Margaret S. Emmons
Travel-By-Games
www.travelbygames.com
1 Oaknoll Court
Iowa City, IA 52246
(319) 466-3099
The purpose: to make the continent of Africa familiar territory by utilizing a fun, sociable game designed on the “Go Fish” format that requires a combination of luck and skill.
The procedure: each player is dealt four cards. In turn, players ask for a card to match a card in their hand from anyone. Player called gives the card if he/she has it. If the player does not have the card he/she says “Go Travel”. Caller then pulls a card from the draw pile. Play continues until all regions (or sets) have been completed. All players want to get all four cards for one region. The winner is the player with the most complete sets.
After three trips to Africa and two to Jerusalem, Margaret Emmons created this geography card game for her grandsons, modeling it after a Jerusalem Picture Card game they had enjoyed. The game consists of 52 laminated cards (2¾ x 4¼), 2 informational cards, and a supplemental info sheet all stored in a cardboard box. Each playing card displays a map of one African country with a few basic geographic features, original photos, and replicas of stamps. Color coded into thirteen different regions, players must collect four cards for each region to make a set. Sets are easily identified by the color-coding on the card and a list of the four countries that make up that region. The top of the card names the region, followed by a map of the country in yellow, its neighboring countries in tan, and a few small photos or postage stamps identifying the area. The map includes the capital, bodies of water, mountains, deserts, and equator, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn lines. Finally, the bottom of the card lists the country in red followed by the three remaining countries needed to make a set. A small locater map of Africa is also in the lower right corner with the country of the card in red and the other countries of the region in brown. The date of the country’s independence is also recorded on the card.
The author recommends that the teacher become familiar with every card, study the supplemental sheet included, and play the game before teaching it to her students. The supplemental sheet includes a pronunciation guide, which is very helpful, directions for play, and a few descriptions of photos on the cards.
The game was written for ages 8-80+. However, suggestions for a younger child are to: collect sets by color and/or play with fewer sets, making it easier for all ages to play together and yet still become familiar with Africa. This game is well done and easy enough for the recommended ages. I like that the cards are thicker and laminated for durability, making this a good buy. Becoming familiar with a continent has never been so simple. If you need a resource to learn basic geography of Africa, this is a great place to start. Your learning would be greatly enhanced by using a large reference map of Africa as well as any additional study of the varied cultures, histories, and traditions of Africa.
Travel-by-games offers games on South America, US States and Cities, US States and Capitals, and a Do-It-Yourself Kit. These resources are not professionally printed like Go-Travel: Africa. But the learning potential may outweigh the less professional quality of the other sets.
After playing six or more games of Go-Travel Africa, the author claims the student should be familiar with all 54 African countries and the names of the 13 regions of the African continent. Playing the game will also result in the student’s accurate identification of most of the continent’s countries.
My own familiarity with Africa did not quite measure up to this claim after playing the game six or seven times. I was able to recall 22 countries. I thought I would test my girls to see what they were able to remember. When asked to name as many of Africa’s 54 countries as they could, my eleven year old named 15 and my eight year old named 5. We were also not able to correctly identify many countries. While we did become “familiar” with the African continent, more play and study of country locations is needed to accurately identify their placement. During the game, I really wanted a larger map to refer to. The game went so fast there was not much time to really look at the cards. An additional activity listed on a lesson plan sheet I received for grades 4-8 would help to remedy this problem. All cards are distributed; one person at a time reads the name of their country, identifies its region, and tells one item of interest about the country from the information contained on the card. The country could also be located on a large map.
Other activities include: count the number of animals shown in photos or stamps, name the activities of people on the cards, find three different trees, name foods pictured, find the eight largest rivers, find the three largest countries and three most populous, and find countries that are crossed by the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
We have enjoyed this game very much and intend to make our own for the U.S. However, if knowing locations of places is important to you, you will need to make extra effort to point them out as you play or spend some time studying the cards, including country location. I can’t think of a better way to learn than making and playing a game. So check out Travel-by-Games Africa, South America, US States and Cities, US States and Capitals, or the Do-It-Yourself Kit.
—Product review by: Andrea Jones, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July 2008.
|
|
|
|
