News, Reviews, and Recommendations!

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The ShadowDark Role Playing Game (RPG) has become a massive hit - and we're stocking it! 

Hi everyone! Janelle here again (the lucky homeschool Mum who gets to spend 11am-2pm each Wednesday at Brain Spice, chatting about all things education and homeschooling). Something I love about Brain Spice is that the store really encourages “Play is the brain's favourite way of learning”. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share an awesome little game we currently have in stock… 

Animal Upon Animal is a wonderful kids game which fosters hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills… and it’s fun for all ages!

Who is the most skillful at stacking? Who will be the first left without any animals?

Parents - this is a fantastic game to play with your kids. Another bonus is that kids will also be able to play this without your help! No reading ability necessary = Easy for kids of all ages to enjoy!

Multispin is a fun maths game, designed specifically to help students practice their multiplication skills.

Multispin has been designed by Dr Paul Swan, who is fantastic at thoroughly teaching maths concepts by including as many games and hands on activities as possible. (And he’s from right here in Western Australia!)

Quadrillion is a challenging one player puzzle game for all ages - suitable for kids, through to the elderly - with big, sturdy puzzle pieces that are easy and fun to handle.

It’s fun from the very beginning - even the setup is a puzzle!

Kingdomino is an award winning tabletop game for kids.

Along with skills such as strategic decision making, turn taking, patience, and puzzle solving, Kingdomino also teaches maths concepts and skills...and it’s also FUN!

Playing Kingdomino is like completing a puzzle. The game can be competitive, but it’s also a mindful activity.

If you like puzzles, or Dominos/Triominos, Honeycombs is a fun kids game which you will love.

One thing I love about this game is that often kids who struggle with the more traditional academic subjects, such as reading and writing, tend to love this game. Their minds often work in such a clever way that they can find patterns, problem solve, and come up with solutions that others wouldn’t think of. Watching these kids play a game like Honeycombs - it’s like watching magic happen.

There’s multiple ways to play, including a competitive option, a cooperative option, and even a mindfulness option! All easy to learn, set up, and ready to play within about a minute.

Sometimes a game is able to be played by the whole family, but it’s not something that adults will choose to play once the kids are in bed. Or sometimes it’s a good game for kids and adults, but the younger kids will have a hard time with the rules.

Qwixx isn’t like that.

Qwixx is ACTUALLY fun for the whole family.

For kids to play, for kids and parents to play together, for adults, for grandparents. Everyone will love this game no matter their age.

Think Yahtzee, but quicker, better, and much more fun.

And homeschoolers, teachers, and parents, this is where you will love it even more…

THIS IS A GREAT MATHS GAME for teaching quick addition up to 12, number recognition, number ascending/descending order, chance, and general addition.

Whenever we take our game of Tenzi to a games night, it’s always the Tenzi table which ends up with lots of cheering and laughter… and after every game, there’s at least one person yelling “Nooooo I was SO close!!! Let’s play again!!!”

It’s fantastically easy, and a super quick game to play. You can learn the rules in seconds.

Dragonwood is a wonderful introductory fantasy dice game for kids, leading hopefully to the exploration of other wonderful fantasy dice games: Dice Throne, Champions of Midgard, Chronicles of Avel... or even the big one, Dungeons & Dragons.

But it could also be recognised as a great maths teaching tool. A large part of the game of Dragonwood hinges on the judgement and manipulation of probabilities. 

And kids don't necessarily even realise it, because they are having too much fun.