Exclusively Available at Target . . . 'Spot It! Fire & Ice' Family Game

Thank you to Blue Orange Games for providing a sample Spot It! Fire & Ice game for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.

Since our first game received from Blue Orange Games, we have been in love. This company makes fun, quality games that my family loves to play. When we were offered their newest game, Spot It! Fire & Ice, I knew this game would be another one we would love. I was right.

Spot It! Fire & Ice is a Target exclusive game, meaning it will only be available to buy in Target stores. It features the same basic concept as the other Spot It! games, but with several variations that give it a twist. The object of the game is to run out of cards by rapidly playing those in your hand by matching one symbol from each card. In Fire & Ice though, there are “burn” symbols that give you the chance to push the included timer and get to free play all by yourself. This gives the game a twist that my boys just loved to take advantage of.

As with all of the Blue Orange Games, this game is well made with high-quality materials. The 55 cards are made of thick cardstock-type paper and the holder is thick, dense plastic. This game is recommended for ages 8 and up, but my 7 year old had no problem playing against his big brother and parents. It’s also designed for 2-8 players, so the whole family can play along. With its fast-paced timing, colorful cards, and convenient storage case/timer, this game is a great find for any family.

We’ve had so much fun playing this game already and I know that it will be a long time favorite of ours. From now through the end of November, you can purchase Spot It! Fire & Ice on sale for $17.99 at your local Target store. To learn more about Blue Orange Games, visit their website at www.blueorangegames.com.

Free Printable: Disney Pixar Films Cars and Planes Photo Memory Card Game (#WorldofCars #shop)

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study about Disney Planes and Disney Pixar Cars toys for Collective Bias and its client.  All opinions expressed are my own.

In the months prior to the opening of Planes the movie by Disney Pixar Films, our three children (6, 6, and 9) had a renewed interest in their diecast car collection from the two Disney Pixar Cars movies.  If you can believe it, we own over forty of these diecast cars.  They all have been played with a million times.  How can you tell which ones are my children's favorites?  Just look for the ones with chips of paint missing and other blemishes.  Poor Mater's tow cable finally came off after the countless number of times he had come to the rescue and "towed" the other cars to safety.  The prospect of adding a diecast Disney Planes Dusty and some of the other Planes movie characters to this collection was very exciting to our children.

The day we attended an A.M. screening of Disney Planes, we headed right over to Walmart after the movie to shop for Disney Pixar Cars and Planes toys.  We were able to add four diecast planes plus a couple of diecast cars from Cars the movie to our collection.

I looked at our 6 year old twins and thought how lucky they were to know almost all the characters from the original Disney Pixar Cars movie.  Then I thought about how many children their age were not so fortunate?  This is when I decided to create a memory card game using the characters from the Disney Pixar films Cars, Cars 2, and Planes that other parents could share with their children.

I started off by photographing 18 different characters, making sure that each film was represented.  Do you remember Leak Less, Snot Rod, Boost, and the twins, Tia and Mia?  They are all in this free printable memory card game I created.  How about this fellow below?  Do you remember his name?

His name is Yokoza!  You may not remember him because he only made a cameo in Disney Pixar Cars 2.

After I took the 18 photos, I used a graphics program to add a frame and some text.  I chose to add the name of each character because children who are unfamiliar with these characters will likely ask their parents what the vehicle's name is.  Maybe this little bit of text will even help to promote reading!

How to Print Your Disney Pixar Cars and Disney Planes Movie Memory Cards . . .

1.  Be sure your computer's printer is on and ready to print.  Also be sure that your paper is loaded in straight because the margins on these printables are very narrow.

2.  Click on each image below to enlarge them.  Then right-click and select the print option. You can print these cards on cardstock, photo paper, or any paper that is thick enough so that the image is not visible through the paper.  You can print the cards on standard printer paper, but you will need to paste them onto construction paper so that the images do not show through when the cards are face down.  Be sure to print two copies of each page.  Use your browser's back button to return to this page.

3.  Allow a few minutes for the ink to dry prior to handling the pages.  When the ink has dried, carefully cut out all the cards.  When you are done, you should have 18 pairs of cards.

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If your child is young, you may want to start off playing the memory game with just 9 pairs of cards.  If you start with an odd number of pairs, then there can never be a tie.

I have to say it was difficult to choose just 18 Disney Planes and Disney Pixar Cars characters to photograph.  Which characters did I not include that you would like to have seen?  Perhaps I will make additional pages of cards in the future.  If I do, I will definitely need to return to Walmart to buy more diecast Disney Planes toys.

Finding Balance With Asperger's: Conversational Card Games for Developing Social Skills

Thank you to Super Duper Publications for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Getting to know people is something that my 6 year old Aspie, Quinn, has trouble with. Kids on the spectrum tend to have trouble knowing what questions to ask or even know they should ask questions when interacting with others. Social cues are typically not their forte. So, when I saw products from Super Duper Inc. that would help him to ask questions that would build relationships, I knew I wanted them. They were kind enough to send us both Topic Talk and All About You, All About Me to review.

The Topic Talk Conversation Card Game takes learning about people and gives it a fun, competitive twist. In a group, players take turn drawing Topic Cards and then discussing the selected topic by using up their Conversation Cards on their turns. Each player gets a chance to both share and ask questions, but it’s done in a fun way so that kids like Quinn don’t realize that they’re actually building meaningful friendships. This game is fun and quick to play, plus it's simple to set up and stores away nicely. It also keeps everyone interacting the whole time so no one is sitting there bored waiting for their turn.

All About Me, All About You is what Super Duper calls a “Fun Deck” and, even though it is similar, to Topic Talk, it has a different value. This deck features questions to ask when interacting with peers. The cards are fairly identical to the Topic Talk ones but this deck is more portable and can be used anywhere. Just pull a card from the deck, prompt the question to your child, and watch as they learn something new about someone. I think this would be great for busier group activities at places like the park, restaurants, or in a larger classroom. The concepts are the same but the uses are very different.

Even though these two products are similar, they each have a different value in our lives and I will surely use each to help Quinn learn new things about his friends and relatives. Both of these products store in a metal container and can be purchased at www.superduperinc.com. Topic Talk retails for $32.95 and All About Me, All About You is priced at $12.95.

Finding Balance With Asperger's: Funny Faces Oral Motor Therapy Game

Oral motor activities are great for children like Quinn because they don’t understand those subtle facial expressions that most people do. Funny Faces is a great oral motor game that makes learning the art of expression fun.

Funny Faces is a new game of social interactions as well as both oral motor practice and planning skills. Kids make a face that matches the card drawn and other players try to figure out which face they are mimicking. It’s a simple game that is easy to understand but teaches valuable skills to children who have trouble reading and comprehending facial expressions. The game includes 60 game cards, 30 face tiles, a game board, 4 wooden tokens for placing guesses, and a small mirror to aid with making faces. This cute game requires no reading and is designed for children 4 and up due to small parts.

Quinn really enjoyed this game and I was impressed with its simplistic play and yet valuable skills taught. Quinn definitely does not understand expressions on other people or on himself, so I am happy this game will teach him to pay attention to the way the mouth, eyes, and even cheeks look. I think this game will help him tremendously in the future.

Funny Faces oral motor game can be purchased from The Therapy Shoppe for $15.99.

Thank you to The Therapy Shoppe for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Funnybone Toys Family Games

We love playing games here and I am always on the lookout for fun, interactive ones that everyone can play. When I found out about Funnybone Toys' line of card games, I was intrigued by their unique twists on favorite games and loved the way they looked, so I was happy to try out two of their popular games. Funnybone Toys makes games and toys that use good design to stimulate creativity so they give your brain a workout while you have fun.  This brand has won several awards for its creative games, including the Tillywig Award, plus The Creative Child Magazine's Preferred Choice Award and Game of the Year Award.

Spectrix is a Rummy-like game with a twist: colors. Instead of having numbers and letters, Spectrix has plain colored cards in 12 different colors and the object is to run out of cards in your hand by producing color collections, 3 or more cards of the same color, or color sequences, a run of colors in a specific order. This game follows much of the same rules as traditional Rummy and is even more fun. Because the cards are simply colored and the object is simple as well, even my 5 1/2 year old can play, even though it is designed for kids and adults over 8 years old. We all had a blast playing this game many times and I was thoroughly impressed with its unique nature and the sturdiness of the cards and the storage box. For 2-6 players, this game is entertaining, creative, not to mention beautifully designed, and it would make an excellent gift for any game lover in your life.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Array, which is specified for 2-6 players age 8 and up as well, is a game where players compete to place the most multi-colored cards into connecting patterns. You can do special moves, like splicing and slicing, that just add to the fun. This game reminds me of a mash up of Dominoes and Uno, all the fun parts of each. This one is slightly more complicated than Spectrix, but equally as fun. The object is the same: run out of cards before your opponents and the cards are just as beautiful and bright, but that's where the similarities end. Once we mastered the concept, we had tons of fun playing this game as well and it is just as sturdy and well-made as Spectrix.

Both of these card games from Funnybone Toys can be purchased at 60 specialty stores nationwide. To see if there is a retailer near you or to buy online, visit their website at www.funnybonetoys.com. Each of these games retail for approximately $14.99 each.


Thank you to Funnybone Toys for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon and for providing an additional product for our contest prize.

The winner of this giveaway will be able to choose one of the following games to receive from Funnybone Toys . . . Array, Classic CUBU, or Spectrix.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

Stocking Stuffers 2010: Tic Attack Toe Card Game

Tic Attack Toe is a card game that is a very unique twist on traditional Tic-Tac-Toe. In this two player game, each player holds 25 “X” or “O” shaped cards that are numbered 1-12 (two of each) and a WILD card. The aim is to get three in a row, but it’s harder than it sounds and that’s where the fun and strategy kick in.

My husband, 9 year old son, and myself all had a blast playing this game. It’s a one-of-a-kind variation on two games at once that requires you to think outside the box and be strategic. It’s very quick, too, so you don’t have to spend hours setting it up and playing. We played 2 full rounds (5 wins by one player equals a round) in about 20 minutes and setting up/disassembling took about 2 minutes total.

I also really loved that the carrying case for the game also converts to the playing “board” for the cards. This would make a great travel game because of how compact it is. All in all, we were more than a little pleased with it and it is now a part of our family game night staple. It is highly recommended for adults and older children alike.

Tic Attack Toe retails for approximately $7.95 and would make a wonderful small gift or a stocking stuffer this holiday. To learn more about this and other inventive toys, visit the PB&J Toys website. You can purchase Tic Attack Toe on MyFavToys.com, Amazon.com, and from other toy retailers. You can also find the PB&J Toy Company on Facebook.

Thank you to the PB&J Toy Company for sending us a sample game free of charge to base this review upon.