"Carol Vorderman's Mathable Junior" by Wooky Entertainment Game Review

Not every child loves Maths but with a game like "Carol Vorderman's Mathable Junior" you can make learning fun!  This game was sent to my family to review from Wooky Entertainment.  It states that the game is suitable for ages 5 and up but to be honest, with all the best will in the world, there's no way you could give this game to a small group of 5 years olds to give yourself an hour of peace and quiet!  At least one adult has to play to help the younger ones with their sums if needed!

Once we had got our heads round the instructions, the game was pretty easy to play - there are only a few simple rules to obey and so once all the children have understood those, it's pretty straightforward.

My son was pleased that he could join in with the game as he's only 5 and often has to go on someone's "team" in order to have chance of winning anything!

The aim of the game is to place your tiles onto the board adjacent to 2 tiles already place to complete a sum - either addition or subtraction.  For example, if there is already a "4" and a "6" on the board (next to each other), you could place either a "10" or a "2" in the adjacent square, with your score being the result of the sum you have just performed.  Sounds a bit complicated, but in practice it's easy to follow.  There are special squares resulting in additional rules but I won't go into that now - when playing it's obvious what to do regarding the additional rules - cross that bridge when you come to it!

The handy number line from 1-20 on the edge of the board is very helpful when working on the sums and deciding where to place the tiles - with older children and adults(!) you could use a bit of skill and strategy if there's a choice of where to put the tiles.  We played at a simple level with my youngest by just placing the tiles where he could recognise where they would go - even if there was a higher scoring spot available!

The reverse of the board had a different game to play - still number based with addition and subtraction the key to the game but with a different scoring system.   Here, you must match your tile to the spaces on the board whilst also completing equations of addition and subtraction.

When playing with my youngest child, we swayed away from the words "equations" and "subtraction" saying instead, "adds and adds" and "take aways"!  With my 8 year old, we used the correct wording and she was fine.  Also, second time round of playing there was much less confusion and no tears!

As a bi-lingual family, this game can be played in any language as the board consists of only numbers and symbols.... whether you're using "one", "un" or "uno" the game works!

The game is endorsed by Carol Vorderman - even though she has gone on to do many other things in her career, Countdown and the number's game is one of her most famous roles.  So hopefully, she will be helping to develop the next generation of mathematicians!

The adult and older child version of the game "Mathable" includes division and multiplication and is available for download and as an app for use with iPad as well as a traditional board game - when I join the iPad generation (hint hint!) this is one app I'll be downloading for sure!

An advantage of games by Wooky Entertainment is that you are able to download a PDF file of the instructions in the event (likely or unlikey!) that you may lose the instructions that come with the game!

***DISCLAIMER***

We were sent this product for free on the understanding I would write an honest review of what I thought about the product. I received no payment and the review is my own honest and unbiased opinion of the product and I retain full editorial control and integrity

"Christmas in July" 2012

Last Tuesday I went to my first PR event - Christmas in July 2012.  I made the epic journey starting at 4am with two of my friends; fellow bloggers Really Rachel and Missing Sleep.  As well as viewing and testing the new toys available on the market for Christmas 2012, we were also helping to judge the UKMums.tv mums choice awards.

True to my name I enjoyed sampling the multitude of cupcakes on offer with each display being sponsored by a different toy or PR company.  We also had ice cream with lots of different toppings and of course, Christmas Cake!

  
We thought that we would have lighter bags on the way home, having eaten our stash of goodies on the journey down to London, but receiving a goody bag full of exciting toys at the event meant that we were more laden down on the way home than we expected!

The toys on display from all traders were great - from pocket money toys up to "main" present toys, involving educational and traditional games to electronic and state of the art gagets!


Gifts for boys included GO Mini Stunt Launcher from Golden Bear Toys.  Each Mini has it's own characteristics unique to that model - wheelies, skids and spins are all part of the fun.  They do not need batteries which stops the TV remote constantly being devoid of batteries when needed in an emergency!  I also liked the new HEXBUG designs - the scarab beetle moves fantastically speedily and is so much fun to watch as the bugs explore the environment around them.

The girl's stands were just as exciting as the boy's ones - a new range of Bratz dolls named Bratzillaz (MGA Entertainment) seemed a favourite to me, along with the Novi Stars dolls; each one having it's own unique feature... bubblegum smelling or glitter-filled to name just two!  I also liked the Orbeez Soothing Spa from Character Options - a relaxing foot spa for tweens to pamper themselves (and their Mum's - hopefully!).

There were lots of creative play options too - with all the rainy days we are having, wet weather play is sure to be a hit over the summer as well as for Christmas!  Wooky Entertainment have some great girly craft products; also I was especially impressed with a range of games from Scotchi.  Although the packaging and instructions are in English, the actual game pieces have no written words on them and so can be used bi-lingually.  As a bi-lingual Welsh/English family, these games are great to develop language skills for both my children and myself as a Welsh learner.

There were plenty of pre-school gifts on display... I liked the Stacking Hoops from Play To Z Ltd.  As I have no pre-schoolers in my home any longer, I would gladly borrow one or two to enjoy playing with their toys and games!  They also have sensory tales packs which are able to used by older children to help develop their imaginative and creative play.  I loved the ethics and background behind the Play To Z Ltd range of toys; you can read more about their research here.

With a little time before our train home, I made a quick detour to King's Cross Platform 9 3/4 for a photo opportunity... 

Keep an eye out over the next few weeks for some reviews of fantastic products for Christmas 2012 and there will be some giveaways too!  I can't wait for Christmas now!