Games Holiday Gift Guide

This is a look at a huge selection of newly released or re-released board games and other family games that families and kids might enjoy this holiday season.

HASBRO GAMES

Hasbro is one of the most recognized names in childrens games and board games.  Here is a look at some of their top games for this season:

Children Can Have Fun While Learning Important Skills with Educational Games from CARSON-DELLOSA PUBLISHING

All of the games listed below can be purchased on the Web at www.carsondellosa.com and at most leading specialty toy and teacher supply stores.

All-New CenterSOLUTIONS™ 2 Big Games – Designed to make learning fun, these new board games will help children ages four and up learn important basic skills such as visual discrimination and strategic thinking.

COLORS & SHAPES ROBOT RACE 2 Big Games — Learn colors and shapes with robot friends!

COUNTING Quest 2 Big Games — High seas adventures make counting fun!

Children are in for big learning fun with Carson-Dellosa’s new CenterSOLUTIONS™ 2 Big Games. Featuring a time-saving, ready-to-go format and directions printed directly on the game boards, 2 Big Games will quickly engage players with educationally sound, correlated instruction in exciting, easy-to-follow games that encourage kids to learn while they are having fun.

Developed with ease of use and quick clean-up in mind, CenterSOLUTIONS™ 2 Big Games open big and fold down quickly for easy storage. Measuring a giant 39” x 27”, the two-sided game mats are laminated for durability and can be used indoors or outdoors. Each game offers two different levels of game play for 2-4 players and includes 45 game cards, one spinner, and four playing pieces. $24.99 MSRP

New Games for Ages 6+

TIME TO RHYME

A fun twist on classic lotto and memory matching games that sharpens visual discrimination, vocabulary, phonics and classification skills, Time to Rhyme offers four separate game boards and 36 game cards, allowing for up to four players. $14.99 MSRP

New Games for Ages 7+

ZOOM AROUND TOWN

It’s a bumper-to-bumper game of passenger pickups. Travel around town on a journey to collect the most passengers in each of their vehicles as you work on math skills and make choices that help to sharpen strategic thinking. The game set includes one game board, one die, one number cube, four taxis, four limousines, four buses and 40 passenger cards. Zoom Around Town includes English, French and Spanish-language instructions. $14.99 MSRP

Award-Winning Favorites – Games

WHERE DO I LIVE? – Ages 4+

—–2009 Parents’ Choice Award and Creative Child Preferred Choice Award—–

Everyone has a home and it’s the players’ job to get them there in this colorful memory-matching game. Designed for young children, Where Do I Live? features large, chunky pieces for little hands. Twelve homes complement 12 animals to strengthen visual distinction, classification, and recollection skills. No reading is required to play the games, making them perfect for ESL (English as a Second Language) and ELL (English Language Learner) children. 2 to 4 players. $14.99 MSRP

PIRATES’ GOLD – Ages 7+

—–2009 Creative Child Preferred Choice Award—–

Search out buried treasure in this swashbuckling, high seas adventure. Travel from island to island battling other players and collecting the most gold coins to win. Pirates’ Gold is designed to strengthen strategic thinking, basic counting, skip counting, and addition skills. Featuring a unique 3-dimensional game board that pieces together like a puzzle, the game is filled with swashbuckling pirates and a bounty of shiny gold. Pirates’ Gold includes 1 game board, 5 ships, 3 dice and 40 playing cards. 2 to 4 players. $14.99 MSRP

EDUCATIONAL INSIGHTS GAMES

Educational Insights offers a great collection of educational and fun toys for kids!

Blurt! (A NAPPA Honoree!)

• Fun, whole family game
• Roll the die and read the corresponding clue – all the players blurt their guesses. The first player to blurt the correct word moves ahead on the board.
• 3-12 players
• Ages 7 and up
• Retails for $29.99
• Available at www.amazon.com

Foamfetti

• Totally innovative new way to create fabulous 3-D artwork
• Available in 10 vibrant colors
• Take it out of the container and work it in your hands – squish it!
• Then sculpt it into your own creations (you can even make a ball that really bounces!), stick it to unfinished wood, like picture frames, or stick it to cardboard or paper to make a mosaic
• Dries hard to make permanent art
• Great creative outlet for kids
• Ages 5 and up
• Retails for $9.99 (3 1-ounce packs in 3 different colors)
• Available at the following online retailers: Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, DiscoverThis.com, Toysrus.com

Ticks Tacks Toes (A NAPPA Award Winner!)

• A clever twist on an old classic!
• Players take turns placing 3D ticks, tacks, and toes on the board
• Try to get tic tac toe strings of three in a row to win tokens
• Other players can score off your moves
• 2-4 player game
• Ages 6 and up
• Retails for $24.99

LEARNING RESOURCES GAMES

Learning resources provides educational and fun toys and games for children of all ages.

A BEE C Buzz Word Building Game

Designed for ages 6-9 and with a list price of $26.99, this game is a cool way for your child to learn letters, words, and spelling.  The inflatable bee hive is filled with letters and you can play a variety of games to help your child have fun learning to spell!

Count and Seek Pet House Game

A perfect way to teach your child responsibility and math at the same time, this game is designed for ages 4-6. Whether They Have Fins, Feathers Or Fur, These Pets Are ‘Counting’ On Kids For Care. Invites Players To Choose Their Favorite Pet, Then Count, Add And Subtract Their Way Around The House, Gathering All The Items Their Pet Needs.

MY VIRTUAL TUTOR NINTENDO DS GAME

My Virtual Tutor is a new interactive educational game for Pre-K through second graders ( 3 separate versions). Available exclusively for the Nintendo DS, My Virtual Tutor – Reading makes learning to read fun, affordable and portable.

My Virtual Tutor – Reading provides parents with the perfect learning tool for their kids on a platform they already love. The child holds their DS vertically like a book, interacting with the game through the easy to use touchpad screen. The game’s interactive modes are lead by an animated tutor. She reads books and encourages the child to complete fun exercises and quizzes to improve reading skills.

Developed as part of a university study at the University of Colorado, the program gives kids an opportunity to reinforce what they are learning in school and have fun while they practice.