Each year at Christmas I love to get the kids a new board game. Who am I kidding? I like buying new games no matter what time of year it is, Christmas was just the closest excuse I had to introduce a new game to the family!
We gave our kids the game Prime Climb. Okay, yes, it’s a math game, but it is a seriously fun math game! I promise! I’m an ENFP personality type, I don’t have time (and won’t make time) for things that are dull.
What I love about this game is that each of our three older kids can play it, because you can choose what to do at each roll, add, subtract, multiply, or divide the number you’re at on the board, with the numbers you roll on your dice. The youngest player is not at a lesser advantage because she doesn’t know all her math facts yet, because there are cards you draw each time you end your turn on a prime number, and those cards throw all sorts of twists into the game (like send a player back to START). Even if she is just adding her rolls each time she plays, she still has a pretty good chance of winning! Of course, if you can multiply you can get further ahead quicker, but that doesn’t secure you a spot at the finish line yet, as you have to land EXACTLY on 101 to win the game (you can’t go past, so sometimes you’re waiting tirelessly for to roll a 1, only to be sent back to start).
Playing games helps children learn teamwork, patience, how to play fair, and they gain valuable communication skills while conversing with other players around the table.
Right now, as I’m typing this, it’s a Saturday morning and my son is playing this game with his best friend from across the street. What are the odds that two eleven-year-old boys would choose to spend their weekend morning this way? It’s truly a great game! I can’t wait to get a chance to go head-to-head against Mr. Awesome some evening after the kids are in bed. He is a math genius, but I still think I can take him! Ha!
If you’re looking for a game to help your child gain confidence with their math skills or just a game that is different than every other board game out there, give Prime Climb a try!
Our all time favorite date-night game (I take this nearly everywhere because it’s tiny and fits in my purse, you do need a big table space to play it though):
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