Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in detroit, MI

Guest Post: Family Game Night

by Amy Kuras

March 16, 2009

I love  board games, and they are a fun, inexpensive way to connect with friends. They teach important skills like memory, rule-following, and sportsmanship -- how to win and lose gracefully.  But preschoolers are just barely old enough to esit still long enough to enjoy a game. How to choose the best ones that both you and your child will enjoy?

In today's guest post, provided for us by Silicon Valley City Editor Ana Picazo, toy expert Jim Silver discusses features that parents should look for when choosing games for their preschoolers.
Jim is a widely recognized and often-resourced authority on the toy
and licensing industries, having worked within the publishing and toy
industries for more than 20 years.  He's also editor-in-chief for
www.TimeToPlayMag.com, a great website parents can go to for toy,
gaming and entertainment information.   Read below to learn 5 things
parents should look for in a preschool game, then check out Jim's list
of top preschool games for 2009.



Five things to look for in a Preschool Game
By Jim Silver, editor in chief, TimetoPlayMag.com

1. Easy to play right out of the box.
Instructions should be very simple and easy, so that you can open the
box and play right away. Set up should be minimal, which also means
clean up should be too. Young children don't have the patience for
long instructions, and parents don't want a lot of mess.

2. Appropriate levels of reading, color matching, sequencing and
memory for the age group.
Playing the game should be fun...not frustrating. The great thing is
that your children will let you know when they're ready for more
advanced games. The child who loves Candy Land for months may suddenly
realize he's too old for it, for instance.

3. Correct balance of chance and strategy.
For younger children, the balance should be more chance than strategy.
They're learning counting, memory, and matching among other skills. As
they get older, strategy-thinking a few moves ahead-can be introduced.
Kids also respond well to games that have a clear winner, even if it's
not them. Children like the defined beginning and ending of a game
with a clear objective.

4. 15 minutes or less.
The younger the child, the quicker a game needs to be completed before
a child gets bored or loses focus. For a three-year-old, a game should
be completed in less than 15 minutes. As a child gets a little older,
20 minutes is the magic number. Many game companies are now putting
game playing times on their packages; look for these to help gauge
what's right for your child.

5. Motor skills.
Many games greatly enhance motor skills through the need of hand-eye
coordination. Many young children don't have enough opportunities to
develop these skills, and games are a great occasion for younger kids
to develop them through play.

A Glimpse Into Memories

by Amy Kuras

January 12, 2009

Today's national blog post is about favorite memory games and activities with little kids. We haven't tried a whole lot yet -- someone gave her a memory card game for Christmas that we like, and she seems to ahve a fairly sharp memory. But what I find particularly fascinating is what sticks in children's memories. Sometimes my daughter will come out with something and I am just amazed  Read more...