Dice, Decks, and Boards: Dragon's Breath

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Who doesn't love sparkling gems? In Dragon's Breath, children will collect gems that are released from the ice ring to add to their dragon hoard. 

Dragon's Breath from Haba® is for 2 to 4 players aged 5+. The game only takes about 15 minutes to play and set up, which means you can play over and over again in one gaming session. Since each game is so short, Dragon's Breath is also excellent for large families because you can swap out players. 

What Do You Get? 

The game comes in a sturdy box and contains the following: 

• 4 Dragon Children 
• 9 Ice Rings 
• 1 Ice Floe Tile 
• 90 Sparkling Stones (18 in each of 5 colors) 
• 1 Dragon Dad 
• 1 Box Base with 4 Dividers 
• 1 Game Board 
• 5 Sparkling Stone Tiles 

How Do You Play Dragon's Breath? 

Place the game board on the box base with the four dividers set up. Place the ice floe tile in the middle. 

Depending on how many players there are, you stack either 8 ice rings (2 or 4 players) or 9 ice rings (3 players) on the ice floe tile. This creates a column of ice that the dragon dad will "melt." 

Each player selects their dragon child and puts the marker in one of the four corners. 

All the sparkling stones are placed in the ice column. Any that fall, go into the holes in the base. The Dragon Dad and the sparkling stone tiles are set to the side for gameplay. 

Once play begins, each round is the same: 

1. Select a sparkling stone tile so you know which color you will collect. 
2. Lift an ice ring. The sparkling gems will fall (if they fall in a hole, they belong to Dragon Dad). 
3. Divide up the gems based on the stone tiles. Any left after you divide them go into Dragon Dad's hoard. 

There are variations of the game listed in the instruction manual. 

Our Thoughts 

This is a high-quality game made for repeated play by small children. It is playable by four-year-olds and up (supervision of littler ones is necessary). It teaches patience, colors, and counting, as well as good sportsmanship. 

How Can You Use This Game Elsewhere in Your Homeschool? 

• Use the game for sorting colors. 
• Spelling words: Use the ice round ice rings and gently toss them onto an alphabet board. Then, spell out a word that starts with that letter. 
• Trading and finances. Make each color represent a different amount and practice basic trading and bartering with the gems. 
• Work on learning Roman Numerals. Make the colors represent different numbers and then count out with math problems. 

Red = 1 = I 

Blue = 5 = V

Orange = 10 = X

Purple = 20 = XX 

Green = 50 = L 

Can you think of any other ways to use the game in your homeschool?