One of my favorite things about roadtrips (OK, about life in general) is games. I especially like cards and dice. I guess I get it from my Grandmama. She taught me to play Gin Rummy when I was about 8.
For our big road trip, I brought along all our favorites: UNO, Sleeping Queens, Rat-a-tat Cat, Spot It, Spot It Jr, Tenzi, Too Many Monkeys and Muppets Yahtzee. Plus, a few extra regular decks for Nertz. Oh, and Aunt Brandy brought Mancala, which was a big hit!
A new game the girls played is Speedeebee. It’s made by Blue Orange (the creators of Spot It!) and I love them because all their card games come in a cute little round tin! So, not only can you stash it in your purse for when your kids need to be entertained, it’s perfect for a roadtrip when you are slipping and sliding all over an RV or bumping through the hardly-paved roads of Illinois!
Speedeebee is a spelling-ish game. You pick a card and then choose one of three challenges which include using up to four letter dice. For example, “name something you could find at school, starting with one of these letters (throw all four dice)” or “name something you could find in a garden, containing this letter (throw the die of your choice).”
I thought it might be too educational to be fun. (Know what I mean?) But it’s easy enough that you don’t have to be a great speller, but hard enough for kids to have to think. Lydia (rising 2nd grader) and my niece, Nora (rising 3rd grader) played it well together. I loved hearing the words and ideas they came up with. And when they got stumped, we’d all get to jump in and play with them. For example, “a cartoon character with the letter U”? Grandmama quickly said, “Underdog!” That shows the age difference, huh? 🙂
(Do they look tired in that picture or what?!)
Thanks Blue Orange, for sending us Speedeebee to try out!
