ChiTAG Blog

8 playful ways to get kids helping mom at home

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 02:22:00 GMT

“If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play!” --Charlotte Mason

Here are my thoughts for you today:

Ask for help. Teach your children to meet your needs, just as you gladly meet theirs.

For instance, if your day feels bleak and dreary, you can ask your children to make you a centerpiece of wildflowers and then send them out to find the bark, moss, and periwinkle.
If you are beleaguered, you know that tea cures all. Ask a child to put on the kettle to boil water for your tea.
Ask your children to set a beautiful table for lunch, using the special placemats.
Ask an older child to set the timer, and then lead a 5 minute "spruce up" of the living room to loud music.
You can ask your kids to toss a frisbee with you in the fresh air.
You can all make sock balls that you toss into a clean waste can at the end of laundry folding to score points.
Ask your children to lay a washcloth across your forehead when you have a headache. Teach them how to find the right temperature and how to add a little lavender oil.
Ask them to use Pledge and the dusting cloth to wipe down all the dusty wooden surfaces. (Kids love this!)

Photo Credit: stevendepolo via flickr cc

This list of tasks is different than assigning chores. Drop the "assignments" and "demands" and "lectures about responsibility," and literally ask for help.

You might frame it like this:

"Wow. I'm exhausted today and a little overwhelmed. You know what would help me?...."

Then say it. Children love to make you happy and helping you is the chief way they can.

When you are overdone, get help or go play... or do both. :) Charlotte says so, and so do I.

Did you enjoy this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to see more content like this! Thank you for joining us!

Julie Bogart is the creator of the innovative Brave Writer Writing and Language Arts Curriculum. For 13 years, Brave Writer instructional manuals and online classes have enriched the homeschooling lives of thousands of families. Brave Writer exists to foster a nurturing relationship between homeschooling parent and child while creating a safe environment for writing growth. The Brave Writer program brings a fresh point of view to the writing process. Rather than emphasizing format writing as the key to success, Brave Writer's materials and instructors facilitate the emergence of authentic writing voice in your children. Once children have access to the language, insights and ideas locked within, they easily learn a variety of writing genres, including the rigorous academic formats of high school and college. Julie's professional background includes freelance writing, magazine and book editing, and ghost-writing. She's authored and supervised the development of all original Brave Writer materials, as well as having homeschooled her five children for 17 years. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can also find Brave Writer on Facebook and Twitter.

Chicago Toy and Game Week has begun!

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:34:00 GMT

The festivities have commenced and are in full swing for Chicago Toy & Game Week 2012.

We kicked things off with a huge party dubbed "Cruisin' Into ChiTAG" on Tuesday night aboard the amazing Odyssey cruise ship. We departed from Navy Pier for hours of fun with friends and one of the hottest party games on the market this year: Telestrations!

Wednesday, we went all haute couture when we hosted our inaugural playCHIC Fashion Show. We turned the runway into a funway, partnering with some of the coolest designers with toy and game companies to create edgy fashions inspired by play.

Image courtesy The Game Aisle

Then, we showcased some of the best new games out there with CBS2's Vince Gerasole. No doubt he had a blast taking a turn with games like "Morphology," by Kate Ryan Reiling, "Pajaggle," by William Witt, and "No Clowns," by Tim Walsh and The Playmakers.

Some of the biggest brains in the toy and game industry will convene over the next two days at the Toy & Game Inventor Conference, to share ideas, discuss trends, build and strengthen collaborative relationships, and learn from one another. All these activities share a common goal: to create the very best toys and games for consumers. Play is serious business!

Friday night, the industry gathers to shine a spotlight on some of the best inventors in the industry with the 5th Annual Toy and Game Inventor Awards ceremony. This gala event celebrates, and gives much deserved accolades to the, often anonymous, individuals behind your favorite toys and games.

The climax of this wonderful week of play manifests itself this weekend on Saturday and Sunday with the 10th Annual Chicago Toy & Game Fair! We're pulling all the fun toys and games out of the toy box and we'll have them ready for you! There will be contests and giveaways and music. See expert yo-yo masters demonstrate their skills and compete for prizes. See some of your favorite Star Wars characters. AND, see almost 150 of the smartest young inventors - who will be showcasing their very own toy and game inventions.

Come out and PLAY with us!

Experience Star Wars Character Lunch at Navy Pier November 17th

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 05:00:00 GMT

For young Star Wars fans, the chance to share a meal with their favorite legendary characters is a perennial favorite attraction at the Chicago Toy & Game Fair. This year, the Star Wars 501st Legion: Vader's Fist returns to join young fans for lunch at Navy Pier on Saturday, November 17th, 2012!

Attendees will meet and eat with their favorite characters, enjoy lots of photo opportunities and also receive admission that day to the Fair. In addtion, there will be special prizes and giveaways during the lunch courtesy of Hasbro.

Register Now! This event always sells out quickly! Only 200 seats are available.

Cost: $30 per child (age 12 and under), $36 per adult. Includes the following:

Photo opportunities with characters from the Star Wars 501st Legion: Vader's Fist

One day Fair admission ticket (value $10/adult; $5/child)

Special prizes and giveaways (courtesy of Hasbro and Top Trumps)
Menu includes: Chicago style hot dogs, served with all the fixin's; Nacho Bar - with warm cheese sauce, jalapenos, green onions & tomatoes; lemonade and fruit punch for beverages.

Top Trumps Tournament at the Star Wars Lunch!

Top Trumps is award winning game that is based on "camouflage learning". The card game features stats, pictures, and amazing facts that turn our favorite subjects, like Star Wars, into hours of fun. Enter the Top Trumps Star Wars Tournament within the above SW Breakfast Registration Form.

Here are the details:

Children 6 to 14 yrs of age qualify to play in the tournament
Participation in the tournament is limited to the first 36 individual signups with paid breakfast registration.
All 36 Participants receive a Star Wars Top Trumps game pack ($8 Value)
Six top Star Wars Top Trumps Tournament Finalists get a finalist Star War Top Trumps Tournament Participation Medal & advance to the Grand Final Top Trumps ChiTAG Tournament Sunday, November 18th at 1:00pm.

The Star Wars Tournament Champion receives:

Champion Star Wars Top Trumps Tournament Medal
10 free packs of Top Trumps of winners choice ($80 value)
Star Wars Top Trumps Tournament Game Set ($35 value)

Want to learn more about Top Trumps? Visit their website (TopTrumps.com)

Questions? Call 847-677-8277 or send us an email at info@chitag.com

Enjoy nature and Fall weather playing these outdoor games with kids

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:33:00 GMT

Three fun games to explore nature and the outdoors in Autumn

It’s officially Fall! The kids are back to school and the weather is starting to change. This is the perfect time to spend weekends outdoors. Fall brings people to the apple orchards, pumpkins patches, and to the woods for hikes.

Head to the woods for a scavenger hunt

Hiking in the Fall is a great educational opportunity to observe nature with your children. Make it even more fun by turning your trek into a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt game.

Depending on the ages of your children, you can opt to split up into teams, or stay together as a family. If you choose to split up, consider your surroundings and make sure everyone is familiar so that no one gets lost. If you venture out into a large wooded area, it would be wise to make sure each group is accompanied by at least one adult, and is equipped with a whistle and a cell phone as a safety precaution to ensure everyone finds their way back. Discuss other safety hazards before embarking such as nearby bodies of water, poison ivy, and giving wild animals safe distance.

Write a list before you go of all the items to find on your hike. Think about different colors and shapes of leaves, sticks, rocks, pods and nuts. If participants are equipped with a camera device, turn it into a photo scavenger hunt. Bring a bag for each person to gather items, and give them a list of things to either collect or capture in a photo such as spider webs, squirrels, butterflies, birds, fallen logs with fungi growing on them, pine cones and acorns. Encourage them pick up other interesting items they discover along the way even if they are not on the list.

Set a time limit, and a home base. When everyone returns at the end of the hunt, compare finds and award prizes for most items captured, most unusual, most colorful, etc.

A scavenger hunt not only allows your family to get exercise and enjoy the outside, but you get to add fun and learning to the experience when you help your children identify their finds. Click here for a handy leaf identification chart to help identify common trees.

Explore your neighborhood to find nature's musical instruments

No time to head to the woods? There are plenty of ways to turn nature exploration into a game around your neighborhood.

Set a time limit and have children search for 3 items outside that can be used to make noises. Look for two sticks that you knock together, two rocks, 1 rock that you hit on the ground, fallen branches with dried crackly leaves or pods attached that can be shaken, leaf that you bend and blow into, piece of grass that you put between your thumbs and make it whistle. Let kids be creative. When everyone returns, see how many different sounds can be created with the items and use the opportunity to children them how to keep a simple rhythmic beat while singing a song together. Experiment with each child playing a different beat and then try doing it all together to see how it sounds. You’ll be surprised how much fun they can have playing music. The kids will love it and you never know, you could start a family band!

Play an urban game of "I Spy"

Are you raising your children in an urban environment where green space is scarce? A brisk Fall walk can become an adventure with a fun game of “I Spy.” Take turns spotting an object within eyesight and then say, “I spy with my eye something beginning with L” (or whatever other letter as appropriate). Use hints like “warm,” “cold,” and “hot” to help guide children toward the direction of the secret object as they try to guess. Giving hints helps speed the game along and and helps to avoid frustration. Once the secret object has been guessed, someone else takes a turn. .

Games are a great way to enjoy the Fall weather. Enjoy these days while you can. It’s going to get cold soon enough and you’ll be trying to find things to do inside!

Did you enjoy this article? Get more content like this delivered directly to your inbox by subscribing to our RSS feed or subscribe to our newsletter! "Like" us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter and on Pinterest.

Christen DiNapoli is a global brand marketer and forward-thinking leader who has brought fun and games into the Toy industry for over a decade. She is co-founder of CDK Creative Play Marketing and Design Consultants. Prior to that, she led a Project Management team, and helped bring hundreds of fun and innovative products to market. CDK has over 40 years of combined experience and a deep understanding of marketing and design in the toy and game industry.

Christen and her partners at CDK Creative Play help companies convert ideas, insights and trends - into games - and then help launch them into the marketplace. They have extensive understanding of game product design, taking into account costing and manufacturing barriers. They can provide deep insights on consumer segments including preschool, kids, puzzles, families, and adults. They understand how game companies operate and how to make compelling game presentations to key decision makers.

Contact Christen (christen@cdkcreativeplay.com) to learn more about how CDK Creative Play can help you grow your ideas.

Encourage and inspire young game inventors with simple prototyping supplies

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Creative prototyping ideas for young game inventors

Encouraging children to design their own board games and card games fosters imagination, creativity and and develops problem solving skills and resourcefulness. Once they have a solid idea for a game in terms of mechanics, a good working prototype makes the whole experience more memorable and fun. Creating a prototype that is functional and beautiful doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Simple craft supplies, found items, and repurposed materials can make a child's ideas come to life. These practical ideas equip children to make their own customized game components with relative ease.

Try using paint chips to create spaces on a game board

Recycle paint sample chips by cutting them apart and using them to create a colorful winding path around a game board. They are easy to embellish with words or drawings and can be cut down to the desired size.

Need some custom dice? Make your own!

Small, unfinished wooden cubes can be procured at any craft store in a variety of sizes. Sides can then be customized and designed using paint or markers.

A dice cube can be created by shaping and folding cardstock and then reinforced with tape or gluestick. See the template at right to pull off this trick, and adjust the size larger or smaller as desired:

Make your own colorful spinner

A square of cardboard divided into quadrants becomes a spinner with the addition of a hole in the center, an arrow cut from cardboard, and a metal paper fastener. Cover your arrow in contact paper or tape to make it more durable before attaching. A small paper hole punch can work well to create needed holes for attaching everything together.

Game pieces and pawns don't have to be boring chips

Make game pawns using photos, drawings or found images of animals or other characters clipped from old greeting cards or magazines. Paste onto cardstock, cut out around edges and laminate. Use binder clips with handles turned up to grasp bottoms and serve as bases. They will make your custom pawns stand straight up.

Save bottle caps and paint them with colorful designs using nail polish to create customized game pieces.

Sift through junk drawers for random trinkets, charms and little odds and ends that could be used as pawns or placeholders.

Make your own deck of cards

Recycle/reuse an old deck of playing cards. Kids can cut and paste their own values/graphics right onto the cards. This will work for early testing of a design. As your child develops their idea, they may want to create something better. Blank, perforated card stock can be purchased from PlainCards.com and then printed on a home printer using a template. A third option would be to purchase plastic card sleeves, available at any hobby game shop or online. These can hold card stock or even paper that is unevenly cut and are easily shuffled and durable. It's also easy to swap out cards as the child develops and tweaks their game idea.

A sturdy game board is essential and easy

Pieces of foam core poster board can usually be found in the office supply aisle of any supermarket. Adults can help cut it down to desired size with an exacto knife or utility blade. Make a folding board by taping one side of two matching pieces of foam core board with duct tape.

Scrapbooking paper comes in lots of colors and patterns for virtually every topic and theme imaginable. Cut into strips and shapes to create borders and decorate the game board. Decoupage paper shapes to the board with a clear coating of Modge Podge to protect and ensure durability.

And, speaking of duct tape, have you seen the vast array of colors and patterns available these days? New craft trends have spurred a creative explosion of ways to use duct tape. Manufacturers have picked up on it and have been happy to oblige, expanding their product offerings to cover the rainbow of colors and patterns. It's a great tool to apply borders and other patterns, all while reinforcing the strength and durability of the board.

Recycle used, incomplete board games

Scan thrift stores and tag sales for old board games that may be missing pieces but are still in decent condition. If the box is in good shape, it can be reused to store children's new game inventions. Customize it by decoupaging over the original graphics with papers and images for the new prototype. Repurpose odd leftover game pieces from other games to fit your new game system.

Lastly, many teacher supply stores and craft stores carry blank, plain white, board game components such as boards, cards, spinners and dice that can be purchased and decorated.

The sky is the limit with what you can do. We hope these ideas get you thinking about how you might help your children construct their own board games.

The 6th annual Young Inventor Challenge happens Saturday, November 17, 2012 at Chicago's Navy Pier. Click to learn more about rules and requirements of this national competition for young inventors of board games and card games.

Michelle Spelman is Editor and Inventor Relations Liaison for Chicago Toy & Game Group. She is a game inventor, and co-founder of Flying Pig Games LLC, creators of award-winning Jukem Football card game. She is also founder of Cincinnati Game & Toy Industry Professionals group, and is the Cincinnati Children’s Toy Examiner. An independent marketing consultant providing contract services, executive coaching and strategic direction, she’s in her sweet spot when she is working with companies focused on women and family-oriented products and services.

In the spirit of full disclosure, it is important to note that the author of this article did not receive any form of compensation or other incentive from any of the entities mentioned in this article in exchange for including them in the story. However, the Young Inventor Challenge is an annual event owned and managed by the Chicago Toy and Game Group, owner of this blog.

Playing chess with kids: should you let them win?

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Is it a good idea to let kids win sometimes when teaching them to play chess? Some say “no way!” Others say “why not?”

There are those who say that letting a child win – even a young child just learning – hampers their ability to truly learn the skills required to play the game well and does them a disservice. Others say that letting them win occasionally, without letting them know you did so, gives them encouragement to keep playing and that they will develop the skills eventually through repeated play.

The last thing a parent wants is a child who becomes so frustrated with the game that they don’t want to play at all. But, conversely, no one wants a child who develops a false sense of confidence and then doesn’t have the drive to excel. The answer likely lies somewhere in between.

Here are a few suggestions for ways to teach children chess in a way that is healthy and not patronizing, but perhaps less stressful than hoisting them headfirst into hardcore competition.

Play with a handicap

This is a method that has been used for hundreds of years. Handicaps can be very creative. Here are a few ideas.

Fewer pieces: Have the player who is more advanced start out play with fewer pieces on the board. It helps keep the game challenging for both players, while leveling the playing field for a novice.
A next step to this approach might be to add a game piece to the “handicapped player’s” side of the board for the next game if the “learning player” wins. This also gives the learner a tangible measurement of their progress as they work to master the game.
Imposing a tight time limit on the advanced player’s turn makes it more challenging and forces them to not spend as much time studying the board and plotting moves in advance before making a move – a habit that is characteristic of advanced play.

Play with chess “riddles”

Rather than actually playing a competitive head-to-head game, consider setting up individual game situations that might be encountered in a real game. Challenge the child to study the game board and consider the results of their various choices. This makes the activity more of a teaching moment rather than an actual game, but can still be fun. If siblings work together, it becomes a collaborative, critical thinking exercise.

Offer “hints” during competitive play

Encourage a child who begins to make a bad move to stop and examine the board and double check what they are about to do. Help them think their move all the way through. Combine play with coaching.

Take care not to do this on every single move though. Allow them to learn from the natural consequences of their mistakes too sometimes. It can become laborious to them if every single move they make is critiqued by you. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

What do you think? We'd love to hear your ideas! Please post your thoughts in the comment section below!

Did you enjoy this article? Get more content like this delivered directly to your mailbox by subscribing to our newsletter!

Sources:

http://www.quora.com/Parenting/My-kids-11-and-8-have-started-learning-chess-Is-it-a-good-idea-to-let-them-beat-me-sometimes-to-encourage-them

http://www.quora.com/What-are-good-books-to-help-me-teach-my-young-child-chess

College care packages should be food, fun....AND GAMES!

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 05:00:00 GMT

I can’t believe it’s already that time of year when college students move back to school and start the fall semester. So, as summer draws to a close, parents and students are thinking about school shopping, move-in day and freedom. When move-in day comes, students are excited to start a new chapter in their life, or, if they’re returning to sophomore, junior or senior year, they're excited to see their friends.

Parents are thinking, “Does my child have everything they need? Are they going to make friends? Will they adjust to the new environment, or do well in school?” All you can do is hope you raised them to enjoy the experience, learn something in their classes and meet great friends.

So, now you’re back home and your kids are off to college. What can you do to make them feel at home? Send them a care package! Toss in snacks like popcorn, candy, cookies and chips, and make sure you send enough to SHARE! Is there something missing? What if you could equip them with something fun that would bring value to their social experiences at school? What about a GAME? College students need a break from studying and want to have fun and laugh with friends. Games are a perfect answer.

What kind of games would fit well in a care package? Let’s step back for a minute. Think about what we know about college students. They’re constantly on the go, so their attention span is quite limited. They live in a digital world. Those on the younger side of the age range are likely to have grown up with some sort of anytime, anywhere, portable playing device. On their must-have list are games that can easily be packed up to bring to their friends' apartment. Games that come in smaller boxes are less clunky and easier to store in small dorm rooms.

This is a perfect way to encourage students to engage face-to-face with their friends and laugh. Games like Apples-to-Apples-To-Go, Bananagrams, MadGab and others bring students together for healthy social interaction. They make great icebreakers among students trying to meet and develop new friendships.

Send a game or two in those college care packages! The phone calls and emails and text messages from campus to mom and dad will surely include stories of how much fun they had playing. No doubt they’ll form new friendships and you’ll know they aren’t spending all their time with a screen.

Contact Christen (christen@cdkcreativeplay.com) to learn more about how CDK Creative Play can help you grow your ideas.

Spin Master's Ben Dermer hunts globe for the next big toy and game ideas

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Did you ever wonder how big toy companies find the next big toy or game? At Spin Master Ltd, their quest for the next blockbuster is led by Ben Dermer.

Dermer and Spin Master strive to create a culture around their activities in the toy industry that is edgy and hip. In a 2010 TEDxYouth talk he gave in Toronto, Dermer compares finding the next “must have” toy to the entertainment industry’s search for the next big pop star or the next big movie.

Joining the company in 2000, right after college, Dermer says his career path was somewhat accidental. He’d just completed a bachelor’s degree majoring in Film and had anticipated a career in screenwriting. A friend gave him a lead on a short term gig as a product demonstrator for Spin Master. That foot in the door more than a decade ago, began an envied career where he quickly progressed to Vice President of Inventor Relations. Today, Dermer travels the globe and has reviewed over 25,000 toy and game ideas for the company.

His biggest coup for Spin Master – the toy he’s most proud of - is the Bakugan line of action toys that debuted in 2006. He describes it as a mashup of superheroes and marbles.

When he’s not hunting for toy and game ideas, Dermer puts his creative passion for entertainment and pop culture to work through his band, BBOSS. His musical efforts are infused with his toy passion as well. Animated, robotic superhero characters are featured prominently on the band’s website. On their 13 song album, scheduled to be released at the end of August, the band wrote all the songs and played every instrument. The BBOSS website describes their sound as “a rap-injected, groove-infected electro-buzzed pop band.” One of the singles, “Remembered,” is a thought-provoking ballad featured in the 2011 movie, Set Up, starring Bruce Willis and Curtis Jackson (50 Cent). Dermer’s talent is evident in his mastery of a range of instruments that include banjo, bass, keys and violin.

In his TEDxYouth talk about toy invention, Dermer says, “At the core of it, what we’re all doing, is we’re trying to connect with the world in a meaningful way.” It’s safe to say that would apply to his philosophy not only toward toys and games but music as well.

In November, Dermer’s music will be featured at the 2012 Toy and Game Inventor Awards (TAGIEs). Much like the Oscars celebrate the film industry, the Pulitzers celebrate journalism and the arts, and the Grammy’s recognize the music industry, the TAGIEs celebrate and recognize toy and game inventors from across the country, whose playful creativity and inventiveness resulted in some of the most fun and entertaining play products on the market today

Follow @BBOSSmusic on Twitter. “Like” BBOSS on Facebook. Download the CD on iTunes.

Did you enjoy this article? Want to receive more stories like this delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to our Inventor Newsletter for all the latest from the Chicago Toy & Game Group by clicking here.

Wiggity Bang consistently delivers random humor

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:00:00 GMT

When it comes to talking, playing, laughing and having fun, the founders of Wiggity Bang Games LLC, are on a mission. They’ve made it their business to bring people together the good old-fashioned way — face-to-face.

The company was launched by Robb Earnest, Jeremy Fifer and Matthew Rivaldi in 2004. They debuted their first game, “Quelf,” in 2005 and began selling it directly to independent retailers.

“Quelf was originally a game that we subtitled, 'an unpredictable party game that gives random a new name,” says Matthew.

By 2008, they had sold just over 50,000 units. In early 2012, after a few years of licensing the rights to another company, Quelf was purchased outright by Spinmaster LTD.

Matthew's wife, Jean, joined the team along the way and helped design follow up games that include "Flapdoodle" (also acquired by Spinmaster and now known as "Quelf Jr.") and their latest creation, “Magic Feather.” Wiggity Bang has introduced several other games since their start including “FURT,” “Quao” (pronounced “cow”), and “Whizizzle” Phonics.

When it comes to new products, they’ve worked hard to stay true to their original brand by maintaining the totally random, completely off-the-wall, brand of humor that made Quelf popular.

That common element of random humor is important, he explains. It allows the company to deliver to the public something that their competitors can’t duplicate. “They obviously can't get inside of our minds,” he says.

Wiggity Bang’s newest games, FURT (ages 13+) and Magic Feather (ages 7+), share the theme of totally random, fun, inventive content. “That's what makes them different every time you play,” says Rivaldi.

FURT is available now and Magic Feather will be available in July exclusively through independent retailers in 2012.

In an age where digital tools dominate so many of our human interactions, the Rivaldi’s have established themselves as a go-to source for family games that make people snort with laughter – in person.

Want to see more? Click here to watch a demo video and learn to play "FURT!"

Editor's note: This article was updated on 4/28/12 to include corrected information about the founding members of the company and its original team.

Wanna learn about more of the people behind your favorite games? Keep up with us in your favorite online places. Find us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter!

Play with your food - make our Domino Brownies!

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:28:00 GMT

Here at Chicago Toy & Game Fair, we love to play. In fact, we make it a priority to find ways to bring play into our days whenever possible. Our founder, Mary Couzin, did just that recently when she made these fun, fudgy brownies. She made a complete, fully playable, fully edible set of dominoes! Would you like to give it a try? Here's Mary's secret recipe, along with a few bonus links that take you to decorating pattern, official rules for playing this classic game.

Delectable Domino Brownies

This recipe makes 48 1’ x 2” brownies/Dominoes. This recipe can be halved for an 8 x 8 pan, just take 5 minutes off the baking time.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or margarine very soft or melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of chocolate chips, any flavor, nuts, cranberries, etc. (optional)

Directions

1. Grease and flour a 13’ x 9’ inch baking pan. Turn oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Put all the dry ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl. Add the liquids and mix for 2 minutes (just until mixed well). Add chocolate chips and pour into baking pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean (unless it hits a chocolate chip). Do not over bake.

4. To Make Dominoes, cut into 48 1’ x 2’ pieces (4 across the 9” side and 12 across the 13” side). You only need 28 pieces for a set of Dominoes, so if a piece isn’t cut right, no worries, you have back-ups. A tube of white decorator icing can be used for the dots on top of the brownies.

Go to this website for the decorating pattern and directions on playing Dominoes. http://nrich.maths.org/1200. We also like this site because it has math games with Dominoes.

See more games and information about Dominoes at these sites:

http://www.domino-games.com/domino-rules/ - See many variations of the game here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominoes - Learn the history of Dominoes and other interesting facts.

Did you know that dominoes are a popular game with celebrities? Hollywood stars such as Rumer Willis, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Kate Hudson, Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Penélope Cruz, Debbie Matenopoulos, James Van Der Beek, Kate Beckinsale, and many more all play Dominoes. See more here.... http://www.dominoesstars.com/domino-game-12/ -

We love hearing from you! Please feel free to leave a comment on this post, or click here to LIKE US ON FACEBOOK and JOIN US ON PINTEREST to get more fun ideas for ways to bring play into your day!

Scrabble champions score again

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Friday, April 13^th, 2012, would have been Alfred Mosher Butts’ 113^th birthday. Despite the number 13’s unlucky reputation, it was quite an auspicious day for North Carolina 8^th graders, Andy Hoang and Erik Salgado. After all, it was Alfred who created the classic board game, Scrabble®, and these two young men are National Scrabble® Champions – for the second time!

Since 2003, the National School Scrabble program has been celebrating Alfred’s birthday each year by hosting a tournament with a $10,000 prize. This year’s National School Scrabble Championship was held in Orlando, Florida.

In a repeat performance, Hoang and Salgado dominated the contest, which consisted of 150 students (ages 9 – 14) from across the country. In 2009, they came out on top, winning the competition as 10 year olds. They are the first team since the tournament was founded to win more than once.

“These competitors represent the cream of the crop from our National School SCRABBLE® Program,” says National SCRABBLE® Association Executive Director, John D. Williams Jr. Praised by parents and educators alike, the School SCRABBLE® Program is an innovative teaching tool that has helped over a million kids in over 20,000 schools nationwide with spelling, vocabulary, math, dictionary use and more. “Kids are learning, and they don’t even know it!” Williams adds.

The Great Depression left Alfred Mosher Butts, an architect, unemployed in the early 1930’s. He decided that his next career step should be designing a board game, and began studying popular games of the time to understand what made them successful.

Alfred settled on an idea based on crossword puzzles, and combined it with the element of chance through the addition of randomly drawn letter tiles.

He originally named the game “Lexiko” and later changed it to “Criss Cross Words” and then changed it again to just “It.”

Alfred wasn’t too interested in manufacturing and distributing the game himself. Instead, he wanted to sell his idea. He began pitching it to game companies including Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley, but was rejected time and time again. He didn’t give up, and eventually, he sold the rights to a game-loving entrepreneur and friend of his, named James Brunot. Brunot changed the name of the game to “Scrabble®,” which came from a Dutch word “Schrabben,” which means “to grope frantically.”

Brunot trademarked the game in 1948. He and his wife set up a small factory in an abandoned school house and in 1949 they sold 2,400 games. Orders from Macy’s department store helped the game steadily gain popularity in the coming years, and by 1952, the self-manufacturing Brunots could no longer keep up with demand. They licensed the rights for Scrabble® to Selchow & Righter (a game company who had originally turned it down, when Alfred had pitched it to them).

Since then, over 150 million sets have been sold. Now, between one and two million sets are sold each year in 121 countries. Interestingly, today, global trademark rights are split between the world’s two largest toymakers. Hasbro Inc. owns the rights in the U.S. and Canada, while Mattel has the international rights.

There are over 2400 registered School Scrabble Clubs in the U.S. Click here to register your school's club with the program. The School Scrabble Association has kits available for educators who would like to use the game in their classrooms. To learn more and watch a fun, 4-minute video about the National School SCRABBLE® Championship, go to www.schoolscrabble.com.

Photo credit: www.Scrabble-Assoc.com

Your feedback is valuable to us! We welcome your comments! "LIKE" us on Facebook or subscribe to our feed in order to see new stories as soon as they are published!

Play with your Food - Marshmallow Peeps are more than just candy

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:45:00 GMT

Photo courtesy of PeepsandCompany.com

Not since M&M’s, has a candy leveraged its brand to expand across multiple categories the way Marshmallow Peeps has grown in the last few years. Today, Just Born Inc. produces enough Peeps in one year to circle the earth twice.

The brand has also crossed an envied barrier going from candy to new categories including toys and games, apparel, accessories, novelty house wares and giftware.

Peeps have been a simple, seasonal fixture of Easter baskets since the 1950’s. A polarizing product, people either love them or mock them. Based on their successes of late, it’s safe to say that most people love them.

Peeps was a single product for decades: marshmallows shaped like chicks, covered in yellow, white or pink sugar. In the 1980’s, they introduced the marshmallow bunny, and in the 1990’s they began adding more color options. At the recent turn of the century, they added flavors (vanilla, strawberry and chocolate) to the product line.

Photo by Michelle Spelman

Now, themed Peeps can be found on store shelves year-round for virtually every major holiday from Valentine hearts to July 4th flags to Halloween pumpkins and Christmas trees.

In December of 2009, a Peeps-themed retail store opened in Washington D.C. and a second store opened at Minnesota’s Mall of America in January 2012.

Those who really love Peeps get very creative and playful – in fact, even a little zany - in expressing their affection.

The Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin sponsors the International Peeps Competition each year. Anyone can enter the contest, which is focused on the theme “Peep-powered work of art.”

Nearly 30 newspapers across the country sponsor annual Peeps diorama contests at Easter time. The Washington Post and Seattle Times each receive hundreds of entries - winning images often become viral online sensations.

All Just Born candies are “Made in the USA.” Peeps plush toys and other merchandise – including hats, t-shirts, and socks, can be found in many major grocery and retail outlets.

The Peeps brand is a case study in how to take a simple product with seemingly finite opportunities and instead, break through perceived barriers to reach new growth. In an age of revolutionary technology and a public that craves customized experiences, it will be fun to watch and see where Just Born takes their Peeps next.

Fun facts about Peeps:

Chicks and bunnies are most popular and are made year round at their plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Peeps are made by squirting the soft, white marshmallow shapes onto a conveyor covered in colored sugar, which travels through a wind tunnel. The wind blows the colored sugar all over them until they are evenly coated.
In 1953, it took 27 hours to make a Peep start to finish. Today, it takes just six minutes.
Just Born Inc. was founded by Sam Born in New York City in 1910 after he emigrated to the U.S. from Russia. He moved the headquarters to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1932.
Just Born Inc. also makes candy industry fixture brands like “Mike & Ike,” “Hot Tamales,” “Zours,” and “Peanut Chews.”

Playing with the Multiple Intelligences, How Play Helps Them Grow

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Scott G. Eberle could be Dr. Play. He is vice president for play studies at The Strong where he develops exhibits for the National Museum of Play. He is editor of The Strong’s American Journal of Play, holds a doctorate in intellectual history, and is author of Classic Toys of the National Toy Hall of Fame and other works on American history, culture, and play. Currently he is co-editing a Handbook of Study of Play for Rowman-Littlefield and collaborating on a book about the elements of play. He writes the new blog titled re:Play, just launched this morning. Eberle also recently published “Playing with the Multiple Intelligences, How Play Helps Them Grow”. The latter is an important article, so I asked if he could highlight takeaway points for our industry. Play is a value in itself, of course, but it is also vital to learning, yet it gets trivialized. Scott’s research is ammunition to help the public think differently about play.

Mary: Scott, let me begin by asking how someone with training in intellectual history gets interested in play and toys.

Scott: Actually it’s an exceptionally good fit, Mary. Play is a state of mind as our friend Dr. Stuart Brown shows, and the way we play changes over time, and the things we play with change, over time. And so if you’re interested in play you’re naturally drawn into questions of psychology and history. Also, the institution I work for holds half-a-million objects (most of them toys and dolls) and installs big, original exhibits about play, two more good, practical reasons.

Mary: So your interest in intelligence and play flows from this as well?

Scott: Yes it does, in fact. I’ve long been interested in intelligence itself as a social phenomena, how we put our brains to work, and the ways that American culture influences how we think. And recently it flummoxed me to find that no one was systematically connecting “multiple intelligence” theory to play. Not even toy companies, who have a vested interest in connecting play and intelligence. It’s such a natural because, especially in our early years, we learn by playing. While at play we learn language, we learn to socialize, we learn to count, sing, draw, dance, and explore the natural world.

Mary: Can you tell us about multiple intelligences? Where does the idea come from?

Scott Eberle: Back in the 1980s a cognitive psychologist from Harvard named Howard Gardner posited a set of “intelligences”—talents if you will—that toppled the old, limited, biased, and not very useful notion that IQ mainly expressed aptitudes for verbal and math skills. If this were true, by the way, we’d only be playing at Scrabble and Sudoku, and such. Of course we sharpen our vocabularies with wordplay and explore the concepts of number and sequence in games. But you can easily find the other aptitudes—that Gardner called interpersonal, intrapersonal, spatial, musical, bodily, and naturalist intelligences—when you observe people at play.

Mary: Can you give us some examples?

Scott: We’re always practicing old skills or acquiring new ones at play. We tune our ears with song, chant, and rhyme. We play with our senses of space and train our appreciation of color with finger paints and computer graphics. We learn to appreciate our orientation, our location and position, and our sense of the space around us by climbing a tree, catching a ball, casting a lure, or jumping a rope. We explore the natural world by scrambling through a leaf pile, snapping a fragrant sassafras stem, chasing an ant with a stick, toasting a marshmallow, or collecting rocks. At play with others, we negotiate our place in the world and sort out our sense of ourselves as we take stock of our capabilities.

Mary: Would you leave us with some takeaway points about the multiple intelligences and play?

Scott: Surely. Let me break it down into two parts. First, multiple intelligence theory gives us a very useful checklist to gauge current toys, and ways to think about possible toys—those in development. Does the toy appeal to a visual or spatial talent? Does it draw the player out into a social world? Does the toy appeal to an aptitude for organizing and sequencing, or naming and categorizing? Does the game oblige you to remember song or chant? Does the game or toy require you to move pleasurably or in a complicated way? Does the toy or game give you a new insight into yourself? And so on. It’s easy to match up intelligences, play, and toys. But second and personally, I like those play activities best that recruit two or more of these intelligences, combining them to form complex and therefore more memorable and pleasurable experiences. A couple simple examples. Musical chairs: the game obliges you to scramble, compete in a convivial group, and attend to the music. Or think of the classic egame Simon, and its variants. These games require you to sequence a series of tones that you arrange spatially. The more talents the toy engages, the more memorable the experience.

Mary: And the more fun?

Scott: Right, and the more fun, I’d argue.

Mary: Thank you, Scott!

TED Talks on Play

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Many of us enjoy and find inspiration in TED Talks. You may be surprised how many TED Talks are about the importance of play. Some are posted below. Also interesting is that few of the speakers are part of our industry.

We need to find ways to promote play as something good for you like eating vegetables. (Have you had your four to six servings of play today?) You’ve heard me say that toy/game inventors should be celebrated as authors, musicians, chefs, etc. Celebrating our inventors publicly is just one way to raise the profile of our industry and the importance of play.

Steve Keil and other TED speakers believe play can change the world for the better. It is documented that it can make you healthier, smarter, more productive, more social and happier (did you know most serial killers did not play as children – check out Stuart Brown’s TED talk).

Steve says we need a Play Revolution and that it can revitalize the economy, education and society. I’m with him. Watch his video below.

TED Talks on play. Bios taken from TED:

Steve Keil: A Manifesto for Play, for Bulgaria and Beyond

Steve says:

-We need a revolution. That the more we play, the bigger our brains are… and we develop more emotional maturity if we play more.

-We develop better decision-making ability if we play more.

-Bears that play more survive longer, not the bears that learn how to fish better.

Hillel Cooperman: Legos for grownups

On play, Hillel says, "The Dark Ages are the time between when you put away the Lego for the last time as a kid and [when] you decide as an adult that it is okay to play with a kids' toy."

Isabel Behncke: Evolution's gift of play, from bonobo apes to humans

For her PhD work, she studied social behavior (and play behavior in particular) of wild bonobos in DR Congo. There are unique aspects of bonobo lives (imaginary play and laughter to inter-group encounters to accidents and death) that challenge & illuminate our understanding of human evolution. She links the play of adult bonobos to insights on human laughter, joy, creativity and our capacity for wonder & exploration.

Tim Brown on Creativity and Play

Tim is the CEO of innovation and design firm IDEO, taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface. Having taken over from founder David E. Kelley, Tim Brown carries forward the firm's mission of fusing design, business and social studies to come up with deeply researched, deeply understood designs and ideas -- they call it "design thinking."

Dr. Stuart Brown says play is more than fun

Dr. Stuart Brown came to research play through research on murderers -- unlikely as that seems -- after he found a stunning common thread in killers' stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he's interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity. His book Play describes the impact play can have on one's life. With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he has observed animal play in the wild, where he first conceived of play as an evolved behavior important for the wellbeing -- and survival -- of animals, especially those of higher intelligence. Now, through his organization, the National Institute for Play, he hopes to expand the study of human play into a vital science -- and help people everywhere enjoy and participate in play throughout life.

Scott Eberle on the Importance of Play

Scott G. Eberle, Vice President for Interpretation at Strong National Museum of Play® in Rochester, develops exhibits on toys and play, and writes about these topics. To quote Scott, "Once we were all experts at play; as children it was our preoccupation and our main mode of learning. Play was the way we built our muscles, and it was through play that we knitted our friendships. Through play we learned to navigate the social world. We learned the rules. And play helped us imagine our future. Even if we did not grow up to be Jedi knights, or beautiful princesses we learned to envision adult power and responsibility. But imaginative play and rough and tumble play, because they are the work of children, tend to slip beneath our notice as adults."

This video is not a TED Talk, but could be one. Dr. Jaak Panksepp on the Primal Power of Play. He shows rats laughing. Who knew? http://vimeo.com/12121483

There are many more TED Talks on play, creative play, toy design, toys in education, etc. I chose only some of the videos that were about the importance of play. Some of the others are posted to my Pinterest page http://pinterest.com/marycouzin/ under TED Talks.

Top 3 Tips For Choosing Toys and Games for Your Kids

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:34:00 GMT

Another playful post from ChiTAG's Play Ambassador, Meredith Sinclair!

Getting new toys and games is big fun. And during the holidays all of the year’s best new playthings are the stars of the show. Not to mention the tried and true toys that never seem to get old.

Enjoy making those wish lists with your kids and doing your secret shopping trips to the toy stores this season. But be sure to take your time when choosing toys and games to buy for your kids. You want these things to entertain them for more than 5 minutes, right?

That’s exactly why the Chicago Toy and Game Fair so rocks for parents. Our kids get to have a little “hands-on”, get-to-know-you-time with their “I’m dying for that” plaything before we decide to buy.

Think of ChiTAG as the research and development for your holiday shopping. Where else can you watch how your kids play with, and explore, and practice with the toys they say they most want this year? And as they are “playing around”; your job is to pay close attention, take mental notes, and play around too.

Here are 3 simple tips to know whether or not a toy or game is a "must buy", or a "pass by".

1. Quality. It doesn’t matter how cool a toy or game is if it’s broken 5 days after it’s released from the box. Something that is designed to be played with should not be fragile…at all. Kids play with toys and games the way they were intended to be played with, and in ways they weren’t. Handle the toys, play with them and see if they feel sturdy and well made.

2. Intrigue. I think the best toys and games are the ones that draw a child in quickly and then slowly reveal how they can be used in a multiple of ways. Toys should create an environment of open-ended, discovery based learning and fun. Even a board game with specific rules can be manipulated and re-mastered once a child is tired of playing it the way it was intended. Look to see if your child is “over” it in the first 5 minutes, or if they keep finding new ways in which to manipulate and explore the toy.

3. Age Appropriateness. This one’s easy, but often overlooked. After years in the elementary classroom and raising my own boys, I like to buy toys/games right at my kids’ age level as well as throw in some that are just a year or two beyond their current age. It’s a matter of knowing when to push and when to stay.

Again, this is where watching your child with a particular toy is huge. What we want to avoid is complete frustration. A little challenge can be amazing and help a child bust through their frustration level. Too much, and the toy is thrown against the wall and we’re back to that quality thing again.

So, while at ChiTAG handle, observe, and play along. Your kids will love seeing you having fun messing around with their favorite toys and you’ll be simply amazed at what you can learn about your kids just by watching them play.