Back to Gradeschoolers
BusyGRADESCHOOLERS
Madlibs Card
Game Review
By Sandy Fleming
Many families have been
enjoying "Mad-Lib" stories from Price-Stern- Sloan Publishers
for years, but just in case you haven't stumbled onto this hilarious
diversion, this is how it works: The publishers of Mad Libs have
taken short essays about common topics, such as riding buses or
going to camp, and removed selected words from the passages. Players
are asked to provide nouns, adjectives, adverbs and other words
without knowing the topic of the story to be read. When the provided
words are inserted into their proper places in the story, it's
often very difficult to keep a straight face. Children have been
delighted with this game for many years, and numerous books of
Mad Libs are available at most bookstores and many department
stores.
Now there is a card game
to carry the hilarity one step farther. In zany Mad Lib-style,
players are challenged to create sentences from their word cards.
Children who dread yet another grammar lesson become interested
in the stock of words that are used to build the sentences. It's
tough to build a sentence like "Large belly buttons dread
ancient ball gowns" without having fun!
The game rules are similar
to those of the traditional card game of Rummy. Each round requires
a different combination of target sentence lengths, and points
are scored based on correctly completed sentences. Everyone gets
to read their creations out loud and the entire group generally
collapses in fits of giggles.
The Mad Libs Card Game,
published by Penguin Putnam, is a wonderful addition to the family
game closet. Young players (those who are not yet ready to read
at the third grade level) will need some help in reading the word
cards, but the silliness will appeal to children (and adults)
of all ages. It's a super tool for homeschoolers, teachers, and
tutors, with strong focus on grammar and sentence structure. The
game is available from /www.boardgames.com
or your local game store.
Sandy
Fleming
is Busy Parents Online Magazine's Busy Gradeschoolers section
editor.
|
