Things to Do - ThinkFun's Compose Yourself GIVEAWAY!! (NOW CLOSED)

As frequent blog readers probably already know, we're big fans of ThinkFun's educational games and activities. But lately we're especially big fans of their new Compose Yourself music cards. The thick plastic transparent cards each have a set of musical notes on them. You then go online and enter a series of cards to make a song or melody. Flip them. Reverse them. Repeat them. It's shockingly fun.

And this has become our go-to downtime activity this summer. Whenever the kids say, "I'm bored." I reply, "then go make a song." And they do. Over and over again. Even I can't stop fiddling with them. If you listen carefully you start to understand how music and notes work (I never learned to read music, so I'm a somewhat fascinated by this).

The super easy computer interface makes parental involvement optional, so this is the perfect summer activity for children when you need some time by yourself (perhaps a nap?). I can't say enough good things.

Think Fun has offered to giveaway one set of Compose Yourself cards to a No Monsters reader (US addresses only). To enter, just comment on this post. Please include your email address in the body of the message (so I can find you). This giveaway will close in one week at 10 pm on August 10th.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED, A RANDOM WINNER HAS BEEN PICKED AND NOTIFIED. THANK YOU!

Things to Make - Make & Engineer Your Own Toys with ThinkFun's New Maker Studio Kits

After our return from the spring break road trip, Thinkfun sent us three of their new Maker Studio kits - the perfect activity to fill our afternoons before school started again.

The kits come in three different varieties - winches, gears, and propellers, which worked perfectly for our family - one set for each child. The kits contain sets of plastic parts that you attach to various recyclables (plastic bottles, mac and cheese boxes, toilet paper rolls, etc), along with detailed instructions on how everything comes together. And once your child finishes one or more of the detailed projects, he/she can try some of the recommended "challenges" in order to create on his/her own terms.

Thinkfun recommends Maker Kits for children 7 and up and I'd take that recommendation seriously; even my 9 year old found the kit hard to complete independently. In retrospect, I wish I would have made this a 1 on 1 activity (rather than a 1 on 3 activity) because the kids really liked seeing how everything came together but they all wanted a lot of help with assembly (though I kept trying to explain since we're using things out of the recycling bin, there's no problem if someone messes up).

In our experience, the winches kit involved the easiest assembly; whereas gears was by far the hardest (lots of measurements). So I'd recommend starting with winches or propellers and working your way up.

And the best part? Watching T play for hours with his new toys!! Plus, it feels great to know that when these toys fall apart we can just build more.

Things to Do - Gravity Maze GIVEAWAY!! [Now Closed}

I have a friend who loves making marble runs with her kids - they own runs in every size and color imaginable. But me? Well up til now I've always been more neutral on the marble run experience. Yes, it can be fun to build a little roller coaster of sorts, but after awhile the whole process seems a little redundant. Until now.

Over the past year or so, Thinkfun has asked us to try out a variety of their new toys and games and we've always been rather impressed with their offerings. But Gravity Maze is the best yet. The puzzle/game comes with 60 challenges, ranging from beginning to expert. And it is up to you to arrange various translucent "towers" in such a way that the ball rolls from A to Z.

Gravity Maze is designed for children 8 and up. P (my 8 year old) loves solving the challenges both with me (as a team) and on her own. Whereas, T (my 5 year old) prefers to let me do most of the problem solving, while he drops the ball to see if we're working in the right direction.

All in all, this is a great pre-dinner activity, especially during the LONG LONG nights of December. Think Fun has offered to giveaway one gravity maze to a No Monsters reader (US addresses only). To enter, just comment on this post. Please include your email address in the body of the message (so I can find you). This giveaway will close this Thursday night (December 18th).

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED AND A WINNER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!

Things to Do - Thinkfun Games Review and GIVEAWAY!!

NOTE - THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!

Our friends at Thinkfun gave us three of their new games to check out, all of which provided some much needed entertainment during thes cold days of sprinter (spring/winter).



Hoppers
We keep this game on the kitchen table and throughout any given day you'll see some member of our family playing it. The premise is simple enough - you arrange the little frog "hoppers" as displayed on the game card (cards range from easy to "super hard"). You then hop frog over frog until (ideally) only one frog remains.

I use Hoppers as a nice, short stress reliever during the day (probably because, sometimes, I need to win something). The kids enjoy it too, as even the most challenging puzzles becomes doable once you figure out your previous mistakes. Plus, I love the game's self-contained carrying case - making it perfect for car trips.



Last Letter

The girls are obsessed with this multi-player game (they often bring it out on playdates). First each player receives 5 cards. In the center, a "starting" card is displayed, someone calls out one of the objects or actions on the card and then everyone must find on one of their own cards an object or action whose name starts with the last letter of the previous named word. So if someone yells skateboarder, the next thing named must start with R. The first player to discard all of their cards wins.

I like that the cards contain funny cartoons full of crazy scenarios (all very different). Last Letter is a great before bed activity, as the gameplay moves along quickly. Plus, it helps with spelling skills (make sure to review words that begin with E because that silent e at the end of words comes up over and over again).



Square By Square

This game seems easy enough - you arrange the blocks (onto a contained game space) to duplicate one of the pictures displayed on the various cards. But, if you ask me, even the easy ones are somewhat challenging (I always end up with one block that doesn't fit). Oh well, frustration can be good. And it keeps the kids entertained while I make dinner (plus, once you can't take it anymore, the back of each card details the puzzle's solution).

Thinkfun will give away one of their new release games to a lucky reader, you can choose from the three games reviewed above or any of the other wonderful selections detailed here. Just enter below to win!

[NOTE - You can enter through the giveaway gadget at the bottom of this post OR by commenting to this post, but if you comment, please leave an email in the body of the message so I can get in touch with you. Thanks!]

Happy Monday everyone!!

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