Pictionary Man

Mini Pictionary Man includes two draw-on surfaces.

Pictionary initially hit the market in 1985. I liked it immediately. In a nutshell you choose a card, pick a category from the card, and then draw the object or action so that your teammates can guess what it is. If you are balking right now because you have never moved past stick people, relax, that just may be an advantage for you. With only 60 seconds to draw and guess, people will have to resist the urge to be too detailed.

To play we generally put a dry erase board on an easel and used that. Or if we didn't have an easel handy, we just used paper and pencil. Pictionary Man came out much later and it comes with two surfaces to draw on: a blank man and a blank storage box. I had a large version of Pictionary Man years ago and gave it to my niece before I could blog about it. I found this to-go smaller model and the instructions are the same.

The Pictionary Man and storage box are both white, hard plastic. The man measures 4.25" tall and 4.75" wide. The box measures 4" H x 2.75" W x 1.5" D. In the storage/drawing box are two dry erase markers, a 60 second timer, and a small box of clue cards. Draw on the man and the box with dry erase markers and then erase right away so no shadows remain. No eraser is included, but I use a square from an old towel. 

There are five categories that the clues (to draw) fall into. Here are some examples:

• People - Mister Spock, Charlie Brown, Betsy Ross, Beethoven
  
• Actions - see double, dissect, crash the car, belly laugh
  
• Titles - Tarzan, Sound of Music, Survivor, The Aviator
  
• Role play - astronaut, caddy, ice cream man, ditch digger
  
• Miscellaneous - upset stomach, toupee, funny bone, lend an ear
  

Object:

Be the first team to reach 15 points by guessing what is drawn. 

Set up:

Mix the cards and put them back in the box. Place the card box, the dry erase markers, eraser, and timer in the middle of the table. Divide the players into two teams. 

Play:

Players decide who will be the first picturist (person who draws). The picturist draws a card, picks a word to draw, then tells everyone the category. Then he turns over the 50 second timer and starts to draw. As he draws his team calls out their guesses of what he is drawing. If they get it right before the 60 seconds is up, they get one point and play moves to the next team. If they don't guess it, play moves to the second team. Play back and forth until one of the teams scores 15 points and wins the game.

Try this:

• Skip the game and use the man to talk about the basic body parts. Draw facial features, hair, simple clothing, shoes, nails, etc.
• Use the man to draw and discuss different facial expressions and emotions. Use Ed Emberley's Book of Faces.
• Use to draw and discuss community workers and their tools.
• Use to draw and discuss different types of clothing and when you would wear what. For instance draw a coat, jeans, boots, gloves, hat, and a snowman on the box. Or draw pajamas and a bed on the box.
• Skip the game and draw by categories. For instance sports or occupations.
• Work on fine motor precision, tool use, manual dexterity, using both hands in a coordinated manner, visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 
  

In the box: Pictionary Man, drawing/storage box, 2 dry erase markers, 60 second timer, box of clue cards.

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below to go to Amazon.com.

 

 

 
 

Robot Workshop

 

Create custom robots to handle specific challenges with Robot Workshop.

Robot Workshop is a game for future innovators, and the game company (Thrive Venture Partners LTD) supports STREAM learning. As you can see from the box front in the image above, this game has won multiple awards. 

The goal of Robot Workshop is to design and build robots for specific space missions on alien worlds. Robots that will be used to make people's lives easier by doing tasks that are complicated and considered too dangerous for human to attempt.

The game includes a square game board that measures 16" x 16". During the game you will be assembling custom body parts that are necessary to complete your mission. There are 20 custom body part tiles, and they include things like a grabber hand, a stun zapper, bipedal legs, and atmospheric sensors. Two pages of the instruction book are devoted to showing the 20 individual parts and their purposes. Keep the guide handy until you have played enough to memorize the parts and their functions.

There are 24 mission cards. Here is an example of a mission card.

 

 

Here is an example of the game board during play:

 

 

Your mission... according to the instruction booklet: "Your spaceship has landed on an alien world to start a new colony. As the robot engineer on the team, you will need to design robots to carry out missions based on what the brief says is needed." The mission robot solutions are shown in the back of the instruction book as complete robots. 

Sounds like important work. Sounds like fun. Let's get started!

Object:

First player to reach the FINISH card and complete the mission wins the game.

Set up:

Set up the game board per the instructions, placing the robot part tiles in the workshop area and the mission cards, face-down, on their spaces. Give each play a robot core tile. Each player chooses a pawn and puts it on the start square. Place the die nearby. Keep the book nearby to consult if needed.

Play:

Player take turns. Start your turn by rolling the die and moving that number forward on the board. If you pass a mission space, you must stop there and forgo moving any remaining moves. Turn the card face-up and read it. This is the mission that player needs to build a robot for. Each robot consists of 4 pieces: Core, head, one arm, one leg. Player chooses the pieces he needs from the workshop and builds his robot. Once the robot is built, the other players check it for accuracy. If it is correct, the player moves any remaining moves that were foregone in that turn. If he is incorrect, he loses one turn. Either way his turn is over and a new mission card in placed in that space. Players continue to take turns and advance around the board. First player to the finish square on the board, that correctly fulfills the mission card on that square, wins the game.

The spaces on the board are three spaces, mission card, three spaces, mission card, three spaces, mission card, three spaces, finish card.

Just like real life, many times there is more than one solution to solve a problem. If the robot you build does not match the answer page, but you think it can do the job, make your case. If the majority of players agree, it is counted as a win for you.

Try this:

• Skip playing the game and just assemble the robots from the picture mission solution page.
• Skip the game. Place the body parts face-down on the table. Choose three to add to your core. Explain what the robot can do, based on the pieces.
• Work as a group and come up with your own mission scenario. Name your planet. Each person builds a robot and tells how it will contribute to the team to help solve the problem. 
• Work on problem solving, logic, visualization, visual memory, spatial relations, visual closure, manual dexterity, palmar arch strengthening, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

In the box: Game board, 20 robot pieces, 24 mission cards, 3 player pawns, 1 four-sided die

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.