The Wolfe Pack {Reviews~Support~Opinions for the Discerning Homeschool Mom}

providing the discerning homeschool mama with supoort on her journey

Three Simple Ways to Make the Most of LEAP DAY

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LEAP DAY comes around only once every four years, which really isn’t very often in the grand scheme of things. It dawned on me recently that, though this will be my son’s fourth LEAP DAY, we’ve never done anything to recognize this anomaly on the calendar. And, frankly, I am not even sure I have EVER done anything, as an adult or as a child, to commemorate LEAP DAY.

So, I decided that 2020 would be the year we’d make the most of LEAP DAY! But, I also know we have Bible, pre-Algebra, General Science and World Geography to work on plus we need to keep up with our outside activities.  So I definitely needed to keep things simple.  So, how do you keep things simple but make the most of LEAP DAY at the same time? 

ONE: RECOGNIZE IT! This is so easy to do, and yet, I failed to do it in the past. All we need to do is just simply RECOGNIZE that there is an extra day this year and that it occurs on February 29th. When LEAP DAY rolls around, don’t let the day go by without drawing attention to the anomaly. That’s it. RECOGNIZE the special date!

TWO: LEARN ABOUT IT! Once I started down the path of wanting to celebrate LEAP DAY,  in pure homeschool Mom fashion, of course I went immediately to wanting to LEARN ABOUT IT. So, I did a wee bit of research and LEARNED as much as I could about why we have LEAP DAY. Then I whittled it down to a child’s level and created a LEAP DAY Fact Pack, which you can snag  here for FREE. It’s ten pages of informational text, comprehension questions, writing prompts and a crossword puzzle. {Or if you really want to pay for it, you can get it here for less than $3.} Or you can LEARN about LEAP DAY with this in-depth article on Wikipedia or in a much simpler form with this great little video. I plan on having my son watch the video and then work on the Fact Pack to LEARN ABOUT IT!

THREE: ENJOY IT! Now, this is where you can really go crazy with LEAP DAY plans but you can also keep things pretty simple and still ENJOY IT.  If you have little kids, you might want to stick with a frog theme and focus on all sorts of LEAPING activities. Play Leap Frog outside. Create a frog craft. Make a healthy or an unhealthy froggy snack. Color froggy pages.  There are loads of other frog-themed LEAP DAY ideas on Pinterest! If you have bigger kids, you might want to forgo the cutesie frogs and focus on the scientific fact that LEAP DAY won’t occur for another four years and make a simple time capsule for your family to “dig up” on 02-29-24! The best part of doing the time capsule is that it will just about guarantee that you’ll make the most of  LEAP DAY 2024! But no matter what you decide to do, just do something to ENJOY IT! 

 

You might also want to check out: 

THREE Ways Homeschoolers Can Have Some St. Patrick’s Day Fun

THREE Simple Ways to Make the Most of PRESIDENTS’ DAY

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

 

 

I’m sure most of us are looking forward to the upcoming holiday.  I mean, who doesn’t love a well-deserved three day weekend? I know I do!

But, do we even know what the holiday is?

Is it the singular President’s Day?

Or is it the plural Presidents’ Day?

Or is it the punctuation-free Presidents Day?

Or is it Washington’s Birthday? And, I swear, when I was growing up, we had Lincoln’s Birthday too!

{I just googled this and ALL of those are considered correct, by the way! It depends on your state and how they designate the day.}

But, whatever we call it, the fact is we do have a holiday coming up that has something to do with PRESIDENTS. 

But what are we celebrating? Are we recognizing PRESIDENT Washington? PRESIDENT Lincoln?  Reagan? Trump? Or somebody else that made his mark in between those infamous men? 

No matter who we decide to celebrate on this holiday, I do believe our PRESIDENTS {both past and present} deserve recognition and respect. 

So, I would like to suggest we make this holiday more  about the actual PRESIDENTS and less about the fact that we score a three day weekend and can buy deeply discounted mattresses. 

Here are three quick and simple ways to make the most of PRESIDENTS’ DAY!

ONE: RECOGNIZE IT! Before Monday hits, do a wee bit of research about WHY we have PRESIDENTS’ DAY. Google the simple question, “Why do we have PRESIDENT’S DAY?” Or ask Alexa, “What is the history of PRESIDENTS’ DAY?“  Start with that and go from there. And share that information with your family. Don’t let the day go by without making sure each of your kids understands why they don’t have school.  It’s not just another day. Do something to RECOGNIZE IT!

TWO: ENJOY IT! Do something to make the day memorable and meaningful so your family understands the value of the day. Make snacks, play a game, create a craft; do something to ENJOY the holiday. Pinterest has a gazillion ideas! A gazillion! But my favorite snack is this easy Patriotic Graham Cracker Snack because it is super easy to make and can be made with candy or fruit.   My favorite activity for little kids is this Money Sort.  And if you have older kids,  our favorite PRESIDENTS game is Professor Noggin’s PRESIDENTS of the US. {We love it so much I even did a GAME REVIEW on it.} Like I said, there are a gazillion ideas. Some are complicated. Many are simple. But it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the choices. So, just choose something, anything,  and ENJOY IT!

THREE: LEARN ABOUT IT! Take things a step further and LEARN about the special men behind the day, our PRESIDENTS.  I’m sure the vast majority of our kids know at least something about Washington and Lincoln. That’s great. They are very significant parts of our history. VERY. But, we are currently on our 45th PRESIDENT. And each one of those FORTY-FOUR {yes, the numbers don’t match…and here is the reason for that} has made an impact on the history of our country.  So you may want to spend part of the day LEARNING historical facts about our PRESIDENTS. If you decide to do this, I have a Presidents Past and Present Fact Pack for sale on TpT {for less than $5} that covers fourteen of our presidents. It includes informational text, writing prompts and more. It’s guaranteed to teach your kids {and probably you too; I learned SO MUCH while working on this resource.} Or, I am sure Pinterest has a gazillion of resources too. No matter, what you decide to use, I think it’s a great idea to LEARN ABOUT IT!

So, how do you plan on spending PRESIDENT’S DAY?

Game Review: PROFESSOR NOGGIN’S U.S. PRESIDENTS {History}

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

Professor Noggin’s Presidents of the U.S. is available on Amazon HERE.

Read on for a detailed REVIEW. 

Let me just start by saying that Professor Noggin has a HUGE selection of EDUCATIONAL CARD GAMES. They all use the same premise with the same rules. {They even all come in the same type of box which stack together perfectly.} So once you learn the rules and realize the VALUE in her games, you might get hooked {like us!} 

This REVIEW pertains to the President of the United States version but would apply across the board to Noggin’s other offerings. 

In addition to reviewing the

FUN FACTOR and the

EDUCATIONAL VALUE, I will also include info on the

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT {because I can’t stand broken boxes},

TIME COMMITMENT {because mine is limited},

CLARITY LEVEL {because I get irritated if I have to translate instructions}

and an OVERALL SCORE.

NAME: Professor Noggin’s Presidents of the U.S. Card Game

PUBLISHER: Outset

CATEGORY: History

TIME COMMITMENT: Minimal {10-15 minutes}

PLAYERS: 2-8

AGES: 7+ {or anybody who has learned some historical presidential facts and/or can read the cards to learn them as they go}

HOW TO WIN: Be the player with the most cards by answering the most questions correctly. 

CLARITY LEVEL: ♥♥♥♥♥ The instructions are super simple and explain the game clearly. We never needed to reference the instructions after we started playing. Score 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥

FUN FACTOR: ♥♥♥♥_ This is a fun, little game! Turns are fast and simple. And you can modify it to make it fun for multiple ages/skill levels by selecting Easy, Hard or a mixed version. We only scored it 4/5, though, because your kids probably won’t select this for Family Game Night next Friday.  But, it is a fun way to practice/learn facts about the presidents! Score 4/5  ♥♥♥♥_

EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥♥ The entire game is all about historical facts regarding United States’ Presidents so the educational value is high. Obviously, some facts hold more historical significance than others {some could be considered more like “fun trivia”} but everything pertains to the  subject of our presidents. Each card has its own topic which includes: Presidential Firsts, Who Was President When, Where Are They From, Slogans,First Ladies and more. Several cards are also specific to one particular president. No matter which card you draw, though, it will pertain to a U.S. President and it will be educational.  Score 5/5♥♥♥♥♥

 

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ The card game comes in a sturdy, little box which contains one die, 30 came cards and one instruction card. The cards are thick and strong. The components are minimal and very easy to keep organized. Score 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥

OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥ We enjoy many of Professor Noggin’s games as a fun component of our school day and this U.S. Presidents version has been a great addition. It’s quick, fun and educational. And, if, like me, you don’t recall much from your own history classes {way back when,} no worries. Just use the cards as learning tools instead and learn while you play. You’ll probably lose to your kids, but that’s okay. When everybody learns, everybody wins! Score 5/5  ♥♥♥♥♥

If you are ready to offer your kids a  fun and easy way to work on their presidential facts, you can buy the game here on Amazon.

If you would like to read detailed instructions {with pics,} continue on….

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Open box, unpack contents and shuffle cards. 

2. Put the cards in a stack in the center. 

3. Decide if you are going to play EASY, HARD or a mix of the two. You can easily play a mix if you have some players who are more advanced than others. Just assign those players the HARD questions and the beginner players get the EASY questions. 

4. Decide who will go first. Player One rolls the die. 

5. Player One draws the card from the top of the stack. 

6. Player One shows everybody the topic on the card.

7. Player One looks at the die{1, 2, 3} and reads the corresponding question {1, 2, 3} on the card to Player Two {the person to his/her right.} Player One needs to make sure he/she is reading the assigned level for Player Two {Easy/Hard.}

8. Player Two answers the question.***

9. If Player Two is correct, he/she gets to put the card in his/her own pile.

10. If Player Two is incorrect, Player One reads the answer out loud and then the card is placed on the bottom of the stack. 

11. Player Two rolls the die. 

12. Repeat steps 5-11 rotating through the Players until all of the cards have been correctly answered {or you decide to stop. It’s super easy to stop at any given point and call the game over.}

13. The player with the most cards at the end, wins the game {which, not surprisingly, was my son.}

***If a corresponding question is labeled “NOGGIN’S CHOICE”, that Player does not need to answer the question. Instead, he/she gets to steal a card from another Player’s pile and add it to his/her own.

 


Looking for something else? I have loads of Game Reviews! Here are just a few…

Wordical {spelling}

Totally Gross {science}

Flip It {multiplication}

 

Game Review: WORDICAL {Spelling}

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

Wordical is available on Amazon HERE.

Read on for a detailed REVIEW. 

 

 

We’re not full-blown gameschoolers by any means, but we do incorporate a lot of  educational games into our homeschool so we’re always on the hunt for something fun to add to our game collection.  But we also have some fairly rigorous educational requirements which means we don’t just select something new without assessing the game’s educational value. But, of course, it also needs to be FUN!

Amazon is my best friend when it comes to shopping {for most things} but the reviews don’t always answer my questions and I often hesitate to buy because I’m not totally “sold.”  If you’re like us and want thorough reviews on educational games, then you’ve come to right place!

Below is a full review of our latest favorite spelling game, Wordical. 

In addition to reviewing the

FUN FACTOR and the

EDUCATIONAL VALUE, I will also include info on the

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT {because I like things neat and tidy},

TIME COMMITMENT {because life is about more than just games},

CLARITY LEVEL {because frustration is no fun}

and an OVERALL SCORE.

 

 

NAME: Wordical

PUBLISHER: Educational Insights 

CATEGORY: Spelling

TIME COMMITMENT: Moderate {30+ minutes}

PLAYERS: 2-8

AGES: 8+ {or really anybody who can spell basic words}

HOW TO WIN: Score the most points by spelling words using vowel dice and consonant cards {and the quicker, the better!}

CLARITY LEVEL: ♥♥♥♥♥ The instructions are simple and explain the game perfectly. We only needed to reference the instructions once after we started the game and that was because we only had two players. {We did choose to modify* the game slightly, which was super easy to do but not necessary at all.}♥♥♥♥♥

FUN FACTOR: ♥♥♥♥_ This is a fun, little game! Turns are quick and easy. There is little room for debate/arguing {just have a dictionary handy for potentially “made-up” words.} We only scored it 4/5, though, because it doesn’t provide a lot of opportunities for laughter or hilarious moments. But, it is fun!  ♥♥♥♥_

 

EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥♥ It’s all about spelling so the educational value is high. And, if you take the time to discuss words that could’ve been created after a turn is completed, the educational value increases {as does the time component, obviously.} There is also a teeny bit of addition practice as the points are added. ♥♥♥♥♥

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ It comes in a cute little tin which I LOVE,  both for the size and the sturdiness. The tin contains a stack of consonant cards, two big vowel dice and the instructions. That’s it. You can keep the cardboard insert or not….either way, the game stays organized!  ♥♥♥♥♥

 

OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥_ Both my son and I enjoyed this, which is saying something because he is a HORRIBLE SPELLER, but we did modify it slightly to make playing with only two people more fun.  I think if we had not modified it, neither of us would’ve enjoyed it as much because I would have slaughtered him {score-wise}. This game does require some spelling ability and, if you play by the actual rules, players’ spelling skills should be basically on par with one another in order to make it a fair game. ♥♥♥♥_

If you are ready to offer your kids a really fun way to learn some general science facts with a bit of hands-on activities mixed in, you can buy it here on Amazon.

If you would like to read detailed instructions {with pics,} continue on….

 

 

HOW TO PLAY:

{per the instructions….our modified version* is below}

1. Open tin, unpack contents and shuffle cards. 

2. Deal each player five cards and put the draw pile in the center. 

 

 

3. Player One rolls the dice.

 

4. ALL PLAYERS use their consonant cards and the vowel dice to create words {without showing others}.

5. Each player chooses one word with the highest points and lays those cards down {leaving spaces for the vowel dice} to create the word. The vowels can be used as many times as necessary. 

 

 

6. Once all players have played a word, scores are tallied.

7. Each vowel is one point and each consonant has the assigned point value in the corner. 

8. Misspelled or made-up words are dismissed and no points are awarded for those words. 

9. The first player that laid his/her word down {assuming it was spelled correctly,} gets a BONUS of three points. 

10. The last player to lay his/her word down, only gets ONE point {regardless of the word spelled.}

11. Cards played are added to the dismiss pile {we put them back in the tin}.

12. Each player then draws additional cards until they have five cards again. 

13. Player Two rolls the die. 

14. Repeat Steps 4-12 until the Draw Pile is gone. 

15. The player with the most points at the end, wins the game!

 

 

OUR MODIFIED VERSION:

{The instructions allow for two people but we decided to modify it anyhow. Our way seemed more fun with only two…especially considering we were not equally matched in spelling at all.}

Play per the instructions EXCEPT instead of awarding the last player only one point, both players receive the points on their cards {and the first player gets the three point Bonus.}


Please check out my other GAME REVIEWS!

Totally Gross {science}

Math Dash {multiplication and division}

Flip It {multiplication}

Game Review: TOTALLY GROSS {Science}

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

Totally Gross: The Game of Science is available on Amazon HERE.

My family has always loved board games so using them in our homeschool was a natural fit but finding good educational games isn’t nearly as easy as one might think.

The Christmas toy catalogs and my FaceBook feed are always filled with fun, trendy board games for the family including new versions of classics  {Transformers Memory} and weird, silly things {Exploding Kittens} but it’s very rare to find  educational games being promoted outside of homeschool catalogs.  And, if you’re like me, when I am pouring over a big stack of homeschool catalogs, it’s agonizing enough to find the right curricula choices. I have no extra brain energy to find fun educational games  too. 

So, let me make it easy for you and share some of our favorite educational games!

In addition to reviewing the

FUN FACTOR and the

EDUCATIONAL VALUE, I will also include info on the

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT {because I cannot stand messy, broken down game boxes or games that include 8,000 pieces which then escape those boxes},

TIME COMMITMENT {because who has two hours to play a game on a Tuesday morning}, 

CLARITY LEVEL {because tears from the kids or Mom equals no fun}

and an OVERALL SCORE. 

NAME: Totally Gross

PUBLISHER: University Press

CATEGORY: Science

SUB CATEGORY: General

TIME COMMITMENT: Moderate {30+ minutes}

PLAYERS: 2-4

HOW TO WIN: Be the first to score ten points, then land on the LAB space and complete one small, short, simple lab experiment. 

CLARITY LEVEL: ♥♥♥♥♥ The instructions are concise and clear. The game is very simple and they keep the instructions simple as well. As is with many games, you learn a lot by just playing it. We read through the instructions once and then just got started. As we came across something we didn’t understand, we just quickly looked up the answer.  ♥♥♥♥♥

FUN FACTOR: ♥♥♥♥♥ This is a super duper fun game! When it arrived from Amazon in October, I’ll admit I was a wee bit sad that I needed to hide it away until Christmas because the colorful box with silly directions made it look very enticing. And, when my son chose to play this during our first day back to school in January, I was NOT disappointed in the amount of fun it had to offer! It was well worth the wait! True to the title, it is TOTALLY GROSS at times but it’s all in the name of science so my son was granted loads of flexibility in ignoring our typical manners {sniffing pits, burping the ABCs and listening to one another’s tummy sounds were among the GROSS OUT challenges.}  My son is 13 so is the prime age for TOTALLY GROSS fun but it really would work for ANYONE! My 77 year old mom lives with us and she witnessed us playing the first round and then requested to play the second round with us. And she had a blast too! I’m very confident that little kids would love it too! ♥♥♥♥♥

EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥♥ It’s not just TOTALLY GROSS fun! It’s also highly educational. Each player’s turn {no matter the type of card you draw} is an opportunity for learning a weird scientific fact.  Yes, most of the facts are at least semi-GROSS but they all hold some level of educational value. My son, who LOVES science and plans on majoring in it, knew a lot of the info already but by no means did he know it all. {And I certainly did not.} But, even if he knew it, reading the fact and the why behind was still very educational and well worth the time we spent on the game. ♥♥♥♥♥

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ The box is sturdy and the pieces are high quality. I don’t always leave the cardboard inserts inside my game boxes because they can be more of a mess-maker than not but this one is sturdy enough that it actually adds to the overall organization. It would be nice if there was an individual  bag for each stack of cards {so they don’t get mixed up when the game gets put away} but that’s easy enough to solve with little snack bags. ♥♥♥♥♥

OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥ This was a total hit with both my son and myself {and heck, my mom too!} It was loads of fun but also chock-full of educational value too. I would HIGHLY recommend this to families with kids of all ages! ♥♥♥♥♥ 

If you are ready to offer your kids a really fun way to learn some general science facts with a bit of hands-on activities mixed in, you can buy it here on Amazon.

If you would like to read detailed instructions {with pics,} continue on….

HOW TO PLAY: 

1. Open box, unpack contents and sort the three types of cards. 

2. Decide which person and color each player will be. Place that color on the top LAB spot. 

3. Give each player a small glob of snot {aka: Slime.} Have each player knead it so it is good and stretchy.

4. Have each player place his/her snot on his/her person.

5. The youngest player is Player One. Player One rolls the die and moves clockwise that number. 

6. If Player One lands on a colored bubble space, Player Two needs to draw the top card from the pile of Question Cards and read one of the questions out-loud. If Player One answers correctly, he/she earns the number of points found on the colored bubble {1, 2 or 3}. He/she then moves her snot that many spots. Turn is over. 

7. If Player One lands on a Gross Out space, he/she is asked to do one of two tasks on the card. If the task is attempted, he/she gets one point and moves his/her snot one spot. Turn is over. The task can also be turned down which just means no points are given and the turn is over. 

8. If Player One lands on a Lab space, nothing happens and his/her turn is over. 

9. Player Two rolls the die and repeats steps 6-8. 

10. Play repeats until at least one person reaches 10 points of snot.

11. When that happens, that player keeps playing until he/she lands on a Lab spot. At that time, the player needs to draw the top Lab card, complete the lab experiment and then wins the game!

{Above is the winning lab experiment! David had to wrap the TV remote in tin foil and see if it would still turn the TV on/off….then the dog needed to check it out, ha ha!}

For more GAME REVIEWS, you might want to check out:

Four Way Countdown {Math}

Game of the States {Geography}

After Words {Spelling and Vocabulary}