TOP TRUMPS

Kids are sure to have an out of this world time playing the SPACE edition of the Top Trumps card game.  My family has found Top Trumps' themed card decks a great family game night activity because they are both entertaining and educational to play.  In fact, teachers in the United Kingdom have been recommending students play with these card decks which incorporate a variety of themes ranging from animals to super heroes since the 1970's as a fun way to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills.  Over the last ten years, more than 80 million packs of Top Trumps cards have been sold in England making it one of the best-selling games in that country.  Top Trumps games are just becoming available in the United States and if you have children between the ages of 6 and 12 you should absolutely check them out.

There are over 60 decks to choose from with themes that are sure to capture kids' attention and imaginations. Each card in the deck has an eye catching image on it along with facts and figures relating to the theme.  Players need to read through the statistics and trivia on each card in order to win a round of the game.

Any number of people can play Top Trumps.  Here's how the game is played.  A dealer shuffles and deals out all the cards face down one at a time to each player to start off.   Players place their cards in a pile and can flip over and look at just their top card.  The person to the dealer's left picks a category from his top card and shouts it out.  Whoever has the card with the highest value in the selected category wins and takes away from his opponents all the losing cards used in the round.  This process continues around the table until only one person is left holding all the cards to win the game.  Of course everyone wins because as players scan the categories on their cards while competing in the game they are learning stats and trivia at the same time.

The SPACE edition of Top Trumps that my family has played included 2 decks of cards with the themes Wonders and Missions that are stored within a collectors tin shaped like the Earth.  The Wonders deck features stunning pictures of interstellar objects like black holes, moons and planets with categories that focus on topics such as size and distance.  While the Missions deck highlighted various vehicles and tools including a space suit, rockets,  and the Curiosity Mars Rover.  All of the cards featured snippets of trivia about their illustration portrayed on them which are always interesting to read when flipping through a deck.

My kids started off mostly interested in trying to win the game and really had a good time enjoying competing against one another.  As the game went on though, I noticed them taking more and more of an interest in checking out the pictures on the cards and they began asking me questions about the information included within each of the decks.  A few days after we played the SPACE edition of Top Trumps, I overheard my son talking to one of his friends about some of the "space facts" that he'd learned while playing the game.  That conversation cemented Top Trumps earning A GEEK DADDY's nod of approval for being an excellent way to get kids learning while they are also having fun.

Top Trumps' card decks can be purchased for under $10 and collector's tins like the SPACE set A GEEK DADDY was provided to review are less than $20.  Whether looking for an educational tool for an elementary school aged student or an entertaining holiday gift for a kid (decks are the perfect size for stocking stuffers), you can't go wrong picking up Top Trumps card games.  In addition to the SPACE themed decks, other themes include Baby Animals, Dinosaurs, DC Super Hero Girls, Harry Potter, Marvel Comic Book Heroes, and Star Wars.  To see all of the available decks, watch a "how to play" video, and  purchase the card game, please visit www.toptrumps.us

Expand children's reading & science skills with a Rainforest Journey

** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review **

The winter months can be cold and dreary in Michigan, but that hasn't prevented my kids from exploring tropical habitats filled with lush vegetation and exotic creatures over the last few weeks.  They've been able to go on a Rainforest Journey without having to leave the comfort of our home thanks to an innovative online science and reading curriculum program created by the company EdTechLens.  Designed for children 5 - 12 years old, EdTechLens' Rainforest Journey teaches the life science components of elementary school science curriculum through taking kids on a vibrant, multimedia tour of a rainforest. Students are walked through five multi-chaptered units of study during their Rainforest Journey which include the big picture of the rainforest, adapt or die, animals, plants and fungi, and ecosystems. 

(c) EdTechLens - Rainforest Journey

Whether using for home schooling or to supplement what a child is being taught at school, the curriculum format of this program ensures kids are learning during their Rainforest Journey.  Parents can customize the reading level and educational complexity so it is appropriate for their child's grade in school from Kindergarten through 5th Grade.  We've been utilizing the first grade edition (CLICK HERE to sample one of the lesson segments my kids have used) and it has meshed well with where my twins are in their studies at in school.  If children are struggling to read along through the presentation on their own there is also an optional audio narration component that reads the text as a child follows along.  Scientific concepts such as ecosystems and the water cycle are explained through easy to understand graphs and illustrations.  Plus there is a focus on using this experience to expand a child's vocabulary as they make their way through each section of this online teaching aid.

To reinforce the lessons learned in each unit of the Rainforest Journey includes a printable activity sheet that parents and kids can work on together before they move on to the next topic.  Also each section concludes with an online test that measures a student's comprehension of their grade appropriate material and provides parents with an assessment.  Parents can block children from moving on to next unit of material until a satisfactory score has been achieved.

Rainforest Journey's online educational portal will work with any computer or handheld device that can connect with the Internet.  It's lessons are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and the New York State Science Standards plus each lesson includes a non-fiction reading passage to promote literacy. To further assist with reading skill development each of the learning sections provides parents with a Lexile score and word count to assist with measuring a child's abilities.

To prevent children from considering the educational aspects of Rainforest Journey as being boring or burdensome, lessons include video clips and photographs specifically selected to pique a child's curiosity.  Brilliantly colored amphibians, bug eating plants, camouflaged predators, distorted fungi, and rhinoceros-looking insects will wow and intrigue kids into wanting to learn more.



My son's favorite animal is the jaguar and he was just thrilled by the photos and video of this ferocious feline when we came upon them.

It is nice that you can select a specific grade level from K - 5 so that you know the material is relevant and relatable to the child using a Rainforest Journey.  My twins are beginning readers and their teacher has asked parents to make sure students read for 30 minutes every night after school.  With  pages that feature one line sentences crafted for first grade aged children to read this was a perfect opportunity to get in their reading every night while enhancing their interest in nature, conservation and science.

An annual subscription to Rainforest Journey is normally $50 per grade level.  So for example using the program for one child in first grade would cost just $50 for twelve months access. But say for example you have multiple children in kindergarten, third grade and fifth grade and want to customize the complexity for each of their individual learning levels that would be a $150 subscription fee.  Unless you use this special code ETLN2015 which will provide new subscribers to Rainforest Journey with a 50% discount on their order! This is a limited time offer and I'm not sure when it will expire.

Before making a decision, CLICK HERE to take a walk through Rainforest Journey to get an in-depth overview of the activities and resources provided through this educational tool.  Check out samples of the five lesson units as well as compare how the kindergarten version differentiates from the fifth grade.  Take a few moments to watch a video orientation that explains the program and its merit.  Note that a Rainforest Journey isn't fun and games meant to amuse kids but rather a serious educational tool which utilizes interesting topics and visuals that entice children to be enthusiastic about learning. Put those cold winter days where your kids may be trapped in the house to good use with a Rainforest Journey.