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Games For Christmas 2009~ Connect 4X4

Linette Gerlach — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:52:26 +0000

Connect 4 by Milton Bradley was one of my favorite games when I was growing up, and now it’s back on top with a new updated version, Connect 4X4. The new Connect Four is very popular this Christmas season and has been winning its share of rewards, including being included on the Family Fun Top Toys for 2009.

The main goal is still to connect four pieces in a row, but now the game has a double wide, double sided grid that allows up to 4 players to play at one time. Players can join together, or use double wide pieces to prevent each other from winning.

Players can make a line of four on either side, or weave four in a row back and forth from one side to the other to win the game.

Here’s a quick commercial that shows the basic idea of the game.

The new Connect 4X4 is available at most major retailers this holiday season, or online at Amazon.com, and Toys “R” Us.

Image: Amazon

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National Family Game Night

Linette Gerlach — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 04:44:59 +0000

The other day I talked about our family having a weekly family game night, usually on Fridays, today I want to tell you about National Family Game Night coming up on September 23rd. Hasbro is challenging families to turn off their TV’s and play a game together as a family on the 23rd.

I know schedules are hectic, both children and parents are busy, but why not devote one night to getting “unplugged” and enjoying each others company over a game? If you can’t do it on the 23rd set aside a day and hold everyone in the family to making that date.

National Family Game Night comes right in the middle of Turn Off TV Week, so it’s the perfect time to spend a little time reconnecting as a family.

You can visit Hasbro’s Family Game Night website for more information, and a list of game ideas. You can also follow @familygamenight on Twitter for daily fun game facts and tips for planning your own family game night.

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Do You Have A Family Game Night?

Linette Gerlach — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:28:22 +0000

We try to get together as a family and play a couple games at least one night a week. Usually it’s a board game like Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, or Chess, and the last couple weeks it’s been Ruin.

Once in a while we play games on the Wii together. We have a couple versions of Guitar Hero, and Rock Band, and also have Wii Sports and their Carnival Games. I’d rather play a good board game any day, but my husband and my son love the video games, especially the music playing games like Guitar Hero. Since they humor me on some of the games I want to play, I give their favorites a try once in a while too.

We actually take turns picking the games. Each week one of us gets to pick the games we play. Of course the others can influence the decision by begging and making sad eyes. Once the decision is made, we all have to play, even if it’s not our favorite game.

We have a great time either way, playing the games as a family and enjoying the interaction and laughs we have together.

Image Photoxpress.com

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Play Library Has a New Home

Linette Gerlach — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:30:33 +0000

You might have noticed that Play Library looks a little different these days. b5media’s Lifestyles channel has now become a part of Blisstree. It’s an exciting change from this end, and I think it will be a fabulous change for you too.

I’ll still be here bringing you toys, games, fun activities to do with your kids. I’m also a couple other places at Blisstree. I’ll still be blogging at She Knows Parties, bringing you ideas for birthday parties, holiday entertaining and more.

I’m also one of the new Food and Nutrition bloggers at Blisstree, where I’ll be sharing more of the recipes and nutrition tips and maybe some cooking with kids ideas if I don’t post them here.

If you subscribe to the feeds you should still get regular updates. If you’d like our new feed link you can subscribe by clicking on the News Feed button in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

I have a ton of great toys, and activities lined up to tell you about in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned!

Image sxc.hu

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Bloggy Giveaway~ Likewise By Buffalo Games

Linette Gerlach — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:16:11 +0000

We have a giveaway this week for the Bloggy Giveaways courtesy of Buffalo Games. Before Christmas they sent me a couple games to take a look at, Likewise was one of those games, and I want to pass this game along to a lucky Play Library reader.

Likewise! is a fun party game where you’re rewarded for thinking alike. The game is recommended for 3 to 6 players age 12 and up. It would make a fun game for a tween or teen party.

From the Buffalo Games website:

In Likewise, individuals are presented with a random pairing of a Description and Subject Cards. The pairing might be "Exotic – Car", or "Massive – Breakfast Food" or something like that. Next, players write down or doodle their answers in secret. Finally, they flip their paddles, reveal their answers (and a little bit about themselves in a way). Matching answers move ahead on the game board and the first to the winner’s circle is declared the champ.

Here’s how it works (or the rules if you want to be technical):

What we’re giving away: 1 Buffalo Games party game Likewise!

To enter the contest visit Buffalo Games, then come back here and leave a comment to let us know what your favorite game is.

Open to US residents only.

The contest will run until midnight EST on January 31st.

You may earn an additional entry by Twittering about this contest (if you could include @Linetteg in your Twitter it would help me find it), and/or leave a separate comment with your Twitter ID, so I can confirm your Tweet.

You may also blog about this contest for a third possible entry, just leave a link to your blog post in the comment section.

I will pick a winner on February 1st and announce the name here, I will also email the winner. They will have 3 days to get back to me, before another winner is chosen.

Go check out more great giveaways this week at Bloggy Giveaways.com.

Good luck!

Image via Buffalo Games

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Nostalgia Toy #10: Connect Four

Kerri Aldrich — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 03:25:18 +0000

Connect Four was one of my favorite games ever when I was younger. It was always the most popular game for indoor recess on rainy or snowy days. I think I liked it best because the kid I happened to have a crush on also liked the game. I remember getting in trouble one day because we were both singing, “Help Me Rhonda” at the top of our lungs while we played. Not very conducive to quiet indoor time. Ah well. It was worth it for the memory.

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Monopoly Minus the Money

Kerri Aldrich — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:55:05 +0000

One of Bald Man’s least favorite commercials depicts some type of fast retail environment (there are variations on the scene) where customers are quickly making their way through the checkout lane by making their purchases via a credit/debit card swipe. Everything is moving so smoothly until, oh my gosh how dare he, a customer actually brings a halt to it all by having the nerve to present the teller with…..wait for it…..CASH.

That’s all I could think of today when I saw the commercial for the latest rebirth of Monopoly…Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition. Yup, Monopoly without the money. All of the trades and such are made with debit-type banking cards. What is Monopoly without the money?!? Of course, I seem to only ever remember actually finishing one game of Monopoly. I guess it won’t effect my life all that much.

What about you? Do you think Monopoly is the same without the cash?

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Does anyone still play Tetherball?

Kerri Aldrich — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 03:28:08 +0000

So, a friend spent a portion of this weekend participating in a blogathon to raise money for charity. At one point, she and another blogathoner (yes, I’m making up words, I think), started chatting about a game called Swingball. From what I gathered, it seemed similar to what I grew up with as Tetherball.

I remember Tetherball poles at one or two of the grade schools I attended, but I never remember it being a huge craze or anything. Certainly nothing like four-square. Baldman, however, remembered playing a few games in grade school. He says, “I like the Tetherball.” (He’s a bit sleep-deprived right now.)

So, how about you? Do you remember ever playing this game? Had the craze died out by the time I was in school? Are kids still playing it today?

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Guess Who? by Milton Bradley

Kerri Aldrich — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 02:04:13 +0000

One of the games my daughter received for Christmas was Milton Bradley’s, Guess Who? It’s a good game for introducing deductive logic to the kids, though I think that kids younger than the recommended 6 year old could easily begin to master this game. One my favorite features of the game is the extremely easy set up, unlike another game I bought (why didn’t I think Don’t Break the Ice through a little better?).

It looks like Milton Bradley has another game in this line called Guess Where? Unlike Guess Who?, where you just have to figure out who the one mystery person is, Guess Where? requires the players to identify the multiple locations of several members of a family. Sounds like a good upgrade for when we’re ready for a challenge!

Do any of you have Guess Where? How do you like it?

Please don’t forget to vote in our Barbie/Bratz poll in the sidebar on the right! Thanks.

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Toy Review: Hullabaloo by Cranium

Kerri Aldrich — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 06:47:07 +0000

The kids received Cranium’s Hullabaloo for Christmas this year. They are having a blast with it! The music starts, and the kids listen to the instructions to swim/hop/jump/fly from one little colored shape to another. While it’s listed for ages 4 and up, our 3 year old can follow along enough to get the gist of the game. That is, if he’s staying focused long enough to actually hear the instructions and not just run around laughing (which is fun, too!). I also like that the game is easy to travel with so that we can bring it along to Grandma or a friends’ house.

And check out this fun web page from at Cranium’s site! There are links to a couple of blogs, fun ideas for families, a chance to try out their new game, Pop 5 (warning: sound), and more fun stuff. Man, I love Cranium games! And so fantastic that they do the games for kids as well as the ones for adults. Too fun!

Do you have a favorite Cranium game?

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