In December, I introduced you guys to Sifteo Cubes. They’re a fun gaming system for kids, and Ali still adores them.
(And I really like them, too.)
They’ve recently released a few new games, including one that Ali is wild about, Sandwich Kingdom: Ice Palace. It reminds me of the text-based choose-your-own-adventure games that I loved as a kid – on our very first DOS computer.
(Did you ever play those games? I think we had one called Bavaria that I was obsessed with. You had to type which direction you wanted to walk with “N”, “S”, “E”, or “W”, then you would find dead ends, run into monsters, or discover great treasures. The fun in it was that you couldn’t “see” where you were going, and had to visualize it in your head.)
In Ice Palace, you place two or more Sifteo blocks next to each other to reveal the pathways:
Then you can touch them to tell your guy which way to go.
Another great thing about this game is the written narration. It encourages Ali to read, imagine, and enter into the game instead of just playing something mindless without a plot.
She also has to read clues and figure out what they mean, but they are simple enough that she can figure them out. They also test her memory by sending her back to a prior location, so she has to remember which order to put the blocks in to get back there.
These cubes are great for summertime boredom or rainy afternoons, and also good to keep her brain sharp throughout the summer, since so many of the games are “sneaking” in learning.
Sifteo Cubes are available through their website, where they are offering free shipping through June 21. Also, Sifteo has given me a set to give away to one of you! The gaming system will be pre-loaded with a set of games, including Sandwich Kingdom: Ice Palace.
If you would like to enter to win a Sifteo Cube Gaming System (worth $129.95), simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite summertime boredom-beater for kids. For a couple extra entries, feel free to use this Rafflecopter Widget to follow Sifteo and me around:
This giveaway will be open until Monday, June 24. I will announce the winner Tuesday, June 25 on my Giveaway Winners Page.
Good Luck!
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, but was given a download code to review the new game. My opinions are always my own.
Best boredom buster: going for a walk or getting a “treat” of icecream or diet coke… yum.
Tube water guns from Dollar Tree. Hours of fun. Bruster’s free ice cream cone before my kids got too tall. My absolute favorite is Shaved Ice!!!!!!!!!
Usually, if my kids tell me they’re bored, I let them know that they can vacuum, sort laundry, practice their music lessons….You get the idea. For fun, we generally find ourselves near the pool, since our kids range in age from 2-15.
You can’t beat a day at the pool when it’s blistering outside!
I like to throw them outside with a bucket of water. Sometimes they water the plants, sometimes they water each other, but either way, they’re good for about half an hour. :)
These are awesome! My favorite boredom buster is the giant picture– roll out a huge piece of brown paper and have the kids get all their art supplies and spend their day filling in the whole sheet. When you’re done, keep it and use it as wrapping paper for presents from the kids throughout the year. It’s really great when one parent is away at work, kids love to show what they’ve done with their day!
We spend time swimming and riding our bikes. In the hottest part of the day, we read aloud or go to the library.
Our favorite is just going to a playground or hiking. We live in Alaska, so just being outside without layers of clothes on is novel :-)!
Boredom Buster – family walks, teaching the kids to notice the little things as we pass. Also – arts and crafts are always a pleaser!
We love spending time in the pool (I know that’s not your favorite!), and it has the added benefit of wiping my daughter out so she is SO ready for bed at night.
We love playing in the creek at the park!
I never did get any of these. They look so fun! Water is always our big boredom buster in the summer. Hose, kiddie pool, watering can…any kind of water will do!
Seattle has lots of neighborhood wading pools, so we usually end up there if we’re bored or hot. The wading pools are typically right next to a playground, so we can spend hours going back and forth.
I’m all about the reading. You are bored? Grab a book!
We still do puzzles and board (ha!) games. If we HAVE to get out, we head to the dollar movies.
We have a very loud game of Monopoly going on downstairs right now!
We go do laps around the mall. What? We live in South Florida. A walk around the block this time of year will get you eaten alive by child sized mosquitoes if you aren’t struck by lightning or run over while in the cross walk first. ;)
We love to get out all the outdoor water toys….sprinkler, slip n slide, water guns, water table (fill it up with ice cubes) and cool off!
Having a ball fight with the kiddos and hubby. The kids really love riding their bikes too.
Call Grandma! (She does have a pool and a giant back yard.)
Boredom buster: riding bike:)
I take my kids to one of the many playgrounds with mini water parks in our area. Most Thurdays we meet up with a group of MOPS moms at a park to stay in touch through the summer.
We beat boredom with a walk in the woods, or a trip to the library and the subsequent reading of huge stacks of books. Also there’s a great waterpark in town.
When its summer here ( oct-feb ish) we pretty much hide inside or in our little blow up pool. With temps of + 48 degrees Celsius we would melt otherwise! We love to make zoku pops for a quick and cool snack! But as for our boredom busters right now..( our winter) Miss T and I enjoy reading stories together on the couch, snuggled in a blankie…and hot chocolate doesnt hurt either! We also like to go ” camping” and make our dinner over the fire for a change of pace. :)
My son is a cubscout so the best cure for boredom is to get out the Cubscout book (current or older versions) and do an activity. There are simple ones and more complex. The best thing is he is earning belt loops or badges while doing something fun.
Anything involving water & outdoors!
Favorite boredom buster for our family – heading to a park to play, running through the sprinkler, pretty much any activity that involved being outside!!
Walking to the park and meeting new friends!
I just love to float in the pool, without a raft or anything. It’s nice to just stare up at the sky and not be able to hear anything… it’s so carefree. And I’m a pretty anxious person, myself.
Picking a cleaning job. Suddenly they aren’t so bored anymore!
Those are cool! I’ve never seen them before. I want one for myself!
Add me to the water games crowd. A plastic kiddie pool, a hose, and a bucket. Add in some dollar store squirt guns or water balloons. Or a slip and slide, sprinkler, etc.
If it’s a rainy day, then board games or games on the Xbox with Kinect.
Well, I am blessed to live in our church’s parsonage (my husband is the pastor) so we have a playground in our backyard. That helps a lot. But otherwise, I’d say my favorite boredom buster is Legos!
Alyssa Kaye loves to go outside and garden with her daddy
I save certain games and toys up in the closet to be used sparingly so that they have something new and exciting to play with that isn’t out all the time.
One of our favorite things is to play in the pool outside. We can throw all different kinds of toys in there to keep it interesting and my daughter can play longer there than with any toy inside.
Or if it’s too hot outside, we got to a nearby Chick-Fil-A. She loves the play place, I love the ice cream cones, and it’s air conditioned. Win win!
We love to play outside. Even just one bucket of water and one bucket of dirt keeps the girls entertained for about one hour.
Our newest boredom buster is ‘gardening’. What this actually entails is the kids pulling weeds from the back yard! Needless to say, my kids rarely say “moooooom, I’m bored”!!
We are privileged enough to live near the beach and a trip there at least once a week is imperative!
For my 21 month old, I remind myself he doesn’t see any difference between interesting tasks and made for kds play. So we might go outside and water the flowers or take a broom and sweep the deck. It isn’t the most efficient way, but it makes life interesting.
The sprinkler is a great way to get the kids out of the house and use up some time. I also made them some hammocks out of old sheets and they’ve spent the last 3 days in those. (And just to let you know, I didn’t find the idea on Pinterest. ;))
Get outside and enjoy the weather. If it’s too hot or raining, then reading and games are great!
The sprinkler is our best boredom buster!
Crafts, cooking, reading and video games.
We go outside and enjoy nature. Hikes in the woods or trip to the beach to look for shells.
Mine is the pool; we live in an apartment complex that has one and since its so close and free its the best place to go to just get out of the house!
In Mississippi, a summer boredom buster HAS to involve a lawn sprinkler! ;)
Playing water toys…slip-n-slide, sprinkler, etc.
Luckily my son is pretty good at entertaining himself, since he is an only child. In the summer we head to the pool when I get home from work. He is also obsessed with baseball and we often end up playing a game of whiffleball (to save my windows!) in the front yard after pool time. Sidewalk chalk and playing on the playset in the backyard with the dog are two other favorites of his.
I’m currently working on a few games for Sifteo Cubes. As a teacher I love them and think they need to be utilized in classrooms.
Down here in the lowcountry of SC….water….any form of water will take care of summer boredom!! :-)
summertime boredom-beater: going to the park
great to play with kids this summer!!
Going for a walk with the dogs.
Nice days we go to the park, rainy days we have Netflix and board games. One of my sons really wants these. He used to have a set but then they upgraded their system and the old ones were no longer compatible so thank you for the chance :)
Water balloon fights!
My kids love bike rides.
My kids love to blow bubbles or go race behind bunnies.