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With the Christmas Season approaching I wanted to give you some great educational board games. I love how a board game can bring a family together. Board games also teach skills that kids can't learn through computer games.


Kids learn how to get along with others, how to deal with losing, and how to wait patiently for their turn. I also believe it is important for kids to play with their parents for many reasons. 1st of all it brings them together and creates a memory. 2nd kid learn a lot by just watching. If the parent gets upset when they lose the game the child will likely follow the same example. It is VERY important to be a good example for your children and only to show them the behaviors you would like them to show.

This doesn't mean if a child doesn't see you get upset because you lost they won't. It just means they will handle it better. I also believe it is important to teach your kids to lose every once in a while. My son had a huge problem with this. It was just something that we had to work through together. I didn't always let him win the games we played. When he lost I would ask him if he did his best. If he said Yes then I would tell him great job. You should be proud of yourself. If the answer was No we talked about how he could change it next time.

Now on to the game. This is one of my FAVORITE games. Oh, how I love this game. When I was going to school I attempted to sale Discovery toys. It didn't last very long or go very well. I quickly learned that I am not a great salesman. This game was one of my 1st purchases though.

I love this game because it is so simple yet fun. The game is recommended for 6 and up. I would recommend it for any child that is able to blend 3 letter words together or who is leaning 3 letter sight words like cat, pal. This game does require a higher level of thinking so they may need help at first as they figure things out.

The game is easy to store. Everything fits in the box. The letters stay in their little section and the card fit right behind. The game comes with 8 double sided cards. Each row has one letter printed on the card and 2 blank spaces.

This is where all the letters are stored.

The box slides forward and produces 2 letters. This is my kids favorite part of the game. They wonder what letters they will get.

Now those are the letters you have to use to make a word on your card. As kids start to understand how the game works and know how to spell more 3 letter words you can take turns moving the box to get the letters but the first person to make a word gets to take the letters.

We made the word GAB. The g was the letter on our board and the A and B were what came out when we slide the box.

This is a great family game. I play this with my 5 and 3 year old. They need a lot of help but what a great way to reinforce what they are learning. My 3 year old is working on letter names so when it's her turn she slides it and tells me the letters then I make a word if we can. My 5 year old is learning how to spell 3 letter words. Don't be afraid to change the rules of these games to fit your child's needs.

I have found this game on-line just by doing a quick Google search. The game started at around $10 and it went as high as $16. I also saw that there are different versions of the game so make sure you check the game out and have the best version for your family.