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Paint Chip Poetry is available on Amazon HERE.
{I purchased this game myself. All opinions are my own!}
Read on for a detailed REVIEW.
My self-proclaimed uncreative teenage boy who detests writing just started a POETRY UNIT as part of his Ninth Grade English Lit course. In order to try to make it a wee bit more fun, I went on a hunt for some sort of educational game to complement the POETRY UNIT. I was not overly surprised to find that there were not many options available for a POETRY game. There are loads of other educational games out there but I could only find one kind of POETRY game, Paint Chip Poetry.
But, what I was surprised by was how much we actually liked this game! The concept is super duper simple and really isn’t a “game” in the classic sense of winning and losing but it is a fun way to explore POETRY.
Here’s a quick but hopefully helpful review of Paint Chip Poetry!
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: Paint Chip Poetry
PUBLISHER: Chronicle Books
CATEGORY: Literacy
SUB CATEGORY: Poetry
TIME COMMITMENT: Minimal {10+ minutes}
PLAYERS: 1+
AGES: 8+
CLARITY LEVEL: ♥♥♥♥♥ The instructions are super-duper simple. Like, five steps simple. You’ll never need to reference the instructions again. They’re that simple. CLARITY LEVEL SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
FUN FACTOR: ♥♥♥♥_ With a tagline like “A Game of Color and Wordplay,” I was not really expecting this to be a FUN game in the classic FUN sense. It’s FUN to see what people create with their chips. It’s FUN to read the interesting names on the paint chips. It’s even FUN to just enjoy the vast array of colors of the paint chips. But, it’s not the kind of laugh-out-loud FUN you might have with a speedy or silly game. FUN FACTOR SCORE: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥_
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: ♥♥♥♥_ Despite what the makers of greeting cards might have you believe, POETRY is not just an alternative way to express yourself using cute, little rhymes. POETRY is actually defined as “literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.” If you are wanting a game that will teach your kids how to formulate an AABA rhyme or how to differentiate between a simile and metaphor, this is not the game for you. But, if you are wanting your kids to explore different words and creative phrases and then to express an abstract idea with that new-found language, this is a great game for you! I think this box of 400 colorful words could also be easily used during creative writing lessons or vocabulary work. It’s also something that one child can play on his/her own so that’s also a bonus for most moms! EDUCATIONAL VALUE SCORE: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥_
ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT: ♥♥♥♥♥ I wish I could find other games with a box like this! It’s sturdy and small and has no extraneous space whatsoever. I seriously love it! My only complaint would be that the paint chips are so tightly organized inside that we had to remove some in order to make enough room to easily select some for play. But, that’s just minor. The cards are made of a pretty thick material so not easily bent, though they are pretty small, so I suppose they could be easily lost. However, there are 400 of them and none are imperative to have. So, if your toddler spills milk on some or your dog eats any, the game is still just as playable as the day you got it. ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENT SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
OVERALL SCORE: ♥♥♥♥♥ Though this was not a super fun, laugh-out-loud game, we did enjoy this game. And though it did not teach us a formulaic way to write a poem, I did find it educational. OVERALL SCORE: 90% ♥♥♥♥♥
If you are ready to introduce your kids to an interesting look at POETRY through “A Game of Color and Wordplay,” you can grab it here on Amazon.
You also may want to check out this FREE Poetic Devices Introductory Pack. It’s a simple but fun three-page pack that introduces your kids to seven different poetic devices.
If you want to look more closely at HOW to play Paint Chip Poetry, keep reading….
STEP ONE: Each player grabs 12 paint chips {sight unseen}.
STEP TWO: Somebody flips over the top prompt card.
STEP THREE: Each player creates a poem based on the prompt with as many or as few of their cards as they want.
STEP FOUR: As each player finishes their poem, he/she slides it to the center for all to see.
My version of
A BIG MISTAKE
Garden of Eden
clear skies
wild huckleberry
peacock, lazy lizard, panther
first kiss, night
STEP FIVE: As soon as everybody has finished creating their poem, players take turns reading their creations.
My son’s version of
A BIG MISTAKE
evergreen
fire
fog
STEP SIX: Repeat with a new prompt and sets of paint chips!
