book from Ben Orlin, who is also the genius behind the Math with Bad Drawings website. The book was released in April of 2022 and, frankly, I wish it had been published ten years ago. There are so many ways I would have used Math Games with Bad Drawings in my classroom, particularly when my students did their unit on mathematical masterpieces. It’s not only the games that would be a hit with the students, but the actual commentary throughout.

And, of course, the bad drawings.

As a teacher or a parent, I would set aside time to read this book with children as well as to play the games. Don’t skip the introduction because it’s also quite amusing. (I’m also pretty sure that a lot of the gifted teachers who I’ve worked with will appreciate some of the references to games we’ve played in class with our students. Escher, Fibonacci, and Set all make appearance at the beginning. And wait until you see Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe!) The rest of the book is divided into: Spatial Games, Number Games, Combination Games, Games of Risk and Reward, and Information Games. In addition to the rules for each game and illustrations, Orlin also describes, in many cases: where each game originated, why it matters, and any known variations.

This book is large (in both its length of 368 pages and its physical size), hardcover, and heavy. In the “Conclusion,” you’ll find tables that display the games listed in the book as well as the materials required (mostly pencil/paper), and the recommended number of players. (Most are 2 or 3 player games, though “Con Game” could be played with the seemingly arbitrary limit of 500 people.) The “Bibliography’ at the end is the most intriguing and entertaining bibliography I have ever read in my life. Not that I ever have read any bibliographies in the past, which just goes to show you how good it must be.

Math Games with Bad Drawings is going to have a prized spot on my bookshelf, and I’m pretty sure my family and descendants will never have cause to be bored again. I’m certain all will agree with me that there are infinite possibilities for fun with this book. Otherwise, this once-upon-a-time-despiser-of-math-turned-math-nerd will feel compelled to declare to all,


“I’ll just put on my Star Wars pajamas and sit in my mom’s basement and pore over some spreadsheets.”

Ben Wyatt, Parks and Recreation
Critical Thinking, Games, K-12, Problem Solving

Gifts for the Gifted – Building Road Breakthrough

Terri Eichholz

Several years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season.  I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually (except for 2019) every November and December.  These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child.  For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, including my 2021 list, you can visit this page. I also have a Pinterest Board of Games and Toys for Gifted Students. 

For this week’s gift recommendation, I went with a logic game that can appeal to a wide range of ages (3+) for different reasons. It initially appealed to me because I thought my nephew, who is about to turn 3, might like it. It has 2 things that he currently likes — a truck and marbles. Surprisingly, my teenage daughter also found it fun, so this toy definitely scores highly in the area of multi-aged/generational play.

Here is one version of Building Road Breakthrough

This game scores low on durability because there are many pieces that could easily get lost, including a few marbles. No containers are provided other than the plastic they are packaged in, which isn’t reusable. However, I found a gallon storage bag keeps everything together nicely other than the 4 large pieces that fit together to make the base of the game.

A challenge book is included that scaffolds the puzzles from primary to master. The object is to get the windup truck from the starting tile to the final tile, where it deposits its marble. The colored pictures in the primary level show where to place the tiles, gradually adding more pieces, so young children can work on copying the 2d version to their 3d pieces, and then cheer when their truck reaches its destination. After that level, the puzzles show how to set up some of the tiles, and then the player must figure out where the other tiles need to be placed in order for the truck to have a successful journey. Like many logic games, this toy is technically for one player, but I would suggest that two or three could collaborate on solving the challenges. As I usually suggest, it’s good to go through the challenges in order as the easier puzzles build up skills that are useful in the more advanced ones. Of course, my daughter did not follow this advice; after doing a challenge in each section with some considerable trouble, she went immediately to the last one…

Though I found this particular product on Amazon, there seem to be a lot of other versions out there with slightly different names, so you can definitely shop around.

selective focus photo of pile of assorted title books
3-12, Books, Games, Language Arts

Bring Your Own Book

Terri Eichholz

A couple of months ago I bookmarked a Tweet from TCEA sharing this article from @LindsayAnnLearn. I finally got around to reading it, and I found tons of ideas for learning games to use in an ELA secondary classroom. (If you do Socratic Dialogues in your classroom, I recommend taking a look at how she uses playing cards to spice it up.) Some of the games are sold commercially, but could be adapted easily for upper elementary. One of them is, “Bring Your Own Book,” from @DoBetterGames, and the good news is that you can download your own printable cards and instructions FOR FREE if you subscribe to their newsletter. Scroll down to the part of this page until you see, “Print & Play/Mailing List.”

There are four sets of rules: Classic, Democratic, Royale and Cutthroat. For any of these version, the players sit in a circle, each with a book of his/her choice. Cards with different prompts are turned over (one for each round), and the players need to try to find a quote in the book that matches the prompt. The main difference in the versions is how it’s determined who wins each round with the “best” match, for which that player wins a card. Once a player has obtained 4 or 5 cards, depending on the number of players, they are declared the winner. Here are some examples of prompts in the printable version:

Click here and scroll down to subscribe and receive your own printable cards and instructions.

You may need to remove some of the prompts depending on the ability levels of your students. The free download also includes blank cards so you or the students can add your own. I love the idea that you could do this with self-selected books that students are independently reading or even assigned class novels.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there are also some free add-ons in the email you will receive, like these samples from the “Christmas Revelers” page:

If you’re looking for more game ideas, definitely take a look at Lindsay’s post. Also, here is a post I published for NEO on using talk show games in the classroom, and I’ll be adding this post to my Wakelet of Fun Stuff.

3-12, Games, spatial reasoning

Gifts for the Gifted – Asteroid Escape

Terri Eichholz

Several years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season.  I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually (except for 2019) every November and December.  These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child.  For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, including my 2021 list, you can visit this page. I also have a Pinterest Board of Games and Toys for Gifted Students. 

Asteroid Escape is produced by “Smart Games,” and if you end up liking this one you may want to visit their site to find others that are similar. Asteroid Escape is a lot like the classic Rush Hour game that you can find in many Gifted and Talented classrooms, with a spaceship and asteroids replacing the traditional cars and trucks. Like last week’s pick, this one is great for developing spatial reasoning skills. But Asteroid Escape comes with a booklet of scaffolded challenges, showing how the game board should be set up at the beginning each time, with the ultimate goal of sliding the pieces around so the spaceship can “escape” the asteroids by sliding down the only exit ramp.

You can purchase Asteroid Escape by Smart Games here.

This game is for 8 years and up. Though it’s technically a one player game, I like to recommend partners — especially a child and an adult if this is the first time the child has played this type of game. Taking turns on the challenges and thinking out loud is a great way to model the problem-solving needed. My 19-year-old daughter and her friend immediately turned to one of the hard challenges to test out the game (which I never recommend because children usually get frustrated and give up). Having grown up with me, my daughter grinned as I chided her, but stuck with it and solved the puzzle. After that, she and her friend were addicted, and returned to it several times over the weekend, commenting that the “ramp is satisfying.”

With a clear plastic dome that you can pop over the top, Asteroid Escape is portable and it’s easy to keep the pieces together. It makes a good travel game, classroom center, or challenge for “fast finishers.” I think it would be a good gift for anyone who enjoys puzzles and is interested in space.

Since I like to find independent toy stores to support when I do these recommendations, I am going to link to “Toys to Love” in Houston, Texas, where you can shop online or in-person. You can also go to the Smart Game website to find a store near you.