Dice, Decks, and Boards: Qwirkle

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Sometimes, there is a game that has been on your wishlist for so long that when you finally buy it, you worry if the game will actually be worth the wait. Qwirkle was the game on our wishlist for a long time. It was totally worth the wait!

What is Qwirkle?

Qwirkle is a fun game that will challenge your critical thinking skills. Yes, it is about matching shapes and colors, but you need to think and plan ahead to ensure that you will be able to score the most points. It is easy to learn but difficult to master! 

While you are looking to place your tiles or blocks, you need to make note of colors and shapes and make sure there are no duplicates in the row. So you can place a red circle in a row with a green circle and a blue circle, but not if there is already a red circle in that row. Since you connect the blocks in a way similar to a cross between Dominoes and Scrabble, you need to think ahead of the current move, too. 

Players score points by adding up how many tiles or blocks are in the row where they played their last block or blocks. If they are able to complete a row of six, they then score a "Qwirkle" and gain bonus points. So, it can be easy for the leadership board to change as people play their tiles. 

The game is designed for two to four players, ages 6 and up, with an average playtime of 30+ minutes. 

How else can you use the game?

The wooden tiles can help your younger children work on patterns and color recognition. Even if your little ones can't play Qwirkle, they can still use the brightly colored wooden blocks or tiles. 

• Place only one set of colors in the drawstring bag. Have your child pull out one block or tile and name the shape depicted. Or have them draw the shape shown on the block matching the color when they draw it. 
• Place only one set of shapes in the drawstring bag. Have your child pull out one block or tile at a time and identify the color. 
• With all the blocks or tiles in the bag, have your child draw one at a time. Ask them to identify both the color and the shape. 
• With all the blocks or tiles in the bag, have your child draw one at a time. Have them find an object in the house that matches the color or the shape. Or have objects or cards ready for them to match at the table. 
• Use them as building blocks to practice fine motor skills. 

Games in Your Homeschool 

Including games in your homeschool day can bring such joy and fun! When you are able to include games that encourage critical thinking skills, you are building those skills as well as communication skills, good sportsmanship, patience, and more. 

Read more about games that foster critical thinking skills in my reviews of Zig Zag Puzzler and Bugzzle. Click on the images below to visit the reviews!

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Tenzi Game and Tenzi Card Deck

I received a FREE copy of this game and game deck from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Our family loves dice! One of the items I have had on my wishlist at Timberdoodle is the Tenzi Game (which is part of the second-grade curriculum kit). So, I was very excited when the opportunity to review the game and the card deck became available. It actually arrived just in time for our younger son's birthday so it was like a present for the whole family.

What Exactly is Tenzi?

Tenzi is an award-winning game that is fast-paced and easy to learn. Each game contains forty dice (10 each of four different colors). One set can be used by four people to play the original Tenzi game. How do you play? Players roll all ten of their dice in order to display ten identical numbers. They keep rerolling until all ten of their dice are the same number. Add in the Tenzi Card Deck and you will find 77 Ways to Play Tenzi (including a couple more ideas that are including on the rules that come with the original set of dice).

With so many different ways to play Tenzi, you can easily fill a game night with just two simple purchases: the Tenzi game and the card deck. On the evenings where we played Tenzi, we played at least six or more games and used the cards to shake up the rules. I think one of our kids' favorites was where you had to make a sound like a farmyard animal after each roll (Farmzi). It was very loud in our dining room during that game!

The cards are 3.5 inches by 3.5 inches in size. 

We started with playing the regular Tenzi game and then moved on, trying our hand at different versions based upon the card deck. For example, we played Oddzi & Endzi where we had to roll any combination of only 1's, 3's, and 5's. This is a great way to teach or refresh children's memories of odd and even numbers. We also played Clapzi (one claps after every roll), Sixty-Fourzi (you need to roll six 4's and four 6's), and Fivezi (using only five dice), among others. The first night we even ended our gaming session with one where the last one to get Tenzi cleans up the dice.

The Dice 

The Tenzi dice have pips – not numbers on them – which encourages your child to count. If you have other six-siders you might have dice that have numbers printed on them rather than the pips. This can give an unfair advantage (or at least that is what my family said when I was using extra dice so I could play as the fifth person).

I think the dice are well-made and I didn't feel as if any were loaded – or at least I couldn't tell as I was rolling the dice so many times. The pips were all drawn/painted on clearly so they were easy to read.

What Did We Think?

There is nothing quite like forty (or more) dice rolling at the same time as everyone tries to get their match. For a few moments – at the start of each game – there was silence (which is quite amazing considering there were five of us playing ranging in age from five years to adult).

We loved Tenzi so much that we bought an additional set so all five of us could play at the same time (without raiding our other dice bags). I could easily see this as a game that we take with us to friends' houses for game night. It is easy to transport and simple to explain while still being really fun.


While I love the package for display, I think we will probably buy a dice bag to hold all the dice in so that they don't get lost. Depending on the size of the dice bag, we might even be able to keep the card deck in the bag, too.

I would highly recommend Tenzi and the Tenzi Card Deck! It was easy enough for our five-year-old to understand and play but exciting enough that our teen loved it. There a few cards within the Tenzi Card Deck that we won't be able to use with our youngest (due to dexterity needed or ability to calculate numbers) but – in general – everyone can play this game and have great fun!

Other Timberdoodle Reviews

We have also reviewed other fun and educational products from Timberdoodle including:

• Creating Magic with Djeco Artistic Patch Cosmos - a very neat craft kit 
• Book Club: My Very First Body Book Review - a sturdy book for Preschoolers 
• Building Problem Solving Skills: A Review of Bugzzle - a fun game for one 
• Finding The Fun in Homeschooling: Adding a Puzzle into your Chemistry Course - a great way to review chemistry and spend time together as a family

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Koala Capers

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Another educational and fun game from Educational Insights is Koala Caper – a game of patterns, matching, and world travel. Perfect for ages 3 and up, Koala Capers helps build pattern recognition, observation skills, and good sportsmanship.

What Do You Get?

Your game box contains 4 koala cards with plastic raised koala faces, 20 outfit cards, 1 jumbo pattern die, and 1 jumbo outfit die. Two to four players will roll both dice and pick an outfit for their koala that matches the pattern and outfit dice. The first player to dress their koala with five outfit cards wins!

The box itself for Koala Capers is colorful with the koalas packing to travel around the world. There are 'stickers' from around the world on the box which allows you to talk about geography with your children.

The directions are provided in English (printed on the lid of Koala Capers and on a pamphlet) with the following three printed on enclosed pamphlet: Spanish, French, and German. The directions include the basic "how to play" instructions and a bonus memory game.

The outfit cards are laminated cardboard and could be bent or torn but a child would have to try to destroy them.

In general, I think the game will stand up to average play by our three- and five-year-olds.

Other Gaming Ideas 

Using the outfit cards, you and your children pick one card and look up where the person wearing it is from in the world. For example, there is an outfit for a "beefeater" or yeoman warder. There are also cards for a cowboy and one exploring the poles.

Using the dice, your children could design clothing. Roll the outfit die to see which piece of clothing your children will be designing. Then either using a template or asking your child to draw the clothing, roll the pattern die. Using the pattern that is rolled, your children can decorate the outfit.

Looking for a cute Koala Craft? 

Learn about Australian Animals on a Summer Safari for Preschoolers – there are several crafts and lots of cool facts for your little ones. 

If you enjoy Koala Capers, you might also be interested in Raccoon Rumpus which is a similar game. Or if you are interested in other games please check out the following posts:

Minnie Mouse-Themed Birthday Party

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Just as our son loves all things Mickey Mouse, our daughter loves Minnie Mouse so it only seemed natural to host a Minnie Mouse-Themed Birthday Party for her as she turned three. Fortunately, we were able to reuse a lot of the items from our son's birthday party.

Food

This year we didn't have as many themed food items as we picked things that our children would enjoy eating – their preferred veggies and snack items.

Veggie Tray & Fruit Tray

Cheese & Quackers 

Everyone in our family enjoys the cheese and cracker trays...so we went with different brands and flavors to provide variety.

Bow-tie Pasta Salad

My in-laws provided a yummy salad using bow-tie shaped pasta.

Pizza Rolls 

We made mini-pizza rolls from crescent rolls, pepperoni, cheese, and oregano seasoning. These were a great hit!

Sweets 

I hand dipped pretzel rods and wafer cookies in melted chocolate and sprinkled them with different toppings. Of course, I used white, pink, and red to fit the Minnie Mouse theme.

Cake and Cupcakes 

Minnie Mouse Dress made of cupcakes!

Decorations

Games

Pin the Bow

I created a Pin the Bow on Minnie game for the kids to play.

Looking for more party ideas? 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Cauldron Quest

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

We love cooperative games for kids. Therefore, the games we have from Peaceable Kingdom have not disappointed us. They "believe that children (and adults!) thrive when they work and play together in respectful ways. Cooperation encourages bonding, teamwork, shared decision making, trust, and emotional health."

Cauldron Quest is a game for two to four players aged 6+ that takes about 20 minutes to play. The object of the game is to get the three correct ingredients into the cauldron before all six paths on the board game are blocked. The story of the game is that there is an evil wizard who has cast a spell that will destroy the kingdom. The players have the power to break the spell – but only if we work together! We must find the three correct ingredients and move them down the paths to the cauldron.

"Work your Magic! Break the Spell!" 

Game Pieces include:

• 6 plastic potion bottles with ingredient stickers 
• 6 cardboard cauldron ingredient disks
• 6 cardboard path blocker disks
• 1 cardboard wizard hat & plastic stand 
• 1 cardboard spell breaker token
• 3 action dice
• 3 "magic dice" (normal D6) 
• 1 circular game board
• 1 set of instructions 

The set up and instructions for play are clearly written with appropriate illustrations to further explain the game. On our first play through, I read the instructions prior to playing and referred to them during game play. 

Our entire family – 3-year-old, 5-year-old, teen, and parents – played the game. Except for our daughter wanting to use her own pink dice, we all were able to play the game successfully. We even won!

I would recommend Cauldron Quest to families of young children, day-care centers, preschools, and others. It is fun and will have a good replay value as things change each game play with different ingredients needed and the rolling of dice.

 

Looking for more posts about games and gaming? Please check out the following: 

Minecraft Birthday: Punch Trees and Party!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Everyone in our family enjoys Minecraft (okay, maybe Dad doesn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us but he will still play the video game with us if we ask). When we asked our soon-to-be five-year-old what theme he wanted for his birthday party, Minecraft was a top choice.

Food

As our teen had a Minecraft-themed birthday party a few years ago, we wanted to try to serve some different foods this time. Plus – with our 5-year-old's birthday being in June, we were able to grill food outdoors rather than just rely upon indoor cooking like we usually do for our teen's birthday in September.  

We prepared hamburgers and hot dogs for the beef and pork of Minecraft. The other foods in the Minecraft world consist of bread (hamburger and hot-dog rolls), fish (Swedish fish), baked potatoes (potato salad), carrots, and melon (gummy melon candy).

We also had lots of different types of snacks and candies to represent the different ores and other items from the Minecraft game. 

Ores: Lapis, gold, iron, diamond, redstone, emerald, and coal 

Lava and Water: Jello 

Sticks: Pretzel sticks 

Treats and Sweets

We put together an Enderman Cake and decorated cupcakes like the cake from the game.

Enderman cake

Cupcakes decorated like the cake (It's a lie!) from Minecraft

Decorations

As usual, I like to have the children involved with preparing the decorations for the parties. It provides the perfect opportunity to work on arts and crafts, learn new skills, and cooperate to ensure everyone has a fun time. 

Our teen helped with making a Minecraft Birthday Sign

Minecraft Tools 

Our teen drew the templates for the sword, ax, and shovel and I traced them onto cardboard from boxes and cut them out. Then our two younger children and I painted them along with a few torches to decorate the house. Yes, we could have bought the foam ones but it wouldn't have provided as much fun as painting lots of Minecraft objects on the living room floor! 

Minecraft Creatures 

I had been saving old boxes for quite a while in our basement and now was the time to use them! I painted them white and then used both construction paper and plastic tablecloths to create a pig and enderman.

Nether Portal and Photo Background 

At the entry way to our kitchen, I created a Nether Portal with purple and black crepe paper.

My husband and I used a blue tablecloth, white construction paper, and green construction paper to create a Minecraft backdrop for photos.

Other Decorations 

In a previous post, I shared how we created Minecraft Character faces to decorate. We also used Minecraft toys that our sons have gotten as gifts over the years. Our teen and I also created spawn eggs using permanent markers and old plastic eggs. 

Games

The kids played Creeper Toss with Creeper Spawn Eggs and this giant Creeper Head I made from a cardboard box.

The party was a great hit with our son, family, and friends. I love being able to help our children celebrate with fun parties.