Professor Noggin’s Wildlife of North America is available on Amazon HERE.
{I purchased this game myself. All opinions are my own!}
Read on for a detailed REVIEW.
If you like educational games but don’t know Professor Noggin, let me introduce you! She 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 Wildlife of North America version but would probably speak fairly well of all of her games.
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 messy boxes},
TIME COMMITMENT {because I have the patience of a three-year-old},
CLARITY LEVEL {because I get irritated if I have to translate instructions}
and an OVERALL SCORE.
NAME: Professor Noggin’s Wildlife of North America Card Game
PUBLISHER: Outset
CATEGORY: Science
TIME COMMITMENT: Minimal {15-20 minutes}
PLAYERS: 2-8
AGES: 7+ {or anybody who has learned a few animal 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 very simple and explain the game succinctly. CLARITY LEVEL 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 Student, Scholar or a mixed version. We only scored it 4/5, though, because it’s not laugh-out-loud kind of fun! But, it is a fun way to practice/learn facts about North American wildlife! FUN FACTOR SCORE: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥_
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ The card game comes in a sturdy, little box that contains one die, 30 game cards and one instruction card. The cards are thick and strong. The components are minimal and very easy to keep organized. ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥_ The entire game revolves around nothing but facts related to the wildlife of North America so the educational value really depends on how much you value that topic. In our home, with a son who wants to eventually get a Ph.D. in Zoology, we value anything that adds to his knowledge on animals. Your family may not feel the same way, but with the huge variety of topics that Professor Noggin covers, there is likely a topic that your family would appreciate. EDUCATIONAL VALUE SCORE: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥_
OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥_ We enjoy many of Professor Noggin’s games as a fun piece of our school day and this Wildlife of North America version has been a fun addition. It’s quick, fun and educational. And, if, like me, you don’t recall much from your own science 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! OVERALL SCORE: 90% ♥♥♥♥♥
If you are ready to offer your kids a fun and easy educational card game, 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 shuffle cards.
2. Put the cards in a stack in the center.
3. Decide if you are going to play STUDENT, SCHOLAR 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 SCHOLAR questions and the beginner players get the STUDENT 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 {Student/Scholar.}
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!
***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.
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