It gives you the opportunity to do something together as a family, and get fit at the same time.

I think kids will have a blast with this. The bonus is it gets them up and moving, instead of sitting in front of a video game or the TV.

The game idea is simple, shuffle the deck, then start playing. When it’s your turn, draw a card and complete the exercise. You get points depending on the level of the exercise you accomplish. Fit Deck has several other decks and a games and activities booklet, so you can mix and match once your family masters the exercises in the Junior Deck.

Image Fit Deck

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What I like most about this game are the various ways you can make up rules to match the age and understanding of the players.  For example, matching pairs is still a bit challenging for my kids, so when we play, I assign each child a color, and they each fish for their own color (their turns don’t end until they catch something).  Play ends when everyone catches all of their fish.

I also made up rules that will help them learn their numbers (which they now know).  We flip the fish number-side down.  When a player catches a fish, he or she has to yell out the color and number on the under-side.  Again, play ends when all the fish are caught.   There are so many possibilities for color and number learning for younger kids and mastering matching skills for older kids.

Actually, I wasn’t sure about this game when I first opened the box.  Typically, things with suction cups never work as well as they’re shown on the box (or in commercials).  I was pleasantly surprised by this game though.  The suction cup really works and the fishing rod is sturdy enough that the kids can push down on it hard enough to actually catch a fish with the suction cup.

Although my kids got their Go Fish game as a gift from Grandma and Grandpa, I should mention that another nice thing about this game is that it’s inexpensive.  The Fisher Price website lists the retail price as $7.00.  You can’t beat the price for the number of activities you can make up with this game.  Overall, I give Fisher Price’s Go Fish Game a thumbs up.

Have your kids played Fisher Price’s Go Fish Game?  What do you think?

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The game is simple and includes a few variations.  The simplest game play mode involves spreading the colored game pads around the floor then flipping the switch and turning the game unit on.  Music plays and a voice tells players to move or jump or hop, etc. to a specific colored game mat or a mat with a specific type of picture on it (for example, a musical instrument or a food).  Kids move from mat to mat until the music stops.  The voice announces the winning mat and whoever is standing on that mat is declared the winner.  The winner is then instructed to do a dance or another fun activity before the game automatically starts again.

We received this game as a gift, and it’s been very popular with my kids.  I highly recommend it.  The $24.99 price tag shouldn’t turn you off.  It’s actually worth it.

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After we got married, Bald Man and I started building up our own collection of family games, and Clue was one of the first on my list. For some reason, though, we decided to get crazy and pick up the spin-off, Clue-The Great Museum Caper. I’d have to argue the “great,” though Bald Man happened to love it. Other than the name and that there was a kind of mystery to solve, it basically was nothing that even closely resembled the original and in the end was a poor substitute. And we still don’t have the original in our collection, yet!

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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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I have a summer birthday and so had many outdoor parties as a kid. I loved the games that my mom would think up to play in the yard, and never laughed so hard as when I was watching my friends rolling eggs with their noses and such!

My daughter recently had her first Field Day with teachers and other students who belong to the same homeschooling program as we do. Some of the games brought back fun memories for me. I loved playing mushroom with the giant parachute! And others made me think that they’d work well as outdoor birthday party games. Here are a few from the Field Day, and a few that my mom used to have us play:

Egg relay (played like a regular relay with teams, or as individual races): 3 variations

1. Roll the egg with your nose

2. Carry the egg on a spoon with your hand

3. Carry the egg on a spoon with your teeth

Water balloon toss:

Played in pairs where each team tosses the water balloon back and forth, moving a little farther apart each time. The team that makes it the farthest apart without busting the balloon wins the game.

Parachute games:

You can actually get your hand on a parachute through Oriental Trading Company. I don’t think these are as big as the one the kids used at Field Day, but some of the games could still be played with them, I’d think.

Mushroom: My favorite! I loved doing this in gym class. Everyone lifts the parachute as high as they can, then pulls it around them while they run under the parachute and sits on the part they just ran under. When done right, the parachute has air underneath and looks like a mushroom.

Boys/Girls: Everyone lifts the parachute as high as they can and then either the boys or the girls run under it and switch places to a new spot on the outside of the parachute.

Marble toes:

I’d never seen this one until Field Day, but I knew my kids would be great at it because we all have a freakish ability and desire to pick things up with our toes. Basically, a circle is made with a string or rope in the grass. A bag’s worth of marbles is spread around in the circle. Then, with 3-4 kids playing in each round, the kids are given one minute to pick up as many marbles as they can with their toes! I really wanted to try that one, too.

What are you favorite outdoor games for kids’ parties?

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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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Our daughter just received a set of cards from a friend who plays the game and had a bunch of doubles. Baldman was very excited, let me tell you. He loves games like this, and immediately searched the web to find out how to play this game with his little girl. He’s so looking forward to it.

Here’s what he found, in case you’re one of the other two families in the world who, at this moment, is still in the dark and needs an introduction to Pokémon. As for us, it seems that we don’t have enough cards to start a proper game, so we’re off to pick up a few!

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Strawberry Shortcake Dance Dance Revolution was one of the gifts my daughter received for her birthday. After watching her have a blast on the real Dance Dance Revolution for PS2 (when she could get us away from Guitar Hero), my sister thought this would be a fun gift for her niece.

We’ve…erm…I mean…..she’s had a blast playing with this game. The characters are cute, the songs are fun, and the moves start out nice and simple. The best part is that there are no gaming consoles required, it just plugs right into the TV. Other than that, it’s just a few batteries to get it to play. And, your own feet, of course.

My daughter and I each took a turn on it, and then my mom skunked us on it by beating the first round before we could. Go mom! Though we always knew she could dance; she is the one who taught me the twist, after all.

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