News, Reviews, and Recommendations!

Feed your mind

A customer saw these on the shelf and said “Oh I used to love these! When I was at school, my teacher used to have one of these in his drawer. When a student was continually getting into trouble that day, he’d get them to sit aside for a little while and he’d hand them a puzzle like this to fidget with. It used to calm the student down and the student would sit there trying to solve it. He was one of my favourite teachers. I still remember those puzzles”. This customer then went on to buy one, and he left with a nostalgic smile.

The concept is simple. Can you separate the pieces? Can you put them back together again?

The Online Classroom is an educational resource which I’ve used in our homeschooling plan for years now. It’s a series which I highly recommend for both homeschooling and the classroom setting.

I’ll explain the History series in this post, however there’s also the Online Classroom Geography series and the Online Classroom Mammals series, which are both just as wonderful.

The Online Classroom series is incredibly easy to follow, allowing for open-and-go learning with little to no preparation needed, or alternatively you can use it as a base to plan a more elaborate program with excursions and further learning added.
Either way, the series is fully curriculum-linked.

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!

The Three Kingdoms is the most frustratingly wonderful, seemingly-impossible, love-it-hate-it-love-it, simple-but-difficult puzzle I have ever attempted.

It’s been 6 months since I bought this puzzle and I still haven’t solved it.

It’s by far the best $12 I’ve ever spent. I’ve definitely got my money’s worth, that's for sure!

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!

A few years ago, a fellow homeschool Mum hosted a workshop, where she taught other homeschool parents how to teach their kids maths in such a way that kids actually felt inspired by the subject rather than dreading it.

For me, this was my lightbulb moment...

Mums often spend so much time researching the perfect gift for those they love. They constantly research the perfect educational games and puzzles for their kids.

So much thought goes into everything they do.

So how do you even begin to say thank you, when they do so much?

Well, don’t forget that Mums likes puzzles, games, books, and challenges too! She’d likely love a fun and unique gift!

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.