 |
ELC Christmas Snap
by karalouk
Every Christmas I tend to seek out different Christmas themed activities, arts, crafts and games for my daughter. Last year I was browsing in The Early Learning Centre when I came across a pack of Christmas Snap Cards. I knew my daughter would like them, not only because they were Christmas themed but because she had just learnt to play ... snap!
There are a generous amount of cards per pack (48) and they come in a cardboard box, which is essential for keeping the cards stored in! The designs on the cards include an elf, angel, fairy, snowman, robin, Christmas tree, Santa and reindeer. The characters also have fun names written underneath such as 'Robbie Robin', 'Eddie Elf' and 'Sammy Snowman' which makes them seem a little bit more fun. The designs are fun, colourful, recognisable and most importantly - festive! They're sure to please all little ones. The back of the cards feature a repeated pattern of the ELC logo, so there's no way of seeing what your opponent has!
The cards have the same thickness as regular playing cards, which is slightly disappointing given that they are aimed at young children who are notorious for being heavy handed. Although I must admit that our cards are still in excellent condition, so it's not really a problem. They have a glossy finish so they're easy enough to wipe clean. The cards are recommend for children 3+ years and are absolutely unisex.
We recently got these cards out from the loft with the rest of the Christmas decorations and my daughter was very pleased to see them again! I like to put her Christmassy things away after Christmas so she doesn't have to see them all year round and can get excited and feel festive when her Christmassy things make an appearance the next Christmas. We played with the cards a lot over last Christmas and have been playing with them again for a week or so this Christmas, she still seems to enjoy them as much as she did last year (she was 4 then, she is 5 now). There are 2 games that we play with these cards, simply because I don't know any other card games (and they're easy enough for my daughter to grasp)! We play snap and pairs. I'm sure everybody knows the rules of snap, but here goes anyway! To play snap we split the cards in half and take turns to place the cards down, face up. When a matching pair appear we have to shout 'SNAP!' and place our hand on the pile of cards. Whoever snaps first wins the pile of cards. My daughter absolutely adores this game and gets really excited by the suspense! To play pairs we place all of the cards face down on the table. Then we take turns at turning 2 cards over to find a matching pair. My daughter really enjoys this game too and is surprisingly good at it, possibly better than I am! She's also happy to play this one by herself. Not only is it fun but it has educational aspects, the most obvious being memory skills. Both games usually take us a while to play and she never seems to get bored or distracted, although if your child has a short attention span you can always take some cards away to shorten the games...
The ELC Christmas Snap Cards are only available at The Early Learning Centre and The Early Learning Centre website. They cost just £2.00 a pack (currently on sale for £1.00), which is pretty good value for money.
Read the complete review |
 |
The Mythic Tarot Pack
by ruthosborne1
These tarot cards are beautiful, beautifully illustrated and and hold alot of information within each card. These cards however are not for the novice in tarot reading and learning or teaching cards as they are highly complex and need a lot of resource within the mind to be able to read them well.
I started off with the ryder waite ... cards which are very simple o use and were made for teaching cards but these cards are ones to get further along the line and they have detailed readings for each one with detailed information.
Thorough readings can be given within these cards and also they seem to be more psychically powerful than others I have noticed. The main box comes with a great book full of detailed interpretation of each card and also a historical resemblance for each one which is rare with tarot cards and usually the cards only come in the cards themselves without the book so this is an extra bonus.
The cards cost about £25 with the book which is expensive but worth every penny for the quality of cards they are.
Read the complete review |
 |
Uno
by purplekimmy
Uno!! Such a simple clever idea, but so frustrating as well. As a family we have had our set of Uno cards for many years, and it is still one of our favourites.
You have a set of 108 cards; there are twenty five of each colour, red, blue, green and yellow. They are numbered from 1 - 9, you also have the special cards, draw ... two, reverse, miss a turn, wild and wild draw four cards. The main object of the game is to get rid of all your cards first. Sounds simple but no no.
Going round the table clockwise, you deal out 7 cards to each person and turn over one card. Each player has to put down one card with either a corresponding colour or number as the first card turned over. For example, if a red 3 was turned over, the next player can either put down another red card (any number) or any colour 3. If you cant go you pick up another card. The special cards can come into play at any time, and these really bring the spark to this game.
The reverse card, changes the direction the game is played.
Miss a turn, the next person due to play misses a turn.
Wild card, allows you to change the colour of the playing card to any of your choice.
Draw two, the next person to play, has to pick up two cards.
Wild draw four card, the player can change the colour of the next card played but the following person to play has to pick up four cards.
It is when these wild cards come out that the game really comes into its own; you can be so close to winning then have to pick up cards right at the end. If you have the right cards you can put a draw two card on another draw two card and so on, so the person picking up has to collect quite a few. You also must remember to say 'Uno' when you get down to your last card, otherwise you have to pick up two cards.
It is a hilarious card game that all the family can enjoy.
Read the complete review |
