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Election Night is available on Amazon HERE.
Read on for a detailed REVIEW.
We use a lot of educational games in our homeschool, especially in areas where my son needs extra work {hello spelling and math!} but I also like to find games that help teach topics that we don’t spend every day working on like geography, general science and the often-confusing ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
This game, Election Night, was designed specifically to teach about the ELECTORAL COLLEGE so I figured this was the perfect time to try it out!
Read on for a helpful review of Election Night!
In addition to reviewing the
FUN FACTOR and the
EDUCATIONAL VALUE,
I will also include info on the
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT,
TIME COMMITMENT,
CLARITY LEVEL
and an OVERALL SCORE.
NAME: Election Night!
PUBLISHER: Semper Smart
CATEGORY: Social Studies
SUB CATEGORY: Government
TIME COMMITMENT: Moderate {30+ minutes}
PLAYERS: 2 {or Teams of 2+}
HOW TO WIN: Be the first to claim 270 electoral votes!
CLARITY LEVEL: ♥♥♥♥_ The instructions look a bit overwhelming at first, and frankly, even when you begin to read them, they seem a little complicated. But, they’re not. We decided to read the instructions quickly and then to just start playing. As we played, things made more sense and we were able to reference the instructions as we went. It’s not a speed-dependent game so taking this approach worked perfectly fine. But, it’s probably not a game that a couple of 8 year-olds would be able to figure out on their own based on the instructions alone. ♥♥♥♥_
FUN FACTOR: ♥♥♥♥♥ This is a rather FUN game! I’ll admit that politics and FUN don’t usually go together in my brain but this game proved me wrong ….at least in one small way. It’s not like I think much else related to politics is FUN but this was definitely a FUN way to learn about an important topic. My son, who is 13, absolultey loved this game and had a blast trying to strategize how to win. He loved it so much that he asked to play two days in a row! We got a lot of laughs when we realized we must sound like real politicians when we said things like,
“I need to alter my focus and try to take California. I cannot win without California. I MUST MAKE CALIFORNIA MINE!”
“Ugh. North Dakota is just not worth it. Isn’t there another state I can claim?”
“I should probably start working on New York…or maybe Florida. I don’t know which. How do I decide?”
“I have absolutely no interest in that state…” as he sacrifices a special card to roll again and try to gain a different state. Poor Wyoming. ♥♥♥♥♥
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥♥ With a tagline like “Learn your way to the White House,” I had high expectations of this game’s EDUCATIONAL VALUE. And, I’m happy to report, I was NOT DISAPPOINTED! Not only did this game do a stellar job of reinforcing what my son has been learning about the ELECTORAL COLLEGE, but MATH was used multiple times on every turn and in a variety of ways. And for a kid who does not love MATH, but needs the practice, games that offer FUN opportunities for MATH to be used, are the perfect choice! {BONUS: The gameboard is two-sided. One side is used with ADDITION and the other side is used with MULTIPLICATION. So, it’s GREAT for kids of many levels.} Then there’s the entire concept of STRATEGY. I will admit that I tend to shy away from “strategy games” because they take too much time and are usually slow-paced {which, for me, means not exactly my type of FUN} but with this game, STRATEGY is key {and, thankfully, not too time-consuming.} My STRATEGY was to claim as many states as quickly as possible, even if it meant they were small states with few electoral votes. My son’s STRATEGY was to claim the big states and their bounty of electoral votes. Wanna guess who won? ♥♥♥♥♥
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ Maybe I should be embarrassed by the fact that the way a game, its box and all of the components are organized matters to me. But, I’m not! Organization is important in my home and that trickles all the way down to the way our games hang out on the shelf. I hate when boxes cave in or when pieces are easily lost. But, Election Night ranks 5/5 in this important-to-us category! The box is sturdy and has a strong plastic insert where everything has a designated spot. All of the pieces are high quality, which is especially important because the game requires using dry-erase markers directly on the board. I am sure the red and blue dry-erase markers will eventually wear out but those can be easily replaced. The game board itself is two-sided and very well-made. At first, I was nervous that the dry-erase marks would not erase easily or fully but they did, though I would not suggest leaving the marks on the board for days/weeks/months in between games. ♥♥♥♥♥
OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥ This was a complete hit in our home! Not only was it tons of fun, it was also filled with educational value too. I would highly recommend this to families with kids AND ADULTS of all ages! And though it would be a fabulous choice to play during an election year, it is also a great choice at anytime. ♥♥♥♥♥
If you are ready to offer your entire family a really fun way to learn about the electoral college, you can snag it here on Amazon.
If you are needing other fun ways to teach about the ELECTORAL COLLEGE, check out this PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FACT PACK. It’s a quick, easy and fun way to teach the ELCTION PROCESS to kids of various ages and levels.
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