Connecting with Our Tween + Teen #PlayTestShare

Now that school is back on and especially since Celeste has moved on from homeschooling to public school, connecting with my two kids in a fun way is very important for me. We talk about their days when they arrive home, but I also want to take a little time as often as possible to connect in a fun way. Between their Army Cadets activities, homework, and their need to have some alone down time, it sometimes takes conscious effort to fit in some fun family time. 

One way we do this is by playing together, often it is board games or card games. They are also big video games players but I don't do well with those! 

We recently received two board games from Raincoast Books to test, play, and share with you! Be sure to read through the post and if you are residing in Canada, you can enter the giveaway for a chance to win two of the nine featured #PlayTestShare items! 

Listography was a lot of fun and a great game to play together! Each of us really enjoyed this game. There are 3 different types of list-making activities within the game, each is explained briefly on each car and in the box. Our favourite was the "threefold" one where we had to write down 3 answers before the timer ran out and try to match as many players as possible. 

We also played Cat Bingo. This bingo is beautifully illustrated and we all had found it interesting to discover so many different breeds of cats! So much fun that we continued playing until everyone had their cards completely covered...

These two games were a great way to spend a couple of hours after dinner, reconnecting and laughing together. It might seem simple, but it is important to make that time no matter what age our children are, and I think it's wonderful to see them grow and change as we play board games together! 

You can read about each of the nine family games below and enter the giveaway at the very bottom of this post for your chance to win 2 (your choice) of these #PlayTestShare items for your family! Giveaway is open to residents of Canada who are 18 years old or older.

Alain Gree Animals Matching Game
It's an animal menagerie! Kids will delight in this classic matching game, featuring the timeless art of beloved French picture book illustrator Alain Gree. It's the perfect opportunity to identify favorite animals, and to discover new ones. Large, sturdy cards are ideal for small hands, and the game play of discovering 18 different animals builds memory, concentration, and matching skills.

Punch Out & Play Game Book
One book, so many ways to play! Acclaimed artist and designer Laura Ljungkvist invites children to punch out 10 different puzzles and 13 classic games, such as Memory, Go Fish, and Dominoes. Packed with fun, graphic artwork, a variety of games, and plenty of colorful envelopes for easy storage, this book provides hours of play for kids of all ages-all in an attractively priced package.

Cat Bingo
A beautifully illustrated bingo game featuring 64 breeds of cat from around the world. Spot all kinds of cats—from Tonkinese to Siamese, and from Bengals to Birmans—mark them off on your card and BINGO!

642 Big Things to Write About: Young Writer’s Edition
This new oversized journal is packed with peculiar and provocative prompts that encourage young writers to think BIG. Whether imagining big objects or pondering big ideas, budding writers will find this HUGELY entertaining book of prompts the perfect tool for kick-starting their ENORMOUS creative potential-and perhaps their next EPIC masterpiece.

Herve Tullet’s Zazazoom!: A Game of Imagination
One part matching game, one part dominoes, plus loads and loads of fun, this game is both a clever challenge to hone memory skills and a make-your-own visual adventure of colorful play pieces. With the tour-de-force inventiveness—which fuels his already-classics Press Here, Mix It Up!, and Let's Play!—Herve Tullet's open-ended game stimulates creative thinking and fosters imagination.

To the Ocean Deep
Climb down to the depths of the ocean in this amazing fold-out coloring book, the longest in the world!  Color an amazing tower, all the way from a boat bobbing in the waves, past sea dragons, mermaids, aqua robots, and sharks, to reach the deep ocean floor. Hours of fun for coloring enthusiasts of all ages.

Missing Socks Go Fish Card Game
Experience the classic Go Fish card game in a sock-inspired way! The perennial post-laundry problem of the search for the missing sock becomes a playful quest to collect the most pairs of sock-shaped cards. Forty cards feature an array of bright colors and patterns that will encourage young players to learn new words and hone concentration skills while they play.

Fantastic Collections
In this newest coloring book by the author of the internationally bestselling Fantastic Cities, artist Steve McDonald uses his unique photo-based approach to create beautiful and intimately detailed line drawings of amazing collections of objects. Finding inspiration in the unusual (museum collections, antiques, and quirky toys) and the everyday (leaves, butterflies, vintage cameras), McDonald creates playful and immersive illustrations that are as lovely as they are fun to color.

Listography: The Game
A new twist on the bestselling Listography journal series (almost 900,000 titles sold), this game invites players to create and share lists based on fun and thought-provoking topics-from geography and pop culture to toothpaste and constellations! With the goal of being the first around the game board, players score points according to the number of similar or unique answers. Every round in the game results in creative thinking, surprise outcomes, and lots of laughs.

You can also read about these games at the Raincoast Books Blog!


Disclosure: I received two games for review from Raincoast Books. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on our personal experience. Your experience may differ. 

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