Mosaic Review–Classical Historian Ancient History Go Fish

 

A few weeks ago, we received this awesome Go Fish game. What makes it different you ask? Let me tell you!

 

This one deck of 50 cards with the answer key teaches the following skills through four fun games: Basic historical facts, Chronology, Geography, Association, and Social Skills required to follow the rules and play games with others.

Four Games in One:
A. Go Fish
B. Collect the Cards
C. Chronology
D. Continents

While it would have been nice to have had this game throughout the year for our study of Ancient History, it is great to have it now too. When we played, it was a great review of the things that we learned all year long.

The cards are beautifully done. Each card features a picture of the object as well as the title, and they’re color-coded to make matching them that much easier.

I had Kahlen (who is 6) play by herself and Nate (who is 4) and I were a team. He helped me with the numbers while I held them, so it was a great family game. Kahlen won the first time we played, and immediately wanted to know if we could play again. We only were able to play the Go Fish way because of the age and skill levels of my kids, but the other ways to play look really fun too, and I’ll be glad in four years when we come back to Ancient History that we’ll have this resource.

Here’s a synopsis of the four ways to play:

Go Fish

Players try to collect all four-of-a-kind cards from the following categories. The player who captures most sets wins.

Collect the Cards

Players use historical facts (hints) to try and guess the image on the card. If a player guesses correctly, he wins the card.

Chronology

Following the Answer Key instructions, shuffle the cards necessary for the chronology game. When one player signals, the other player assembles all cards in chronological order, as fast as he can. The fastest time wins!

Geography

Place the Continents cards at the top of the playing field. Shuffle the other cards. When one player signals, the other player assembles all cards under the correct continent, as fast as he can. The fastest time wins! Answer key provided.

This game was a big hit, and I’m considering buying the Medieval History Go Fish game for next year, since we’ll be studying that portion of history next!

You can go here to read other reviews, both of this game and of other products. Or you can go here to purchase this and other products. The Go Fish games retail for just $11.95!

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book through Mosaic Reviews. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Some links may be affiliate links, which I may receive a small compensation from in connection with their affiliate program.

Wordless Wednesday–Kool Aid Soda Pop

This is on our Summer Fun! board of activities to do this summer. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, since I changed the recipe a bit. Instead of adding these to Sprite, which is already so sweet, I poured club soda over them in a pitcher. The kids *loved* them! Granted, my kids are limited in the amount of sugar they have, so this worked great for us :) I’m guessing by the time they’re 10, I’ll have to use Sprite instead.

I made five 1/2 batches of kool aid and froze them. I couldn’t find any green kool aid, which frustrated my daughter, lol. A 1/2 batch made just over two ice cube trays, which is more than enough for us. I then just layered them in freezer bags and stored them for use later. I’ll be making more after I remember to buy more club soda, since we still have a ton of ice cubes. I might even use them for our lemonade stand that we’ll get to at some point!

~S

Linking up at:

Happy 4th Birthday, Nathanael!

In honor of my middle child’s fourth birthday, we had a Fire Truck birthday party for him last weekend. His actual birthday was yesterday, but Mondays are no good for holding parties :)

Thanks to Pinterest, I may have gone a bit overboard with the party decorations. now I have to think of how to top this one for Kahlen’s next birthday!

It started with the invitation:

I used the Cricut Cartridge Everyday Paper Dolls for the fire truck, axe, fire hydrant, and hat. I used the Create a Critter cartridge for the flames. It was actually my husband’s idea to make an aperture out of the fire truck window so we could see Nate from the front and inside. It’s on a 8 1/2” x 4” blank so that it will fit inside a regular mailing envelope.

After that, I found a YouTube video on how to make the cake simply yet perfect for what I wanted:

Fire Truck Cake courtesy of Family Fun Video

Then I went looking for some game or activity ideas and found this great tutorial on how to make a pull string piñata.

Also, a ton of the fire truck / fire fighter themed parties that I saw were held actually AT a fire station. I didn’t think this would work, until I just called them to ask. We were planning on having it at a park that is right next to a fire station anyway, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right? Well, they said YES (as long as they weren’t out on a call, of course). Turns out, they were on a call when we first tried to go over there, but we were flexible about it and just came back after we saw them pull back into the station:

Nate said this was the best part!

I also found some great decoration ideas for a banner, food and cute signs, and cupcake designs. Naturally, me being me, I had to make all of those things. By hand. *sigh* sometimes my crafty side gets the better of my practical side.

The banner as it's hung up at my house. I didn't get a good picture of it at the party :(

"Matches" - Pretzels dipped in red melting chocolate. "Fire Truck Wheels" - Oreos. "Fire Hoses" - Licorice, both black and red. I also had some gluten free candies because one of his friends has a bad reaction to gluten.

The cupcakes. The red rope ones were lemon flavored and the flame ones were chocolate flavored. I also made the cupcake wrappers by cutting them out with a template first, then using decorative scissors to cut the tops. I then stuck on the little decoration on the front, which I also made, since I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for.

I am so grateful for good friends. I tried to do the flames, but I’m just not that skilled at decorating cakes. So I called in one of my best friends and she did them for me. Thanks, Melissa!

So, how did everything turn out? GREAT!! I think that Nate will never forget this one :)

 

Happy 4th Birthday, Nathanael!

~S

Speak up Saturday–Book Review–The Orphan King by Sigmund Brouwer

It’s been awhile since I posted any book reviews, really, so I’m going to try and get caught up. Because it’s not like I haven’t been reading them…just not posting my reviews :-)

From the publisher:

The future of the Immortals is in the hands of an orphan
My greatest fear was that they would find us and make of us a sacrifice beneath a full moon. Now you, Thomas, must help us destroy the circle of evil.
The last words of a dying woman would change the life of young Thomas. Raised behind monastery walls, he knows nothing of his mysterious past or imminent destiny. But now, in the heart of medieval England, a darkness threatens to strangle truth. An ancient order tightens their ghostly grip on power, creating fear and exiling those who would oppose them. Thomas is determined fulfill his calling and bring light into the mysterious world of the Druids and leaves the monastery on an important quest.
Thomas quickly finds himself in unfamiliar territory, as he must put his faith in unusual companions—a cryptic knight, a child thief, and the beautiful, silent woman whom may not be all she seems.  From the solitary life of an orphan, Thomas now finds himself tangled in the roots of both comradery and suspicion.
Can he trust those who would join his battle…or will his fears force him to go on alone?

I have read and reviewed two other books by this author, one I liked and one I did not, so I was a bit leery of reading this one, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

This book is set in one of my favorite time periods, right around the time of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot. It’s technically a bit after that, but it still has knights and castles and the like. The other reason I tend to like books set in this time period is because the dark ages were so full of the battle of good and evil, the church was in such turmoil, and the stories often could be categorized as “mystical realism”, which I just plain enjoy (almost as much as Science Fiction)

The Orphan King is book one in a series. I’m not sure how many books there will be, but book 2 is out already and book 3 will be released later this year. Also, I just found out that it is a revised version of a story collection that was previously released as Magnus.

I liked the story and the characters well enough, but it often felt like I was in the middle of the series instead of the beginning. There was a lot that went unexplained, which I’m hoping will be covered in the next two books. The mystery of it was interesting at the beginning, but after so much went unexplained still by the end of the book, it was a bit frustrating. 

This book is classified as Christian Fiction and is published by a Christian publisher, but I wouldn’t really classify it as such. Sure, there’s a bit about religion and a bit about the church of the time, but that’s not at all the focus of the book.

Overall, I liked this book, and I wouldn’t mind reading the others in the series, but it’s not a high priority to me.

~S

It would be a great help to me if you would please rate my review. I get the chance to review more books based on my rating, and there are cool contests and such. Thanks!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.