Posted in Reviews

I love serendipity! 

I happened across Professor Noggin's Card Games at an "educators'" store last week while visiting family.  Because we are doing Apologia Elementary Astronomy this summer (and into the fall, it seems!), I picked up the "Outer Space" game on a whim. 

What a great find!

There were several reasons why this product appealed to me after playing a few games. 

There are two levels of play - "easy" and "more advanced."  This has an advantage in that my 6yo and I can play together, but we can play at different levels at the same time!  She can actually win a "trivia" style game against me because of this. 

Another thing I liked was that the cards are themed (in the Space version) with one planet or concept per card.  There are 30 cards, including one on astronauts, asteroids, general questions, each planet, and the like.  This roughly corresponds to the layout of the Apologia book, which was nice. 

Theoretically, you could remove those cards that you haven't covered in your studies as yet, keeping the game focused on review of materials covered.

The rules are relatively simple - you take turns asking questions from themed cards based upon the roll of a 3-numbered die.  The correct answer wins you the card.  The player at the end with the most cards wins. 

The average game has taken us about 20 minutes, with a few replayed cards.

The reading level for the questions is probably around mid-2nd grade, with occasional help on unfamiliar words or names. 

There are numerous other versions of the game, which I'm very seriously considering.  These include Ancient Civilizations, Creatures of Myth and Legend, Medieval Times, American Revolution, Countries of the World (I and II), Earth Science, Famous Inventions, and Wonders of Science. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find a game that so well reflected our subject matter, without a lot of fluff.  What a fun way to review material and move ahead a bit on new ideas!