Skip to main content

Games Galore

I managed to organize the games cabinet. This means I put all the random pieces back in their correct boxes, and I threw out the ones that have lost too many pieces (except Blokus, which will never be the same after Eleanor broke the pieces so she could spell her name). It doesn't look all that different, frankly. I did make the lowest shelf for games the kids don't need to touch, the top shelf is for games they could (theoretically) play by themselves, and the middle is for games they can play with a grown-up. Most of the games on the middle shelf are there because there are so many pieces in them that I don't want them gotten out at random: Candyland, puzzles, dominoes, card games, etc.

Luke, Amanda and I tried paying a few games. Amanda really enjoys playing games at school, and is especially good with shape games. Hmm, I should pick up some tangoes for her... At any rate, we played "Cariboo" which involves matching cards to pictures on doors, using the key to open the door and checking to see if a ball is behind the door. You then put the ball in the "tumbling tidepool" until you've found all 6, at which point the treasure chest opens. Luke had a hard time matching the doors, so finally Amanda was playing the game and Luke was just opening random doors (unless he peeked, in which case he found the doors with the balls behind them).

We also played go fish, which involved trying to get Luke to put his pairs down and give us the things we ask for, while Amanda and I actually played. There is quite a bit of screaming "no no no no!" involved while we are playing these games, and it is quite high stress. I'm hoping the investment will pay off in a year or two when I can say to Luke and Amanda, "Go play a game!" Until then, I think I'll put away the games with too many pieces.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why you should study the history of math

  Why you should study the history of math In the mid 1300s a fad made its way around Italy. Mathematicians would challenge each other to “mathematical duels”. They would post problems for their opponents to solve, sometimes along with their solutions in coded poetry. The winners would get support and funding from rich patrons, the losers would descend into obscurity. One such contest, between Fiore and Tartaglia, involved a new method for solving the cubic. In order to win, Tartaglia worked day and night to find Fiore’s method---unfortunately, Fiore did not do the same and only knew his own method and no others. (*Recall that the formula for solutions to quadratic equations of the form use the quadratic formula, Giorlamo Cardano---physician, philosopher, astrologer and mathematician---convinced Tartaglia to share his method and promised never to reveal it. Then Cardano figured out a more general method, and wanted to share it, but was blocked by his promises. Fortunately (for Cardan

Southern butter mints---vegan edition

After the last post, we started to be able to see what the fuss was about.  The ones made with twice the butter were the best candy I have ever tasted.  Ever.  So then we started experimenting.  How long do you pull it?  Longer than you think.  And then pull a minute or two after that.  Suddenly every single batch was creaming, pretty much right after we would cut them. I tried adding less than double butter and I think they taste much better (more delicate, according to one taste tester). The latest experiment we did involved using Earth Balance instead of butter.  It cooked pretty much the same as usual, although I was distracted right at the moment I had to pull it off the stove so it cooked maybe a bit longer than usual.  Amanda and I each pulled a quarter, while Luke pulled the bigger half.  Luke's really wasn't turning very fast---perhaps because it was too hot when he took it off the marble.  Mine was turning faster than Amanda's so we traded for a while.  Aman

Southern Butter Mints part 1

Some friends of ours have a granddaughter getting married (and she's a friend of ours as well) and so I agreed to help out with the shower.  Apparently this is to be a "southern" shower, full of tradition and elegance, but not too far over the top. Among things that are needed for a shower are punch with great grandma's punch bowl, sandwiches with cream cheese and green pepper jelly, and southern pulled butter mints.  "Ah, nobody can make those anymore.  We used to know someone, but the tradition needs to be passed down."  Like a fool, I said that I'd be happy to give it a try.  I suffer greatly from "I got a PhD in math, how hard could X be?" where X is something like gardening, or quilting, or cleaning, etc.  It's always harder than I think it will be. "We'll call Mrs. X who makes these, maybe she'll pass down the method.  I hope you don't hate me!"  I was actually planning on doing research online, watching a fe