KidCrunch

I am a big fan of board games.  My kids need to be encouraged to play them (instead of the Wii) but when they do, they have fun - especially when we play as a family.  The best board games also have educational value and help kids build social skills.

Board games make excellent gifts, particularly when they come from grandparents or other relatives who might otherwise give clothes.

I like the classic versions of board games, not the trendy, licensed versions.  I have no interest in playing Harry Potter Clue or Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly.

I do love sitting down with my kids to play the classic board games on this list.  Next to each game, I have noted the skills it helps to develop:

• Scrabble and Scrabble Junior are the best games for building language skills.
• Yahtzee helps kids learn math facts (at least for numbers 1 to 6.)
• Mastermind and Mastermind for Kids encourage logical thinking.
• Sorry! is a fun, easy game that everyone can play - great for learning sportsmanship.
• Othello teaches kids to think–and anticipate consequences–before they act.
• Rummikub teaches strategy with numbers.
• Perfection helps kids learn to process information and act quickly under pressure.
• Clue and Clue Jr. promote logical thinking and deductive reasoning.
• Battleship builds concentration and memory skills (which for me are not what they used to be.)  
• Boggle and Boggle Jr. help build phonics and language skills.
• Monopoly and Monopoly Jr. provide early training for budding real estate titans.
• Connect Four is fun for younger kids and encourages strategic thinking.
• Pictionary and Pictionary Jr. are great for developing presentation skills and confidence.

Buy these classic board games through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

Related Links

• Are You Game? offers a wide selection of quality board games, including some great new games.

With apologies to 30 Rock, The Office and other Emmy-nominated comedies, I think the funniest show on television might be SpongeBob SquarePants.

So, while there were a handful of good kids DVDs released this week, for me, it’s all about SpongeBob.  The newly released DVD collection  SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes includes every episode from the first five seasons on 14 discs.  That is just awesome. 

Although it is not educational programming, there is something to be learned from SpongeBob.  The show offers an occasional tidbit of nautical terminology and sometimes randomly delves into the obscure - like when the staff of the Krusty Krab goes on strike carrying signs made from “picket” fences.  I turned that into a teachable moment.

Also, try this with your kids - ask them to tell you about their favorite SpongeBob episodes.  They may not tell you a lot about the books they read or what they learn at school, but even the most reticent of kids will go on and on and on about SpongeBob.  Everyone has a favorite SpongeBob episode.  My favorite is when SpongeBob and Patrick become hysterical when their new friend “Wormy” is consumed, apparently, by a very scary butterfly.  Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar ain’t got nothin’ on The Wormy Episode, a SpongeBob classic.

For more fun and enrichment, ask your kids to name a family member or close friend who reminds them of a SpongeBob character.  All of my kids see themselves as SpongeBob and see their best friend in Patrick.  Our dog Nellie is everyone’s choice to be SpongeBob’s pet Gary the Snail.  And, if you know my kids, you can guess who reminds us of Squidward and who is so Mr. Krabs.

Your kids will love SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes and, if they are looking for entertainment outside of Bikini Bottom, they may also enjoy these these new kids DVDs:

• Jonas: Rockin’ the House (Volume 1)
• Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins
• Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana
• Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death and
• Wallace and Gromit: The Complete Collection

Buy these new kids DVDs through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store and remember to ask your kids about their favorite SpongeBob episode.

This kids book list includes books for preschoolers first learning about shapes, plus books for early elementary students learning geometric concepts.

• A Cloak for the Dreamer by Aileen Friedman
• Architecture, Shape by Michael Crosbie and Steve Rosenthal
• Baby Einstein: See and Spy Shapes by Julie Aigner-Clark
• Block City by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Cubes, Cones, Cylinders & Spheres by Tana Hoban
• Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann Whitford Paul
• I Spy Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
• Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
• Museum Shapes by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Shape Up! by David A. Adler
• Shapes, Shapes, Shapes by Tana Hoban
• The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
• The Shape of Me and Other Things by Dr. Seuss
• The Shapes Game by Paul Rogers

• When a Line Bends…A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Buy these books about shapes and other great kids books through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

You may also like the following educational products that teach shapes and build geometry skills.

• Color and Shapes Bingo game by Trend Enterprises
• Shapes Up! game by Educational Insights
• Geometric Shapes and Activities at Learning Things

Related Posts

• Books That Build Math Skills
• Back-to-School Read-Aloud Books

The Sony Pictures animated 3-D movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs opens today.  Rated PG for brief mild language, the movie is based on the 1978 children’s book of the same name written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. 

In this action-filled comedy, young scientist Flint Lockwood (voiced by SNL’s Bill Hader) invents a machine that turns water into food - that rains down to earth in dangerous proportions.  This phenomenon attracts coverage from perky TV weathergirl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris of the Scary Movie series.)  Other famous voices include James Caan (as Flint’s father, Tim), Andy Samberg (as bully “Baby” Brent), Mr. T (as local cop Earl Devereaux) and Neil Patrick Harris (as Flint’s scene-stealing monkey.)

The critics seem to like it:

Eye-popping and mouth-watering in one, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs spins a 30-page children’s book into a 90-minute all-you-can-laugh buffet, expanding the premise of a town where it rains ketchup and hot dogs to disaster-movie proportions.  Variety|Peter Debruge

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a surprisingly savory treat, though it doesn’t bear much resemblance to the charming classic children’s book on which it’s based. USA Today|Claudia Puig

I’ve seen a lot of 3-D recently, and in terms of technical quality, this is the best.  Chicago Sun-Times|Roger Ebert 

The movie’s humor targets both kids and grown-ups with equal success, but, even with the presence of a mustache-fixated monkey, the main attraction here is the movie’s vibrant 3-D animation and its perfect storm of foodie-friendly sight gags. Los Angeles Times|Glenn Whipp

• Kids Movie Reviews - Disney’s Ponyo by Hayao Miyazaki
• Kids Movie Reviews - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
• All KidCrunch Kids Movie Lists

Are your kids ready for some football? If your kids are football fans, they will love the books on this list of football books for kids and teens:

• T is for Touchdown: A Football Alphabet by Brad Herzog - Packed with facts and richly illustrated, football fans of all ages will enjoy this as a read aloud or elementary reader.
• Kick, Pass, and Run by Leonard Kessler - A classic I Can Read book that provides a simple introduction to football for early readers.
• Miss Nelson Has a Field Day by Harry Allard - In this football story for kids ages 4 to 8, Miss Nelson brings in a substitute to get the Smedley Tornadoes ready for the big game.
• Family Huddle by Peyton, Eli and Archie Manning - This new book was a preseason pick for our family; our youngest kids love Peyton Manning and the rest of us cheer for Eli and the Giants.
• Game Day by Tiki and Ronde Barber - This book gives a welcomed shout-out to blocking backs and the O-line.  A family-oriented book for grades 1 to 3 about brothers sharing the spotlight.
• Tough to Tackle by Matt Christopher - Pick any sport and you will find a great book about it by Matt Christopher. This is one of several football books by Matt Christopher for ages 9 to 12.
• Yes I Can! Struggles from Childhood to the NFL by Neil Smith - An autobiography for kids about NFL Pro-Bowler Neil Smith’s struggles with dyslexia.
• Two Minute Drill (Comeback Kids) by Mike Lupica - A book about sixth grade football and friendship from accomplished sports reporter and kids sports fiction author Mike Lupica.
• Football Genius by Tim Green - The first young adult book from former Atlanta Falcon Tim Green, my kids’ favorite sports book author.  For ages 10 and up.
• Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein - Two of our favorite genres-suspense and sports fiction-meet at the Super Bowl.  Another great book for sports fans (ages 9 to 12) by sports writer John Feinstein.
• Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock - A perfect read for teenage girls (grades 6 to 9) who want to play on the football team and date a quarterback.
• Knights of the Hill Country by Tim Tharp - A senior linebacker comes of age in the football-loving hill country of Oklahoma.  For readers grade 8 and up.
• Gym Candy by Carl Deuker - A sobering young adult sports book about the lure and dangers of steroids through the eyes of high school football player Mick Johnson.

Buy these football books and other great kids books through Amazon.

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• Sports Movies for Kids
• Newbery Award-Winning Books for Boys
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