Young Scientists Club Plant Kit

Today I am presenting you the second review of The Young Scientists Club I was assigned earlier this summer.  The plant kit is part of the Set #10 – WH-925-1110 from the Young Scientists Series.

Each set in the Young Scientists Series contain three complete science kits (3 manuals/3 supply bags). You can decide to complete the sets in order to experience the ultimate in science adventure. However, the sets can also be done individually. The Young Scientists Club recommended to start with sets 1, 2 or 3 for kids ages 5 to 8 years old and for children ages 9 to 12 it is recommended to start with set 4 and up.

Each set comes in a specially identified envelope which contains all you need.

For the plant kit, here’s what was included in the envelope.  You will find some 2 beans, a magnifying glass, charcoal, peat pellets, 2 pieces of tubing, cotton, 2 paper towel wicks, wheat or rye seeds, and a seed mixture.  All these will be needed for the experiments contained in the kit.

The instruction guide for parent or teacher will explain all the activities that can be done with plants.  You will find a variety of experiments to do relating to plant.  The first experiment will allow you to observe the baby plant inside a seed.  The second experiment will show how the water travels up to the leaves of a plant by using coloration on a celery stick.  This is a very common experiment that is found everywhere on the internet. The third experiment will allow the young scientist to learn and label the different parts of a plant.  The fourth experiment will encourage the child to look at a flower with a magnifying glass and try to identify the different parts of it.  The fifth experiment will demonstrate the difference between seeds, fruits and vegetables.  The sixth experiment is all about seed germination.  The seventh experiment will guide the child into growing roots from a garlic glove.  Now this particular experiment did not work well for us probably because our garlic clove was not fresh… 

But the experiment that my daughter particularly liked was creating a terrarium inside a jar.   It also demonstrate how the water cycle works. My daughter enjoyed preparing our jar for the terrarium – putting the coal, spreading the dirt and the seeds – before closing the jar.  Now the waiting period had started.  We placed the jar near our backyard window so that the sun can make its magic.

It didn’t take long…  within a couple of days you could see the seeds had sprouted and that the jar was transforming into a terrarium.  You can see how the water cycle works inside the terrarium.

 

We let more days go by and the plants were thriving in their environment – making roots and growing steadily.

At the end of the instruction booklet, you will also have information about weather and how it works.   All the observation sheets are also included in the document.

I find these activities to be fabulous for children who desire to learn more about plant life and see plants growing.   It is a fun kit to have at hand when you desire to keep the kids busy when the weather is not fabulous outdoors.   Learning some science while having fun is always great!

The Young Scientists Club kits are available on their http://www.theyoungscientistsclub.com/retailstore/retail-youngscientist.htmlor on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I received this kit for review purposes from KidStuff PR and Young Scientists Club. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Flock

Flock is a board game that is quite out of this world.   As the name suggest it, the board game is about birds.  

The goal of the game is to have the most impressive flock through feeding, nest building, and hatching.  

The cards as well as the tokens are very well done.  The sturdy cardboard for the cards will make playing this game interesting.  They are action cards – each having a specific actions to perform during your turn.   The cards are feeding, dominance, nesting, hatching, and laying.   You can keep track of the  game and check out the competition at the same time.   All the token are made out of wood and are very colorful.   The birds, worms, eggs as well as nest tokens will be use by the players throughout the game.  The fun token however is used to keep track of the rounds. 

During the game, your goal is to expand your flock and score the most points after 3 rounds of play.   Victory points are determined by who is controlling the action cards at the end of a round.  

The game is fairly quick and somewhat repetitive.  It could be great to illustrate the life cycle of a bird. 

Flock is available for purchase at a board game store or amazon.ca and amazon.com.

 

Disclaimer: I received this kit for review purposes from AEG. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Freedom–The Underground Railroad

Freedom – The Underground Railroad
By Academy Games

Freedom The Underground Railroad is a cooperative history game for one to four player which is set during American history.  Players will play the role of Abolitionists characters which are attempting to help slaves to move from the Southern States to freedom in Canada.  As the same time as trying to help as many slaves as possible, players have to avoid the slave catchers as much as possible.

Throughout the game the players will need to work together – hence the cooperation in completing the game.   The goal is to get two victory conditions – to raise the strength of the Abolitionist movement while acquiring support tokens and help slaves to escape from plantations in the south, move them north to freedom in Canada all the while trying to avoid the slave catchers.

The game mechanics is definitively more complicated than regular board games out there.  Keep in mind that this is based on historical events during the Civil War of the USA and that Canada was involved in the underground railroad.  Consequently because of the game mechanics complexity and the fact that it is based on historical events that are hard to understand, this game is essentially geared for thirteen years of age and up.

The game board itself is composed of two distinct sections.  The map on the right features parts available for the escape – slaves and slave catchers will navigate through this side.  On the left side, the North Star Newspaper will hold the resources available to the players.

This game is played over eight rounds – covering the years of early independence up until the end of the Civil War.   In all you will go through three historical periods which all have resources that you will try to unlock.   You have to move rapidly to obtain the support tokens for the period you are in in order to get the Underground Railroad to continue its journey.

The slave catchers add a unique twist of tension during the game.   The goal is to move slaves out of the southern plantations and move them into Canada.   If the slaves lost card get fill you have lost the game.

As you might imagine this game approach a touchy subject of discussion which could be use as part of history lessons on the Civil War or the Underground Railroad.  However, not everyone would be keen into playing this game.   It could be that they find the fact that slavery was very wrong and they do not feel comfortable in using this kind of theme game.  

Keep in mind that this game requires advance thinking skills and collaboration between the players to be a successful one.   Not every game played with Freedom will end up with a win.  You will loose slaves and sometimes the slave catchers will be quicker than you.

This game is available for purchase at your favorite boardgame store or even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

 

Disclaimer: I received this kit for review purposes from Academy Games. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.