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

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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}

The Value of Celebrating Your State’s Birthday

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

I’m a California girl who was born and raised in the same house all through my childhood and then attended college just a few hours up the coast from my hometown.  But after marrying my husband, we moved to Missouri where we lived for three years, followed by three years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 2010, we moved to Kansas and we’re still here in the year 2020! While it’s very different than my coastal home state, it offers its own unique beauty and interesting characteristics.

Shortly after moving here, we started homeschooling our only son and I quickly connected with a co-op.  Since we knew very few people in town, the co-op was a God-send to us in a variety of ways, not the least of which was showing me that I was sorely lacking in Kansas history. Apparently, it’s typical for Kansas kids to celebrate Kansas Day every year.  “What is Kansas Day,”  you might be wondering? I wondered the same thing until my new co-op crew filled me in.  It’s the day set aside to celebrate Kansas’ statehood. Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861, therefore, every year on January 29th, kids all across the Sunflower State celebrate its “birthday.”

Kansas Day celebrations take place in classrooms and homeschools alike with sunflowery crafts, yummy treats and loads of lessons on the state mammal, bird, reptile, motto and more. And this happens every year for Kansas kids; it’s not just a Fourth Grade standard like it is in California. It’s something they look forward to annually. Our local libraries offer special programs, bakeries make themed cakes and teachers shift their lessons for the day to include all things bison, sunflower and tiger salamander. 

If you’re wondering, like I did at first, WHY so much effort goes into Kansas Day, let me give you the two-cent opinion of a Californian transplanted to Kansas after short stints in Missouri and Michigan. 

It teaches STATE HISTORY to our kids. 

It imparts a STATE IDENTITY in our kids. 

It instills STATE PRIDE in our kids.

And, it’s fun! 

Knowing that the American Bison is the Kansas State Mammal or that the Barred Tiger Salamander is the Kansas State Amphibian seems like nothing more than silly trivia at first. But, when the kids learn how each animal was chosen, they learn state history because there are actual legit, logical reasons behind those decisions. When they can begin to recognize that “Sunflower Bank” and “Bison Electric” are not just randomly chosen business names, they’ll begin to identify with their state as a whole. And when they learn what the state motto means, they’ll surely come away with some pride for the state’s founding fathers and their journey to statehood. 

As mentioned earlier, I was born and raised in California. From PreK through a Masters Degree, I was educated in the state and I LOVED growing up there.  And, yet, I could not tell you when California’s statehood actually took place. If given a few minutes, I could garner an educated guess on the year based on a few history facts that I’d need to pull up from the recesses of my brain, but I could never tell you the month and day. I could tell you the state nickname for sure, probably the state mammal and possibly the flower. But if you were to ask me about the state bird, state amphibian or state motto, all I could provide would be purely wild guesses.

{For my UNGoogled guesses on California Facts, go to the very end.}

I’ll admit that when I was first introduced to the concept of Kansas Day, I was a bit skeptical. I assumed it was a fluff holiday and an excuse to take the day off from regular schooling. But, as our KS years have rolled on and our KS Day celebrations have ramped up, I now see the value in celebrating your state’s birthday. 

It teaches STATE HISTORY to our kids. 

It imparts a STATE IDENTITY in our kids. 

It instills STATE PRIDE in our kids.

And, as a bonus, it is loads of fun! 

So, do you know when your state’s birthday is?

Do your kids?

Check the list below and start planning a party! 

If you happen to be a current Kansan, like me, check out my Kansas State Fact Pack on TpT. It’s chock-full of Kansas State facts and fun activities! 

And, for ALL state birthdays, an excellent place to start is with your state’s edition of the Discover America, State by State series.  Below is just a small selection, but there is one for every single state {and even DC.}

, , , ,

My UNGoogled guesses on California Facts:

{Year of Statehood: 1851} WRONG! It was actually 1850, so I was close!

{State Nickname: Golden State} CORRECT! Yay me!

{State Mammal: bear} MOSTLY CORRECT. It’s the Grizzly Bear. 

{State Flower: poppy} CORRECT! Not sure why I knew that. 

{State Bird: golden eagle} Eeks! So WRONG! It’s the California Quail.

{State Amphibian: Sonoran Desert Toad} Totally WRONG! It’s the red-legged frog,  but my guess sounded so legit, didn’t it?

{State Motto: Go home! We have no more gold.} Obviously WRONG, but ya gotta admit, it was a funny guess. It’s actually “Eureka!” 

That’s a score of only 43%! EEKS! That’s not good! I bet if I had celebrated California’s birthday every September 9th, I would’ve done a whole lot better! 

THREE Ways Homeschoolers Can Have Some St. PATRICK’S DAY Fun

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

St. Patrick’s Day is one of those small holidays that doesn’t demand much respect. It often comes and goes in the middle of the week and all that occurs are a few green treats at school, lots of green drinks at Happy Hour and some misplaced pinching at both locations. Personally, I have never been a big St. Patty’s Day celebrant but even I believe it does deserve at least some mention to our kids. Though it’s a holiday based on both the history and myths from another land far, far away, it has somehow earned a place in our culture here in the United States. So, it makes sense to allow our kids a little Leprechaun fun alongside their homeschool studies. 

Below are THREE WAYS that homeschoolers can have some St. Patrick’s Day fun!

 

ONE: MAKE yummy cookies or other baked goods!

We love any excuse for MAKING yummy treats and if you are like us, MAKING shaped sugar cookies is a given for practically every holiday. But if you’re burnt out on those, you could try MAKING  Lucky Charms treats, green cake balls or mint brownies for St. Patrick’s Day.  All of those look and sound delicious but, my all time favorite treat for this holiday is to MAKE some cookies to accompany Leo Lionni’s book, Little Blue and Little Yellow.   All it takes is some simple round sugar cookies {you can even use store-bought, ready to eat cookies}, a small bowl of yellow frosting and a small bowl of blue frosting. Read the book, frost the cookies to blend the two colors and MAKE some fun memories while MAKING some yummy treats! {For more details, check out Little Blue and Little Yellow: an easy, fun and tasty St. Patrick’s Day Activity.}

 

TWO: CREATE a fun craft!

When I taught in the classroom {and also when my son was younger,} I considered the above-mentioned Little Blue, Little Yellow activity to be a sufficient example of CREATING a craft {that was eaten, of course}. But if you are a crafty mama who likes to give her kids more opportunity to CREATE, there are more than a few ideas out there for St. Patrick’s Day. Marshmallow Shamrock Stamping for the littles looks like fun {and educational too!} Shamrock Suncatchers seem like a good choice for all ages and can serve the double purpose of holiday decor. But if you have older kids with more ambition, check out these Leprechaun Traps. It looks like you can CREATE them to be as complicated and fancy as you want or keep them much more simple {which is surely what I would do!} Whichever craft your kids choose, they’ll surely have fun CREATING something memorable!

 

THREE: LEARN about the holiday!

As mentioned in my Valentine’s Day post, I can’t seem to let any holiday go by without expecting my son to LEARN  about it. Doing this doesn’t even need to take away from the rigor of your child’s schooling, as you can easily substitute St. Patrick’s Day-themed reading and writing for your normally-scheduled school programming. If you want to snag a FREE 24 page St. Patrick’s Day Holiday Fun Pack that includes informational text, writing prompts and more, go here. It’ll be emailed to you on March 2, 9 and 16th. If you prefer to buy it now, it’s also available on my TpT store here. 

So, whether your kids MAKE yummy cookies, CREATE something fun or LEARN about the holiday, there are loads of ways for your homeschoolers to have some St. Patrick’s Day fun!

FIVE Ways Homeschoolers Can Have Some VALENTINE’S DAY Fun

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

 

Do you ever feel like your homeschool kids are missing out on some of the fun traditions that their public school peers enjoy every year? 

I know when I started homeschooling, I was sad to realize that our son would not get to participate in a classroom Valentine’s Day party or exchange Valentines with his classmates. 

So, my friend and I decided to organize a Valentine’s Day party for the kids in our co-op. Apparently, other moms felt the same as us because on the day of the party, there were SIXTY-FIVE kids crammed into a small rec center room. We spent the next 90 minutes controlling the chaos that included more than 4,000 cards being exchanged, popcorn with colored sprinkles littering the room and playing a cut-out heart version of Musical Chairs.

To say we didn’t plan that party very wisely would be an understatement. But, the kids had fun, the moms survived and we definitely improved things the next year. 

But, I also learned that having a party with a bunch of kids isn’t the only way to make special memories associated with Valentine’s Day. 

Below are FIVE WAYS that homeschoolers can have some Valentine’s Day fun!

 

ONE: EXCHANGE Valentines with a group of kids!

This is the classic way to enjoy this holiday. If you belong to a co-op, EXCHANGING Valentines with them would be a great idea! You could make it an elaborate event with food and games or you can keep it simple with just placing cards in assigned bags during a break between classes. Either way you do it, please don’t make the same mistake we did that first year. Ask each FAMILY to make one card for each kid. That way, if you have 25 kids participating, a family with five kids only has to make 25 Valentines. If you expect every KID to make every other kid a Valentine, a family with five kids will need to make 125 individual cards. And, let’s face it, we all know Mom will be doing the vast majority of work {I still have friends who laugh through clenched teeth as they recall when their family had to make 325 cards to pass around that first ever Valentine Party.}

If you don’t belong to a co-op, you could join an online group for homeschoolers wanting to EXCHANGE cards. This is an especially fun way to do it because the cards arrive in the mail and who doesn’t like to receive mail?!?!? Check FaceBook for groups but this is not something you can do last minute so be sure to check soon. 

Or you could step outside of the homeschool world and suggest your soccer team, karate studio or Brownie troop do an EXCHANGE. 

 

TWO: GIVE to neighbors, church members or nursing home residents!

When our son was younger, our next door neighbor was a single woman who LOVED being spoiled by him on Valentine’s Day. He would bring her a GIFT {usually candy and a card} and she would swoon over him. And it made him so happy to make her happy!  We also had the cutest twin widows who lived two doors down who always gave our son something special for every holiday so we, of course, reciprocated.  They were both diabetic so for them, we got flowers for Valentine’s Day. There is nothing quite like watching your four-year-old son ring the bell of two elderly widows with flowers in hand. 

Another way to GIFT others is to visit a skilled nursing facility or assisted living home. Simple construction paper hearts would do the trick here! {Just call ahead and check with somebody first.}

Or make a list of unmarried/widowed people in your church and make handmade, personalized cards. This GIFT would cost very little but would surely and genuinely touch their hearts. 

 

THREE: PLAY Valentine Bingo or another fun game as a family!

The fun thing about Bingo is that it can be PLAYED with a small or large group and both ways are fun! When our son was young, he even enjoyed PLAYING with just us. In order to make it more educational, I would write the words down and he had to read each one before he could find the matching picture. You can find the above version on Amazon right here. You can also find a super cheap version at WalMart in the holiday aisle. They might be cheap but they work all the same and are just as much fun! 

If Bingo isn’t your style, there are loads of other fun Valentine’s Day games  that you can PLAY at home. Pinterest has a plethora of ideas including Musical Hearts, Cupid Target Practice and Heart Hopscotch. You can find thirty different Valentine’s Day games here.

 

FOUR: MAKE yummy cookies or a fun craft!

We tend to MAKE shaped sugar cookies for just about every holiday and Valentine’s Day is simply a given. Or you could MAKE cupcakes, cake pops or red velvet blossoms. You could also start the day with heart-shaped pancakes, serve Conversation Cuties with lunch or order a special heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s. 

If you’d rather create something that won’t later get eaten, there are about a gazillion Valentine’s Day crafts to be made! Friendship Rocks with Fingerprint Hearts, Pom Pom Monsters and Lacing Hearts all look like cute ways to have fun while MAKING something special. Or if you are a super duper brave Mama, you could let your kids MAKE some Valentine SLIME!

 

FIVE: LEARN about the holiday! 

This is another given in our house. I won’t lie and say it’s my son’s favorite aspect of our holiday celebrations but no matter what we’re celebrating, we are also LEARNING about it! The easiest {and cheapest} way to approach this is at your local library. Chances are, your library has a special display on the topic already handpicked for you. Gail Gibbons has always been one of my favorite non-fiction authors. Her “What Is Valentine’s Day” book is out of print but your library might have it. If so, I highly recommend it. If you’d rather get a book to keep, there is a plethora of Valentine’s Day books starring your kids’ favorite characters available including Curious George, Llama Llama and even The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

If you’re like me and determined to not let school totally fly out the window for the day, you might want to check out TpT for ways to turn the holiday into a LEARNING {but still fun} experience. Your kids can sort conversation hearts, make a heart-shaped flap book or write a love poem. If you want your kids to actually learn about the holiday, check out this 25 page Valentine’s Day Holiday Fact Pack that includes informational text, writing prompts, a crossword puzzle and other fun printables.  It covers the history of the holiday and includes topics such as St. Valentine, Cupid, conversation hearts, chocolate candies and more!  

So, whether your kids EXCHANGE cards with friends, GIVE gifts to neighbors, PLAY Bingo with family, MAKE cookies or LEARN about the holiday, there are loads of ways for your homeschoolers to have some Valentine’s Day fun!

 

 

You may also want to check out Three Ways Homeshoolers Can Have Some St. Patrick’s Day Fun too.