The Scoop from Ed Expo
by Patrick Matthews

Ed Expo a trade show for the NSSEA (National School Supply and Equipment Association) is a always an interesting mix of products. They still have a lot of the traditional stuff – chairs, desks, sandboxes and so on. More and more, though, they also have games and even toys aimed at the educational market.

Games and toys for educators? Of course I had to go.

The show was quieter than ToyFair (which I wrote about last month), but in some ways the products were more interesting. So, without any more ado, let me jump right into it.

The Perfect Math Games?

I’m going to start with a quiet little set of games I’ve never seen before from a company I’ve never heard about. The company is Emines (www.emines.com) and their math games are definitely worth a look. I played Roll ‘n Add™, Roll ‘n Multiply™, and Magic 10™. All three of the games were fun, but I'm limited on space, so I'll just tell you about Roll 'n Add, which is a variant of Tic Tac Toe. It includes a board and 20 two-sided chips. The chips are two-sided, with a different color on each side. They also each have a number. On your turn, you roll two 10-sided dice, add them together, and then place the chip with that number on the board. If you roll a number already on the board, you get to flip it over to your color. First one to get three in a row wins.

It’s simple, easy to understand, and lots of fun. I could easily see these in a classroom, library, after-school care, or homeschool environment. They’re not as flashy as some games, but they don’t need to be. The concept and mechanic carry the day..

Toys at an Educational Show?

If you like Sudoku, you've got to see IcoSoKu. Please notice I said "see" and not "solve." The thing is an amazing brain twister. Picture a ball made out of triangles, where each point of each triangle has a different number of dots (from 0 to 3). The verticies between the triangles are numbers. All you have to do is arrange the triangles so that the dots around each number add up to that number. I picked it up, started to try it, and suddenly I was lost to it, turning it around in my hands, putting in triangles, taking them out, chewing on my pen... And then I remembered I had the rest of the show to go to. This thing is a crazy challenge.

Fat Brain

I played a lot of games at the show, but if you told me to pick the most fun, it would be Sturdy Birdy (for ages 5+) by the Fat Brain Toy Co. It's a serious of cards, each of which shows a pigeon in a different pose. Players have to mimic the pigeon on each card, striking the same pose the pigeon is in. That would be silly enough as it is, but they've jazzed it up with two dice. One die tells you how long you have to hold the pose, and the other one tells you where you have to balance the bean bag while posing. It's mad-fun, even for those of us that have supposedly mastered our physical skills.

The Art of Conversation

I have to start this one with a disclaimer: I enjoy TAOC® The Art of Conversation, and have done so for years. I was surprised to see them at Ed Expo, though, and absolutely stunned when Louise Howland, one of the game's designers showed me The Art of Literary Conversation and The Art of Children's Conversation. If you're not familiar with these games, definitely check them out. Whether you're looking to get the kids talking and developing social skills, or stimulate interest in reading, these are worth your time.

One You've Probably Already Heard of

The 24 Game is one that has been around for a while. If you haven't heard of it, it's a pack of square cards. Each card has four numbers. The goal is to use all four numbers (only once each) in a series of equations that add up to 24. It's pure competitive math, but the company has guidelines for how it can be used in the classroom, and if you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out. Suntex also runs First In Math, a subscription web site dedicated to helping strengthen math skills.

Bizarre Fun

If you've ever been to a trade show, you're familiar with the experience of having a sales rep stick something in your hand as you're walking away. That's what happened to me with the purpllinker. I dropped it in my bag and pretty much forgot about it. When I got home, my seven-year old found it. Soon he was playing with it, and then my five-year old was playing with it, and then we were challenging each other. You can't get a better recommendation than that. It's basically a purple segmented stick, that you can manipulate to make different shapes. The company has instructions for how you can use it to make letters, numbers, and shapes, and I certainly can see the educational value. In our house, though, it's just a lot of fun.

Thumball

Talicor Aristoplay had a neat toy called a Thumball.That's worth checking out either as something to do with your kids or as a "pocket activity" that you can bring out when you have some empty time with your students. Thumballs are soft faceted balls, where each facet has something (letter, number, icebreaker, emotion, story starter, movement, etc.) written on it, depending on which Thumball you have. You toss the ball to another person, and they have to respond based on where their thumb is on the ball. For example, a pre-K teacher could toss a letter Thumball and ask the student to identify the letter. A middle school teacher could toss the Tell the Tail Thumball and the student would have to start (or continue) a story.

More to Come!

I hope you've found some new things you can use here. I have plenty more to talk about from Ed Expo, but this article is getting a bit lengthy already. Watch for interviews and more focused stories on specific products in upcoming issues of the Games for Educators newsletter!