Risk and Reward

My brother gave this to my daughter when we saw him for Thanksgiving and it was an instant hit. Seriously fun. Everyone, from our 9 year old daughter to every adult, had a blast playing it. It requires some thinking, leaps of faith and lots of luck. It can get pretty exciting. 


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Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens is so much fun for kids (probably 7+) and adults.

So much fun that:

  • it worked its way into our first ever annual Thanksgiving Family Tournament of Games.
  • countless friends have purchased the game and since spent hours and hours playing with their kids
  • we bring it to restaurants to play. Our friends bring it to restaurants to play.
  • it has gone on many a plane rides and trips to far off places  

It's a little different, takes some thought and has some drama - what more can you want from a card game? Oh, and it is illustrated by The Oatmeal. It was the most backed Kickstarter project in history. 

Up the fun by adding the expansion pack, Imploding Kittens. There is also an explicit, adult only version if you prefer! But be mindful not to get that one by mistake if you plan to play with kids. 

 

In order to help support this site, we are an affiliate of a curated group of companies and receive a commission on sales through those links on our site. Please be assured that we only recommend products we truly love. Take a look at our "Shop Partners" section to see who we have partnered with. Not all recommendations are from partner companies as we recommend all things we love regardless of whether we are partnered or not to bring you the best recommendations possible. 

littleBits

littleBits has created a collection of functional components that snap together easily allowing the creator to invent anything from a robot that draws to an auto pet feeder to a synthesizer! No engineer degree required.

We gave our daughter the Star Wars Droid kit last Christmas and she loved it! While she could have built it herself, it was provided some nice daddy/daughter time when they worked on it together. Once you build the first configuration, there are missions and challenges to complete and as you do you continue to "upgrade" your droid so it can do more and more. It even makes cute sounds like R2D2. 

I highly recommend the Droid kit, especially if your household loves Star Wars. It is a really fun way to bring a STEM activity into your home. 

They have many kits to choose from providing you with a nice starting point from which you can add onto later on if you wish. More recently they came out with 4 starter kits each for about $40, which could be a good introduction, especially for younger children. Kit prices go up from there with the Droid Kit at $84 on Amazon.  

A fantastic gift for anyone who likes to tinker and loves technology. Fun for adults and kids will love littleBits too; they are like Legos for this generation. A great opportunity for a parent/child project.

 

In order to help support this site, we are an affiliate of a curated group of companies and receive a commission on sales through those links on our site. Please be assured that we only recommend products we truly love. Take a look at our "Shop Partners" section to see who we have partnered with. Not all recommendations are from partner companies as we recommend all things we love regardless of whether we are partnered or not to bring you the best recommendations possible.