GeoGuessr and Seterra

One of the most difficult (yet simultaneously most interesting) classes I took in college was Geography 10: The World's Regions. It took place in a large lecture hall… completely in the dark. All lectures were slide shows, where the professor taught us to look for clues in the photos to help us identify where the photo was taken. Tree shapes, soil color, architectural styles, and a zillion other things are all clues to a mystery location. It was absolutely fascinating and I loved every minute. That is, until it came time to study for exams. How do you take notes about tiny details in 150 different pictures from an hour-long slideshow in a room so dark you can't see your notebook? This was 1991, so we couldn't take notes on a laptop or take a video on a cellphone. The tests were conducted the same way as the lectures - the professor showed a slide and we had a minute to make our best guess where it was. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There was a single bank of lights on, so we could actually see to write. It was challenging, but I got an A, so whatever I did obviously worked. 

I didn't think much about that class until a number of years ago when I first discovered GeoGuessr. If you're not familiar with it, the concept is that you are dropped in a mystery location somewhere in the world on a Google Street View map. You look for clues about your environment and then you guess where you are. It's essentially exactly the same thing as we did back in that geography class. 

When I started playing GeoGuessr, it was relatively unknown. This educational and fun game has grown significantly since then, booming during COVID. Now it even has its own World Championship. It's not too often you find something equally popular with classroom teachers and esports players, but that is the case for GeoGuessr.  

If you're looking for other fun geography games, I recommend Seterra. Acquired by GeoGuessr in 2022, Seterra is packed with games and quizzes based on countries, capitals, flags, rivers, lakes, and so much more. There are so many games based on the United States that I have barely explored the rest of the world. Try this fun game about US landmarks and let me know how you did! 

11 Fun Math Games and Crafts for Kids

Over the years, I've shared a bunch of my favorite fun math games and crafts for kids. It's time to compile them into one place! Most of these activities are appropriate for different ages, or are easily adapted to teach more basic or advanced skills. 

Fun Math Games and Crafts for Kids

Tic-Tac-Toe Dice

Need a great way to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts? Or, just looking for a fun travel game? Tic-Tac-Toe dice is one of my favorites for 3rd grade and up. (Parents will love it too!)

Tessellation Art

This art project is a wonderful introduction to the geometric concept of tessellations. Kids are fascinated with tessellations and making your own is so much fun! 

Magazine Symmetry Art

I liked having this activity on hand as a choice for early finishers. It challenges kids in a way they aren't used to thinking and helps develop observational and fine motor skills.  

Greater Than Less Than Alligator

We all learned about the alligator wanting to chomp the larger number. This fun craft reinforces the greater than and less than symbols. 

Compass Art

Kids are obsessed with using compasses. This art project familiarizes them with how to hold use it to draw circles and arcs of all sizes. 

Multiplication Fact Bracelets

Memorizing multiplication facts is really, really important in order to be successful in virtually all of the math that comes after it. These bracelets are better than flash cards, because they're fun to make and they're with you all the time!

Symme-trees (Symmetrical Tree Art)

Butterflies are great for symmetry lessons, but making symme-trees is just as fun. Kids love a good math pun!

The Percentages of Me

This autobiographical project is a great icebreaker and teaches multiple math skills. As a twist, you could make a version based on a famous person. Or make "The Percentages of Us" to learn all about the class as a parts of a whole. 

Cereal Math: Prime Factorization

Most kids absolutely love prime factorization, but it takes up a lot of room on paper. By solving the problems with cereal, you can practice a bunch of problems with ease!

Newspaper Math

Challenge kids to design their own math homework using a newspaper! This assignment is super flexible and can be used with any grade of students.

Lucky Numbers Place Value Game

This is one of my all-time favorite games and is also easily changed for different grade levels. Give it a try!

Camping Fluxx - the Perfect Gift for Scouts and Camping Enthusiasts

I am a big fan of Fluxx, the ever-changing card game. In addition to the original, there are a lot of themed versions of Fluxx. My favorite so far is Across America Fluxx, but I'm really excited about the latest addition to the Fluxx family, Camping Fluxx. The folks at Looney Labs sent me an advance copy to review and I'm happy to say that I love it! This post contains affiliate links. 

Just like the many other versions of Fluxx, the winner of Camping Fluxx is the person who has the green Keeper cards that fulfill the pink Goal card. Of course, it's harder than it sounds, since the Goal can change many times during the game! In addition to Keeper and Goal cards, there are three other types of cards: yellow New Rule cards; blue Action cards; and black Creeper cards. 

The Keeper and Goal cards all have a fun camping theme... which makes this game absolutely perfect for Scouts! For example, the "Be Prepared" Goal requires you have the Bug Spray and Rain Gear Keepers. The "I Like 'Em Burned" Goal needs a Campfire and Marshmallows. 

Another reason you should immediately buy Camping Fluxx for all the Scouts in your life? These New Rule cards!

The Camping Bonus awards an extra draw and an extra play to all players who are on a camping trip. And the Scout Bonus give an extra draw to any Scout and two extra draws to an Eagle Scout! My Eagle loves that he and his fellow Eagles are recognized like this. Fun fact: Fluxx's creator, Andy Looney, became an Eagle Scout in 1981!

Creepers are the whammy cards of Fluxx. In Camping Fluxx, there are two: Rain and Mosquitos. Both can put a serious damper on a camping trip and both can prevent you from winning Fluxx.  

Camping Fluxx is great fun and a wonderful addition to the Fluxx family. It'll be coming along on all of our future camping trips!

California State Symbols Printable Memory Game

Welcome back for Day 3 of California Week! 

Today I'm sharing a printable game, inspired by California's state symbols. As you may know, all 50 states have a state tree, a state bird, and a state flower, as well as a state flag and a state seal. Beyond that, it is up to individual states to declare any other state symbols they wish. (Louisiana has an official state meat pie and Massachussetts has a state muffin.) California has some interesting state symbols of its own. Did you know that we have an official state dance, a folk dance, and a song? Can you name our state fabric? How about the state Gold Rush and Silver Rush Ghost Towns? 

All together, California has 41 state symbols. I used just over half of them to make a printable memory game for you to play with your kids or students. For the easiest version, print two copies of the state symbols below onto heavy cardstock. (If you want the cards to last a long time, laminate the sheets.) Cut the cards apart, shuffle them, then place the 24 cards face down in a grid in front of you. Take turns turning over the cards, trying to make a match. If you make a match, you keep both cards and get another turn. Whoever has the most matches (out of a possible 12) wins.   

You can up the difficulty level of the memory game by doubling the number of cards. Print two copies of this second set of state symbols onto heavy cardstock, cut them apart, and mix them with the previous cards. Follow the same rules as before with 48 cards. 

Both of the memory games above work with non-readers. If you want to increase the difficulty even further, try this version. Print just a single copy of each of the sets above (or remove the duplicate cards if you've already printed them), then print single copies of the category cards below. You'll still have 48 cards to match, but instead of matching two of the same picture, you have to match the category (State Flower) with its specific item (California Poppy). This can get really tricky, considering we have a State Fish and a State Marine Fish, for example. 

You can also use these as flash cards, if for some reason you are trying to memorize all of California's state symbols. I'm not sure why you would, but it's an option. Maybe before trying out to be a Jeopardy! contestant, where you pretty much should try to memorize literally everything. 

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Are you looking for more fun California-themed games? Here are some that you might enjoy. 

        

Martian Chess

Remember last week when I said that Nomids was our new favorite board game? We still love it, but now it has some major competition with Martian Chess for the title! Both were provided to me as media samples. Affiliate links here and throughout the post. 

Both Nomids and Martian Chess are from one of my all-time favorite game companies, Looney Labs. Both use pyramids as game pieces, are easy to learn, and are super travel-friendly. While Nomids is a strategy game with a luck component, Martian Chess is pure strategy. So when Trevor beat me the first 8 times we played, I had nothing to blame but myself. I did beat him on Game #9 though! 

Martian Chess is simple in concept: There are three types of pieces, each with a certain way they can move (just like in regular chess). The largest pyramids, called Queens, can move any distance in any one direction. The medium pieces, called Drones, can move one or two spaces horizontally or vertically. The smallest, Pawns, can move one space diagonally. Unlike in regular chess, only the pieces on your side of the center dividing line (canal) are yours. Here, Steve is about to move a Drone across the canal. He's not in position to capture anything. Once he moves the Drone, it will become Trevor's. 

Since all the pieces are the same color and ownership of any one piece is constantly changing, the goal is not to be the last with your piece(s) on the board. Instead, the winner is whoever earns the most points by capturing Queens (3 pts), Drones (2 pts), and Pawns (1 pt). The game goes pretty quickly and really keeps you thinking!

Trevor has already decided he'll be bringing Martian Chess along on Scout trips once we've beaten this pandemic. The boys in his troop love regular chess and are huge fans of other Looney Labs games (particularly Fluxx) so it's a no-brainer that they'll love this too.

Our Latest Favorite Game: Nomids

The deRosiers love all sorts of board games and card games, so when the folks at Looney Labs offered me the chance to review some of their latest games, I happily agreed. When Nomids arrived (affiliate link here and throughout the post), we couldn't wait to open it up and check it out! I'm delighted to say that we absolutely love it. 

Nomids is played with 30 pyramids (10 colors, 3 different sizes) and a single die. The goal is to be the first to get rid of your pyramids - when you have no 'mids left, you are the winner. Nomids is very easy to learn, but involves plenty of strategy. And it's really fun!

Nomids can be played with 2-10 players. I love that flexibility! We've only played with 2 and 3 (because COVID), but when playing board games with other people is a thing, Nomids will be at the top of our must-play list. It's really travel-friendly, so this will surely come along on Scout trips, cabin visits, and other travels once travel is a thing again (sigh... COVID).  

Each player starts out with three pyramids, each a different color and size. On your turn, you roll the die to determine whether you take a pyramid from the middle or another player, give a pyramid to the middle or another player, or trade pyramids. When you have all three pyramids of one color, you return them to the center. If you don't have any pyramids left when you do this, you are the winner! Here's one of our three-person games in progress. 

Nomids is unique in that the game pieces can be used to play other games, including Pharaoh (a math strategy game), Pyramid-Sham-Bo (a party game), and Treehouse (a spatial skills strategy game). Nomids can also be used as an expansion pack for Looney Labs' Pyramid Arcade, which is a 22-in-1 game system. 

Nomids is a great choice for practically anyone on your gift list. It's recommended for ages 6+. If you are looking for other board game ideas, be sure to check out my Family Fun Gift Guide. 

Cardboard Tube Stamping and Memory Game

Cardboard tubes are one of the most versatile free craft materials for kids. One of their less-common uses is for stamping. A cardboard tube fits nicely in a young child's hand and is much easier to control than small rubber stamps that require better fine motor skills. Obviously, you can use cardboard tubes to stamp circles. But there are so many more shapes you can make by folding, pinching, and snipping the tubes.  Check it out:

I made the heart, leaf, diamond (kite), oval (football), and pumpkin just by pinching and bending the tubes into the shapes I wanted. For the sun and the flower, I cut slits in the top of the tubes, folded out the cut portions to make tabs, then cut those tabs into the pointy rays of the sun and the rounded petals of the flowers. 

Once the tubes were ready, I spread some craft paint on my Frisbee and stamped the shapes onto thick index cards. I made two of each shape. Then I colored them in with pens. 

Now the cards are ready for a game of Memory! Shuffle the cards, lay them out in a grid, and take turns turning over two at a time. If you get a match, you get another turn. 

There are so many more things you can do with your cardboard tube stamps. Use them to decorate cards, wrapping paper, or tablecloths, just to name a few. Challenge yourself to come up with other shapes you can make with cardboard tubes. There are so many possibilities!

Tic-Tac-Matzo

Every time I make an edible craft, Steve jokingly asks: "Didn't your mom tell you not to play with your food?" As far as I can remember - no, she didn't! I certainly have never told Trevor not to play with his food. Quite the opposite. We play with food all the time in Casa deRosier.

Trevor and I used the last of our seder leftovers to play a game I'm calling Tic-Tac-Matzo. It ended in a cat's game (of course), after which we split the board and enjoyed our treat.

Tic-Tac-Matzo

Materials: 

• matzo
• peanut butter
• chocolate syrup in a squirt bottle
• two different markers (we used Cheerios and chocolate chips)

Steps:

Spread the peanut butter onto a piece of matzo. Add four lines of chocolate syrup to make the board. Alternate taking turns, trying to place three Cheerios or chocolate chips in a row. Split the game board when you are done playing.

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When you search for matzo/matzah on Amazon, you get pages and pages of unleavened bread and soup dumplings, along with plenty of cookbooks. But if you dig deeper, you find all sorts of unexpected treasures, including Tic Tac Toad. I'm a big fan of the juggling balls. And the themed pillow would definitely help with Passover reclining. 

Astronomy Fluxx

We are a board game and card game family. We play games together whenever we have the chance. Trevor loves games so much that he founded the Games Club at his middle school! If you go my gift guide tab and scroll down to Family Fun, you'll find several dozen of our family's very favorite games, including Fluxx. (Affiliate link here and throughout the post.) 

I first discovered Fluxx sometime around 1998. I love that it is easy to learn (yet ever-changing!) and accommodates any number of players. It's portable and inexpensive. It requires reading, but otherwise is fun for all ages. I introduced Trevor to Fluxx when he was around 5 and he loved it. Since then, he has collected many different versions of Fluxx, including Star Fluxx, Nature Fluxx, and the Fluxx board game. Recently, the folks at Looney Labs have been introducing educational versions of Fluxx. I jumped on the chance to review the latest, Astronomy Fluxx, which was provided to me by Looney Labs. 

Astronomy Fluxx basically plays like all the other versions of Fluxx. You collect Keepers...

.... and use Actions in order to achieve a Goal. If you have the correct Keepers to meet the Goal, you win!

However, the New Rules (and the Goals) change constantly... sometimes in your favor and sometimes not! It's a lot of fun.

Astronomy Fluxx has some neat features that distinguish it from other versions of Fluxx. The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous photography. The Keepers and Goals feature NASA's photographs of planets and the other astronomical objects. Many of the Goals list dates that mark major accomplishments in space exploration; the Quiz Me Action card asks players to name those dates. The Name a Constellation New Rule rewards players for mentioning a constellation that has not yet come up in the game. Simply by playing Astronomy Fluxx, kids (and adults!) will learn so much more about space.

My favorite card is the stunning Galaxy Keeper. In fact, it inspired me to create some artwork that is out of this world. (Ha ha!) I'll teach you how to make it tomorrow.

Looney Labs Games

I love games almost as much as I love crafting. (If you check my Gift Guide, you'll find 25+ of my favorite games listed under the "Family Fun" heading.) Board games, card games, word games - they're all great fun. Fortunately, Trevor has inherited my love of games. In fact, Trevor loves games so much that he is the founder and president of the Games Club at his middle school. 

When I attended Creativation in January, I was surprised and delighted to see that Looney Labs had a booth. They were promoting a game called Loonacy, featuring the artwork of the iconic Mary Engelbreit. There are affiliate links throughout this post. 

I did a live broadcast from the booth, where Mrs. Looney herself taught me how to play Loonacy. It's a fun, fast-paced game for 2 or more players. The key to this game is that there are no turns; everyone plays at once. In the image below, I set up the start of a game. (I'm holding up the seven cards so that they show well in the photo. When you're actually playing, they'd be face up in front of you.) As quickly as you can, you must match one of the images from your hand to one of the common piles on the table. The first person to play all their cards wins. 

There are several other Loonacy themes, including the original Loonacy, Retro Loonacy, Uglydoll Loonacy, and this not-for-kids version. 

While Loonacy was new to me, I already knew Looney Labs as the maker of Fluxx. Some friends introduced me to Fluxx in the late 1990's and I've loved it ever since. It's a really fun game. The rules of the game are ever-changing; in fact, even the object of the game changes! Basically, you are trying to collect the green keeper cards that fulfill the current pink goal card. For example, the goal below is Chocolate Milk. To win the game, you need to have both the Chocolate keeper card and the Milk keeper card. How many cards you draw and what you do with them is determined by what yellow rules cards are in place and what blue action cards you use. It sounds crazy and it is, but it's a lot of fun. It's one of the most popular games at the middle school Games Club and a staple on all Scout outings. 

Fluxx comes in a many themed versions. We have four, including the original Fluxx, Nature Fluxx, Star Fluxx, and Fluxx the Board Game. 

There are tons of other versions of Fluxx, including pop culture ones (Batman, Dr. Who, Star Trek, etc.), school subjects (Chemistry, Anatomy, Math), and dozens more, including this for ages 21+. I am most interested in adding Holiday Fluxx to our family's collection. 

Have you played Fluxx? If so, do you have a favorite version? 

Capitol Bingo

Our family is on a quest to visit each of the 50 states before Trevor is 18. Whenever possible, we include a visit to the state's capital city and the Capitol building in that city. When I posted 13 Helpful Tips for Visiting a State Capitol with Kids, our family had been to 20 of the 50 Capitol buildings. If all went as planned, we visited our 21st earlier this week!

Some of the Capitols have word searches, crossword puzzles, and other kid-friendly activities for families to print and bring with them when they visit the Capitol, but many do not. I challenged myself to create a printable that would work regardless of which state capital you visit. It was tough, but I came up with this bingo card. Of course, it could be done competitively, but I envision using it cooperatively as a family, with a prize (something small from the gift shop?) for the kids getting either bingo or blackout. 

Next week I'll be sharing all about our recent travels to the capital of the Lone Star State, including how we did completing this bingo card in Austin!

Craft Block I-Spy Game

I spy an animal that lives in the ocean. Can you guess what it is? 

Here are some clues to help you.

• The animal I spy is bigger than a human. 
• The animal I spy is a mammal.
• The animal I spy is a single color. 
• The animal I spy uses echolocation to find breathing holes in the ice and to hunt in dark waters. 

Now can you guess? This close-up photo might help. 

Did you say beluga whale? If you did, you're right!

I am in love with this new I-Spy game Trevor and I made. It is lightweight, small enough to fit easily in a tote, and is a great way to pass the time during car trips, at the doctor's office, or waiting for food at a restaurant. You can adjust the clues you give based on the age of the child you're playing with. You can also create a solitaire version - just write up a list of items for the child to find and hand it over!

To make your own I-Spy game, you'll need a Craft Block (affiliate link) and something to put inside it. I received a Craft Block as a sample and had been testing all sorts of items to put inside before Trevor came up with the idea of the plastic animals. 

The Craft Block is made of acrylic and measures 8" x 8" x 3". It has a 1.5" access hole at the top with a reusable rubber seal. There is a wave pattern to the acrylic that creates a really cool effect. Look at the bouncy balls we put in the Craft Block. They're all perfectly round, but the waves have distorted their appearance!

The same thing happened with marbles. Look at the clear marble sitting on top of the others. It's perfectly round, but it sure doesn't look that way! 

There are so many other things that you can put inside a Craft Block to make an I-Spy game, or simply to display a collection. And because the seal is reusable, you can empty out the Craft Block whenever you want and fill it with something else!

I have more ideas for the Craft Block to come, including one that I can't share until after a certain nephew's October birthday. Do you have any fun ideas for the Craft Block? I'd love to hear how you would use it!

US States and Capitals Game

Trevor has been studying the states and capitals in school. How fun to be able to go to the cupboard and pull out all the US geography games and activities from my teaching days! 

This is one that I made myself. 

I started with 101 pieces of white cardstock, about the size of a deck of cards. On 50 cards, I wrote the name of one of the states (in blue). On the next 50, I wrote the name of one of the capitals (in red). The final card was for our nation's capital, Washington DC. I colored the backs of each of the cards to make the flag pattern. It didn't take all that long and was easy to do while watching TV. In fact, I made multiple sets for my classroom and laminated them for durability. It worked; some 20 years and 500 kids later, the cards still look good.

There are a few ways to use these cards. Spread them all out on a grid and create a huge game of Memory, with the Washington DC card being wild. Or, use them for an Old Maid type of game, where the winner is the person who is holding Washington DC when all the matches are made. Set aside the Washington DC card and use the rest of the cards for an epic game of War. The first to see a match yells it out and keeps those cards. This works best with 4+ players so that matches occur more frequently. Or, for solitaire fun, time yourself to see how long it takes to pair up all the states with their capitals. Try to improve your time!

Check out this affiliate link for more games and activities for learning the states and capitals!

Tic-Tac-Toe Dice

Trevor, like just about all third graders, is working on learning multiplication and division facts. We've done some flash cards and computer games and he's getting faster and faster, but still has a way to go before the facts are automatic. He does not like practicing them. I thought he'd prefer a math game I used to teach to my students back in the day. I was right. He loves it.

Tic-Tac-Toe Dice is for 2-4 players. You need a different colored pencil for each person, a 0-99 hundreds chart, and three dice.

Player 1 starts by rolling the dice. He must add, subtract, multiply or divide all three digits to reach a number between 0 and 99, stating the equation(s) out loud. For example, if a player rolled the 4-2-1 shown above, he could do (2+1)x4 to get 12. He would then color in 12 on the chart. Play passes back and forth between the players until someone gets five in a row. There's a lot of strategy involved in what numbers you pick. It can be just as important to block your opponent as to go for your own tic-tac-toe.

Here's a game in progress. I'm red and Trevor is blue.

He rolled 5-6-6. He started with 5+6+6 and got 17, which he rejected as not especially useful for either offensive or defensive purposes. He tried (5x6)+6 and got 36, which he announced was a 'maybe' because it was diagonally in line with two of his existing squares. He tried (6x6)-5 and got 31, which he strongly considered. He kept going and tried (6-6)+5 and got 5. He tried a few more options and eventually went back to 31 and colored that in.

Guess who won the very first game we played? Yep. Trevor. He's using his pencil to show where he has 5 in a row (4 through 8).

I don't get smiles like this from flash cards, that's for sure.

One particularly awesome thing about this game is that you can adapt it to allow more difficult operations, like exponents. You can also add a fourth die to increase the difficulty. That really gets the brain working!

In my book, there's nothing better than combining learning with fun. 

The Cursive Project: Javelin

We had a lot of fun with the homemade football in the backyard, so when it was time for Letter J of The Cursive Project, I was really excited to make a javelin. Trevor had all sorts of ideas for fun ways we could use it for more backyard games.

We gathered our materials: a long cardboard tube (that once held wrapping paper), newspaper, and tape.

We rolled a chunk of newspaper into a cone and added a piece of tape to hold it in place.  

We tested to be sure the cone would fit snugly over the end of the cardboard tube, which it did. (On the first try!)  We wrapped the whole cone with black gaff tape to strengthen it.

It looked like this when we were done.

We slid the tube into the cone and headed to the backyard.

We each did a few tosses to make sure it would hold together and sail straight.  It was perfect.

We set up one of Trevor's plastic rings on the far side of the lawn and aimed for it.  We earned a point when the tip of the javelin was inside the ring.

Trevor added more rings and assigned different point values to each color (including some that had a negative point value) to make the game more interesting.

I like this picture.  It's fun to see the javelin sailing out of the frame.

We played with the javelin for a good hour and it held up beautifully.  So much fun!