Byron's Games Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game Review #ComplimentaryProductReceived

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

My family had the privilege of trying the Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game from Byron's Games for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

While having an extended stay in a hospital a 6 year old boy named Byron was inspired by Mrs. Ellen Donovan, of the Family Life Center and the Olympic games that were going on at the time. To pass the time, he created his first board game, Continent Race. He wanted to help other kids avoid boredom during their hospital stays and brush up with their geography skills. Now Byron's Games has 2 games: Continent Race and Math Sprint, the Connections stationery kit, and Trailblazer products.

Math Sprint  - The Mental Math Game is a great game for helping with math mastery. Byron originally created this game for a local game inventor challenge. It too was inspired by the Olympic games, especially the running events. All you have to do to advance your piece is to solve a subtraction, addition, multiplication, division, or word problem. It is a race against other players to solve the problem first. There are also different skill levels with 3 race lengths and beginner to advanced level cards. Each color coded athlete playing piece has a profile picture with different hobbies and interests to go with it that you can pick from. This gives the players to have something they might relate to in the game. This math game is for ages 7 and up, you can have 2-8 players or teams, and a game takes about 30 minutes.

 

Game Contents:

• Instructions
• 258 cards: 92 Addition & Subtraction, 106 Multiplication & Division, 30 Wild Cards, 30 Challenge Cards
• 1 marker
• 1 running track board
• 10 dry erase cards
• 8 runner playing pieces

How to Play:

1. Base on the age and level of your group, determine which card types to include in the draw pile, shuffle those into a deck, and place them face down in the middle of the board. The challenge cards should not be in play when playing with younger kids.
   
2. Select your runner piece.
   
3. Choose the race distance: 100m (shorter game and beginner level), 200m (intermediate level when have a bit more time to play), or 400m dash (advanced or older players or when the group has more time to play).
4. Line your piece up on the starting line on the board running track where the race distance is you are running and pick one of the lanes numbered 1-8. The Coach should be in lane 1.
   
5. Each player takes a turn being the Coach going clockwise, draws a card, and reads the math problem aloud or the adult or oldest can be the Coach the whole time.
6. Each time a player answers a question correctly they can move their runner forward 2 spaces.
7. If there is a tie in answering correctly, both players advance 2 spaces.
8. If a player doesn't answer the question correctly they don't move.
   
9. The first player to get the correct answer advances and is on the way to the finish line!
10. If the Coach draws a Wild card, then  the Coach moves his/her piece as directed.
11. If a Coach Tip card is drawn the Coach reads it aloud so all players can learn.
12. If playing with a large group you can play in teams instead of individual players. Teams can discuss quietly and raise their hands when their team has the answer.
13. Use the blank dry erase cards and dry erase marker to make up your own problems or work out solutions.
    

 

● Improves your kid's reasoning and logic skills
● Helps kids practice processing, analyzing, and calculating
● Boosts your own mental math abilities
● Provides precious time for you and your family to grow together

 

Zari, Teela, and I playing Math Sprint.

 

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

It has been cold outside and so my kids have been playing a lot indoors. We have been enjoying a lot of board games, card games, and puzzles. One of the games that we have been playing on these chilly days is Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game by Byron's Games.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are ages 12 and 10 have been playing this game with me. I was the Coach in the first game we played. Teela chose the yellow playing piece which is Mary Matherina, Zari chose the green piece which is Mya Marcher, and I chose the blue piece which is Crystal Reaction. I liked Crystal, well, because she shares the same name as me and seems to like science. Zari and I started on the 100m level and Teela started on the 200m level. At first we shuffled all the cards together, but then Zari was having trouble with the division problems, so we took all those cards out so that we could level the playing field. We should have just picked out the appropriate cards to include in the game with all the wild cards to make it fun and unpredictable and make it a acceptable number of cards--not the entire deck.  Zari still didn't like that it was a math game because she doesn't like math and Teela was dominating the game because she was faster at getting the answers. Next time we play I think that I will play with Zari and be on her team so maybe she will have a chance at winning or maybe she can play with a friend that is at her same level.

All in all I liked Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game. It is a great game to brush up on your math and also help with learning new math skills for younger students. My kids had mixed feelings about the game and this is probably not going to be a game they turn to on their own off of our game shelf. I love that it is educational and teaches while playing. I think that I would still recommend it to families that homeschool and others that are looking for games that teach as well.

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• Hashtags: #familygamenight #kidinventors #gamesforkids #byronsgames #exploreyourworld #mathgames #homeschoolgames #mathsprint #learnandexplore 

BUY IT

You can purchase Math Sprint - The Mental Math Game on Amazon.

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Brain Blox Fun Family Chess Review

My family had the privilege of trying Fun Family Chess from Brain Blox for this review to use in conjunction with our own games at home. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Brain Blox is a family-owned company that makes educational games and toys that can be enjoyed by the whole family. They believe that kids should be free to play, explore, and express themselves in a way true to who they are inside. They want to empower families to have more meaningful time and relations with one another, without electronics devices...to engage more with the real world together.

Fun Family Chess is set up the same as traditional chess. Board has icons where you place the pieces other than pawns.

Fun Family Chess is a 2 player chess game with double the fun because there are two ways to play, Fun Family Chess and traditional chess. The game of Fun Family Chess is said to have been invented by a dog named Chesster. The Fun Family Chess game uses a chess cube or die that has all the symbols of the pieces color coded to match the reference card. The light side goes first and rolls the chess cube. Then you match the colored symbol to the reference card. If you roll a star you can move any piece that can move. You must roll a star to move the King because there isn't a King symbol on the cube. If you cannot move the piece indicated on the chess cube how it is stated on the reference card you get to roll again! You can capture pieces by landing on top of your opponent's piece. Once you capture it you can take that piece off the board. You win by capturing the other player's king instead of trapping it in a position it can't escape (checkmate in traditional standard chess).

How to Play Fun Family Chess:


Go here to watch more videos on Fun Family Chess!

5 ways traditional standard chess is different:

• no chess cube: instead choose any piece you can move legally.
• winning is different: you win by checkmate.
• pawn superpower: if a pawn reaches the other side of the board safely it can change into another piece (except a pawn or King)
• en passant: means your pawn gets another superpower...a special capture that is only used in specific situations. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.
• castling: in some situations, the Rook and King can do this special swap-move-thing. You can read more about this in the Full Color Chess Book.

Brain Blox Fun Family Chess pieces store inside the foldable wooden case that doubles as the board.

Includes:

• Folding Wooden Chess Board with Velvet Lining and Chess Icons on the Board for Easy Set up.
• 32 Wooden Chess Pieces with Velvet Bottoms in a Soft Pouch.
• Full Color Chess Book, teaches both Fun Family Chess and Standard Chess.
• 2 Color Coded Reference Cards, shows how each piece moves.
• Chess Cube/Die, when playing Fun Family Chess, simply roll the die to see which piece to move.
• Plus...Video Tutorials and 2 Months Gold Membership with ChessKid!

Zari and Teela playing Fun Family Chess.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

Chess improves problem solving, concentration, memory, strategic thinking, planning, foresight and intelligence. Sometimes though it can be a bit overwhelming to learn because of all the moves and plays you need to remember. My oldest son loves chess, but he can be a bit intimidating to my daughters who are younger because he is good at playing because of practice. The Brain Blox Fun Family Chess makes it easy to learn how to play chess and it has the piece icons right on the board to help you with setup and reference cards to know how each piece moves. You can start with the Fun Family Chess game and move up to traditional chess once you have learned the basic moves the pieces make.

I also love that the Fun Family Chess set is beautifully made. The pieces and the board are made of wood. The board folds up and is its own case for the pieces, cards, die, and booklet. It latches shut so nothing will fall out. The inside is velvet lined so that the pieces will be somewhat padded and their are two velvet pouches for all the light and dark pieces to go into. The pouches help you not loose the pieces and keep them all together. The pieces have felt on the bottoms of them too so they won't scratch the surface of the board as you play.

My daughters, Teela and Zari, who are 11 and almost 9 loved playing with this chess set. They thought it was a lot more fun to play the Fun Family Chess game with the chess cube because the cube told you which piece to play if you could play it and if not you could roll again until you could play a piece. My girls also loved that the cube had a star symbol on it which meant they could pick what ever piece they wanted. The Fun Family Chess game definitely gave a new perspective to the game of chess. They also loved that the moves of each piece was laid out for them on a full color reference card so they could see the piece and how it moved on the board. Even my youngest daughter said it wasn't as complicated because of the way it was presented. Both of my girls said that this chess set, even when playing traditional chess, was easier to both set up and play.

I am very glad we got to review the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess because it is a great way to learn to play chess or help someone like me who is very rusty at chess because I haven't played in a while. I recommend it very highly, especially as a chess for kids!

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• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybrainblox 
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• Hashtags: #hsreviews #FunFamilyChess

Also, on the Brain Blox website there are some awesome free resources. We love the free printables for the Conscious Kids Journal! Don't miss those.

BUY IT
You can purchase the Brain Blox Fun Family Chess from Amazon.



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Chara Games Commissioned Review

My family had the privilege of trying Commissioned from Chara Games for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum and Bible study. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Patrick and Katherine Lysaght founded Chara Games in 2014 in hopes to bring Christian based tabletop games to the home that are fun for the family to play together. They named their company Chara which means unshakable joy in Biblical Greek. They created their first game, Commissioned, which was funded through a KickStarter campaign and a second game called 3 Seeds was also funded through KickStarter later on.

Commissioned is a board game that is for 2-6 players and is for ages 14 and up. This historically-based cooperative, strategic deck-building style game takes about an hour to play and is built upon how the Early Christian Church was spread. The game covers the first 150 years of church history. There is no need to know the history of Christianity to play.

To play you get to be one of the six Apostles: Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Andrew, Thomas or John. Each Apostle has specific characteristics, abilities, and ways they can help the game. Players in the game work together as a team with the other chosen Apostles to strengthen their individual decks of faith cards, grow the church, collect the books of the New Testament, all while overcoming trials, obstacles, and persecution. The game is played in three rounds: Arm (drawing faith cards), Live (taking action: trials, pray, share, move, and grow), and Mature (expanding faith decks). Commissioned has five separate scenarios you can choose to follow: Acts of the Apostles, Peter's Gentile Outreach, The First Missionary Journeys, Appeal to Caesar,  and To the Ends of the Earth. These scenarios make the game interesting every time it is played. The first scenario is the easiest and suggested for the first play of the game. Commissioned has two different difficulty levels of play and one adversary variant as well. Game ends when scenario victory conditions are met, 5 churches are extinguished, or the last Trial Card is drawn.

Chara Games Commissioned Contents

What Is Included In The Box:

• 1 Double-Sided Game Board: the board map you play on, has two sides for the two difficulty levels.
• 5 Double-Sided Scenario Cards: the first thing you choose in play to start the game. These tell important information, game board set up, victory conditions, and what failure means for each scenario.
• 6 Unique Player Boards: go with each Apostle player.
• 96 Faith Cards: six are drawn at first for each player, use these to acquire more faith cards after accomplishing 5 actions in the Live round the required amount of times. These have up to 5 components: Title, Faith, Point Value, Board Effect, New Testament Books (only on 2-Faith Cards), and Historical Reference.
• 27 Trial Cards: number of turns is limited by the number of these and when you run out it is the end of the game.
• 4 Wooden "Missionary Meeples": help populate the cities on the map with churches when there is less than 6 players.
• 75 Wooden Church Member Cubes: represent church members on the map.
• 1 Wooden Elder's Staff: is passed left along to each player on turn, Elder makes important decisions and rolls die.
• 6 Wooden Apostle Player Pawns: color coded to match the player boards.
• 30 Double-Sided "Stop" Tokens: stop things from happening, these are played during the Live round when indicated. One side is growth stop and other side is mission stop.
• 5 Double-Sided "Extinguished" Tokens: match the art of the board, these are placed when a city location containing a church becomes empty either by trial or choice. If 5 churches are extinguished, the game is lost.
• 1 "Converted City" Leader's Token: is played in the location with the Elder's Apostle pawn when this faith card is selected in the Share action. No trials except for Worldly Priorities and Mount Vesuvius Erupts can affect this area. If card is selected again, move token to specified city. Previous city looses protection. If played on a ship, move to city when the church leaves the ship.
• 1 Roman Legion Token: is played with the Adversary Variant.
• 1 8-Sided Die: rolled to know what to do next.
• 1 12-Page Full Color Rule Book: for teaching the set up, instructions, and rules of the game.
• 1 Theme Appendix: helps you learn about historical concepts encountered throughout the game.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

My family loves all types of games; whether it be board games, card games, video games, relay races, competitions, etc. We love testing our skill, wit, speed, and strategy. Games are great opportunities to get together with family and friends and have a great time. They help us learn how to: take turns, think ahead, make choices, have consequences for our actions, cooperate, work as a team, and be a good sport. We love family game night because it strengthens family ties & bonds, and builds memories. We also love educational and historical games for homeschool and we always like getting new games to add to our collection because it means a chance to try something different.

The artwork of the Commissioned box, game boards, cards, and tokens are superb and vibrantly colored. The game is beautifully made and constructed well. It is made of high quality materials and I could see this lasting a long time if properly cared for.

We found Commissioned to be a great board game of strategy and cooperation. Since it is a game for ages 14 plus I had my son Delbin who is 16 play the game with me. I would not recommend this game for really young children as it does go long and I would expect my 6 and 8 year old would get too fidgety and loose patience. This game is intense and I am so glad we watched the helpful "How-to-Play" video that is on the website because we would have been totally lost without it! I am so thankful that Chara Games made this, as it clarifies everything! We set up the game and played along using the demonstration video as our guide. The 12-page rule book is nice, but still a bit confusing and definitely made the game sound very complicated at first. I have never played a game this involved before although apparently it is similar to other strategy games of this type. It is definitely a game for the serious gamer.

We actually took longer to play and achieve the winning requirements than just the hour it says it should take, but we were also just learning how to play...so maybe this is why. Once we got the game down it flowed seamlessly. It has so many different ways of play with tons of neat pieces that I do not think we will ever get bored playing. We also loved how much we came to understand better what the Apostles actually went through to while growing the Christian church. What an eye opener.

Look for my upcoming review of 3 Seeds from Chara Games shortly after I receive it.

BUY IT
Purchase Commissioned for $28.92 + $5.99 shipping.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharaGames/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CharaGames/ @Charagames
Hashtags: #hsreviews #ChristianBoardGames #StrategyGames

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SimplyFun Shape Whiz Board Game Review

My family had the privilege of trying SimplyFun Shape Whiz for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

SimplyFun is a company that is dedicated to providing fun products that also teach important skills. These award winning educational games help families spend more quality time together and create meaningful relationships. SimplyFun has games for all ages and and stages, even ones especially for special needs and autism.

My family loves all types of games; whether it be board games, card games, video games, relay races, competitions, etc. We love testing our skill, wit, speed, and strategy. Games are great opportunities to get together with family and friends and have a great time. They help us learn how to: take turns, think ahead, make choices, have consequences for our actions, cooperate, work as a team, and be a good sport. We love family game night because it strengthens family ties & bonds, and builds memories. We also love educational games for homeschool and we always like getting new games to add to our collection because it means a chance to try something different.

My family got the opportunity to try a SimplyFun game called, Shape Whiz. Shape Whiz is a fast paced card game that teaches 2D geometry, shape measurement, and math symbols. It is for 2 to 4 players and is geared towards ages 10 and up. With this board game for kids you learn about all kinds of Geometry: signs and symbols, angles, curves, sides, line of symmetry, parallel lines, polygon, same or equivalent, approximate area, area of a rectangle, area of a square, area of a triangle, area of a parallelogram, area of a trapezoid, area of a circle, approximate perimeter or circumference, perimeter of a polygon, circumference of a circle, and Pythagorean Theorem.

Contents of Shape Whiz

Included in the game's box are 80 Shape Cards, 40 Whiz Cards, and an instruction booklet on the rules of how to play. The Shape Cards have two different sets; 45 total simple shapes (9 blue shapes in 5 sizes) and 35 total complex shapes (7 green shapes in 5 sizes). These have a shape on a grid on the front and shape properties on the back. Whiz Cards tell you a geometry clue and question for helping you to find the correct Shape Card. Whiz Cards are double sided. The instruction booklet has nice color diagrams and helps you with the game play. The main points it goes through and tells us are: what's in the box, game objective, game set up, game play, game end, principles of geometry, and credits.

Shape Whiz Game Objective

The objective of the game and layout is fairly simple. You can play Shape Whiz one of two different ways. You can use both the green and blue shape cards for advanced play or just the blue shape cards for a simpler version of the game. Each player gets a stack of shape cards and puts down three of them in front of them facing up so that you can see the shape of each. Then a Whiz Card from the deck is played in the center of the table. The objective of the game is to race your opponent(s) to find the correct shape from all the available shape cards facing up that matches the geometry clue or question on the Whiz Card in play. Everyone playing must accept that the shape card picked first is a match or flip the card over to check the shape properties on the back to make sure that it is. The first person that gets rid of their Personal Shape Card Stack wins. The games are supposed to be only take about 10-15 minutes.

The above math error we found in the Shape Whiz instruction booklet and the correct math in Google.**

My boys are just the right ages for this game since they are 13 and 14. They have touched on all of these geometry concepts in their math books, but needed some review. Before we started we reviewed all of the instruction booklet. We went over everything including the geometry principles. Right away we found a error within the booklet. On page 7 of the rules booklet, down at the bottom, it says, "Circumference of a Circle: C = 2 * π * r² (π ≈ 3.14)". It is supposed to say Circumference of a Circle: C = 2 * π * r (π ≈ 3.14). **

Also we thought that when it comes to the shapes with curves, the rules for if a shape has sides and how many were a little arbitrary. The game refers to circles and tear drop shapes as having no sides and a half circle/oval as having two. Some mathematicians say that a circle has infinitely many infinitesimal sides. The question, "How many sides does a circle have?", is too ambiguous to have a definite answer. "Side" is a term that, in my honest opinion, should only be reserved for polygons, a plane figure with at least three straight sides and angles. But the booklet does spell out their definition of the words angles, curves, different length sides, line of symmetry, parallel lines, polygon, same or equivalent, and side. Their definition of a side is "a line between two points", so if you go with that definition for the game you are good to go, just remember that some of their definitions don't always apply for some geometry.

Shape Whiz card game in play

My boys are always pretty competitive with each other. At first, arguments broke out over who was first putting their card down and whose card was correct. The shape properties on the back of the Shape Cards were confusing to them sometimes. My boys were over thinking everything which made the game drag out a lot longer than it was supposed to. They were also having trouble reading the greater than and less than symbols out loud correctly. Frustration levels were pretty high and I had to jump in the middle of the game sometimes to play referee. Once they got the hang of how to play better they did calm down and have a better game.

I wish I could say that this game was perfect. I wanted so much to give it a better review, but the math in it is a little flawed. I know that it is hard to please everyone when you are a company. Shape Whiz is a product that still has a lot of potential to be great in my opinion. It just needs a bit of reworking.

UPDATE: **I did contact SimplyFun and they have given me a new PDF copy of instructions with the circumference error fixed. Those of you that already have the game can get a new PDF version from the company or just fix the error in your own booklet.

BUY IT
If you do decide to purchase Shape Whiz, you can for $24. If Homeschooling you can join SimplyFun's program for Homeschoolers. Save 15% on every purchase for a year for just $19, receive 2 FREE games when you join and get access to other great benefits and specials.

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Invent It Board Game

I would like to introduce y'all to a unique board game called Invent It. This game is great for anyone looking to plug into their creative, imaginative, inventive, nerdy or entrepreneurial side. It is great for homeschoolers, teachers, parents, families, children, or really anyone who likes to play board games. My husband's cousin, Ross, designed this game. Please go check it out on Kickstarter. Your support in backing this project will help with the production tremendously. Thanks!

"Unleash your inner genius with this unique game! Invent, build, draw & describe your invention with healthy competition, trivia & more!"

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:  This is a shameless plug for my husband's cousin. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for posting this. I did, however; back the project myself and would love it if you would do the same. Thank you for your support.

LearningHerbs.com Sale Ends Tonight!

I have been getting this fantastic newsletter called HerbMentor News that you can sign up for free on LearningHerbs.com and a couple days ago emailed me about a great deal they are having! I really do with I would have told you about this sooner, but hopefully those that want to can jump on the bandwagon and do this before the offer expires. I ordered mine!

Kids and Herbs is a naturally simple course for parents on herbs and remedies that LearningHerbs.com released for a limited time last Fall now they are re-releasing it for a very short period of time again!!

Kids & Herbs online course is free with a 50% off Wildcraft, a cooperative board game that teaches edible and medicinal plants. Go HERE to get to the information about the sale.

$19.99 plus shipping gets you the game AND Kids & Herbs + other bonuses! This is a $74 value! Wildcraft is usually $37 and Kids & Herbs was $37. You get both for $19.99 plus shipping for this short SALE ENDING MIDNIGHT, June 24! That is today folks so hurry!

Be Social:
Fan them on Facebook. Follow them on Twitter. Listen to their podcasts. Sign up for HerbMentor News.

Hasbro's National Family Game Night & Turnoff Week

Tonight is Hasbro's National Family Game Night. This evening during Turnoff Week sit down and play a board game with your family. You owe your family some bonding time together not in front of the TV, computer, or game consule.

In addition to offering hours of fun and entertainment, games also provide countless learning opportunities. Playing games reinforces patience, turn taking, cooperation, teamwork, losing gracefully and following directions. Participating in National Family Game Night will undoubtedly create great memories and bring your family closer together. So go ahead and dig out those dusty board games that haven't been played in ages and have some fun with your family tonight!