By Sandy Evans
Active Minds
www.activemindsgo.com
2280 W. Sahara Ave
Las Vegas, NV 89128
702-759-6138
Our family loves educational board games! We tend to have a hard time finding really good games that reinforce language arts. Lucky for us, Comet:
The Fast Path to Learning arrived for review.
In a trivia sort of way, this board game helps your children eleven and older to practice vocabulary, spelling, consonants, vowels, synonyms, and antonyms. Two or more players place their game pieces on the outer path of a comet that is spiraling towards Earth. To win the game, you must be the first person to reach Earth.
On each turn, a player has the ability to earn up to three spaces from a word card that the player on the left reads to them. A definition or trivia question is read and four answer choices are provided. If the player chooses the correct vocabulary word, they get to move one square. If they are able to spell the word correctly (orally or written), they get to move a second space. If they are able to correctly tell the number of vowels in the word, the third space is earned.
If all three spaces are earned, the player chooses a bonus card. The bonus cards ask the player to give the antonym or synonym of a word. Again, four choices are provided. If the correct answer is given, the player rolls a die that will either bump him forward or backward depending on the number rolled. (This helps keep everyone in the game, even if someone struggles to get correct answers.)
The game comes with a game board, six markers, a die, word cards, bonus cards, a small pad of paper, and a small pencil.
Our family has had a lot of fun with this game! Even my eight-year-old is able to play along. The spelling point is the only one he tends to struggle with, as the words are pretty challenging for a third grader. If your family enjoys family game night or educational games as part of school, this is one to consider!
Product review by Cindy West, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January 2009
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