Does anyone know where I might find inexpensive jigsaw puzzles? The kids are really “into” jigsaw puzzles lately. We spent two nice, quiet days working on a complicated 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, and it was so much fun!

I’ve checked Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. Most puzzles seem to be priced in the $20 range, too expensive for my taste (yikes, you can get 8GB memory sticks for that price now; are puzzles really so expensive?!). Does anyone know where I might find some 1,000 piece or higher puzzles?

Look what we got in the mail! The Jishaku Game– The Game of Magnetic Power! Doesn’t that sound so impressive?! It’s another non-electronic game, so it’s a hit with me already, lol. Jishaku is $20 from the company’s website, and a little under that at Amazon.

When my 12-year old son saw that this game has magnets, he took off with the box. Sheesh! I guess he liked it! He was having so much fun with the magnets that I had to get him to settle down and read the instructions for the game! By then, my other son, 14-years old, and my husband, almost 50-years old, lol, were interested. My husband loves these kinds of games.

Jishaku comes with 18 magnetic stones, a box with an egg-crate-looking foam insert grid, and a black plastic box to hold the insert. (And instructions). The foam insert is purposely asymmetric. There are 3 different games in the instructions (but the boys invented a few more, because they loved playing with the magnets!). The one my husband did with the boys is the most fun– each player gets an equal amount of magnets. The players take turns dropping a magnet into the foam grid. As you do, you must not allow your magnet to remove the other player’s magnet that he has already dropped in. It is extremely challenging! I couldn’t do it very well. I’d had four cups of coffee that morning and my hands were shaky, lol!

It’s a very fun game, and it gets the kids interacting. I don’t know about you, but playing video games together is NOT kids interacting. So I love this game.

It’s constructed well. The instructions say that the magnet stones do lose strength over time– I figure perhaps over a few years? The stones in the game are extremely magnetic as they are, so if they lose a little of their power, I don’t think I’d mind it — I might even be able to play the game after drinking coffee! I did see on the Jishaku website that you can buy extra pieces if necessary, for only $5. (The website also has tip and tricks for playing the game).

I recommend this game. It’s educational, teaches motor skills (and patience), teaches the concept of magnetism and the laws of attraction and repulsion, and encourages interactivity with the other players. It’s also very easy and simple enough for young kids to play with older kids and adults. And when the kids are not playing the actual game, they like to fool around with the magnets, too. :-)

See how strong the magnets are? They can hold a stone through my son’s hand! We thought that was neat.

After all these years, the game of Bingo is still so popular. I absolutely loved it as a kid. We had the old cardboard cards with faint red lettering, the little plastic buttons with letter and number stamped on them, and the very high-tech plastic cup. It resembled a bubble-gum dispenser– you turned the rotating plastic top that mixed the Bingo buttons and dispensed them, one at a time! This was so much more modern than pulling the buttons out of a box or a hat! We wore out that game because we played it so much. And to think, that was high-tech to us back then…

I was stunned to see how high-tech the modern Bingo game is now! I got the Disney Bingo game for the kids and we’ve been checking it out for a few days. My kids are a little older (my youngest is 12), but Bingo is timeless. I’d still play it.

My first impression of the game is the box. I just adore game boxes like these– it’s thick cardboard with a Velcro closure and a small plastic handle. It’s perfect for carrying to a friend’s house. No more long rectangular boxes that split at the seams and spill out! I love this box.

Inside are all Disney-related Bingo pieces. I think they went a little heavy on the Disney, to be honest. I mean, my kids like Donald Duck just as much as anyone, but this is a little hyped.

Inside is something even more curious- a DVD. The DVD has three different Bingo games on it, and a mom can basically choose one and walk away while the kids play Bingo as the DVD announcer speaks. Each Bingo number/letter combination has a certain Disney character attributed to it, so the child can associate the character with the card as well as the letter and number. The DVD emphasizes colors, too. Here’s a little video of the game:

This is the perfect game for the age 3-6 child. For children over that age, they may find the game a little too cutesy. Adults like me will love it, but I’d rather play it with ME as the announcer and not a DVD.

My opinion? The Disney Bingo game is a cute game, and little kids will like it. However, older kids and Disney-dissenters will not. I personally prefer more interactive games (with people not electronic screens), but this game is flexible enough so that you can play with the DVD or without the DVD if you so choose and with a little effort. The game can be found at Drugstore.com and Amazon.com, where it is about $20 or so. That’s an excellent price for a game this well-built and that comes with a DVD, too.

Thanks to the blogosphere, I’ve learned about all sorts of things I never knew. One of them is the game called Wii. (I’m still in the Playstation 1 era). I was mainly curious about Wii because I just HAD to know how one pronounces it! Is it WEE or WHY or could it possibly be WEE-EYE?? I’m pretty sure it’s WEE. Right?

Well, I wasn’t much interested in it until I saw that it helps get you active. Moving around, that kind of active. Amazing! And now guess what– I just discovered that it can help you cook!! Its called Order Up!

Basically, the game is about you, in the city of Port Abello (get it? portabello? ROFL!). You are the new chef in town and you have to prove your worth to the fussy residents. You dump your job at the Burger Face fast food place and take on the role of diner owner. What I find utterly amazing is that your Wiimote sensor simulates everything of cooking for real– the slicing, dicing, and restaurant stuff. Kind of reminds me of that rat in the kid’s hat in the movie Ratatouille, lol.

Here’s the new Order Up! Trailer preview.

Nice!! I think there’s a Wii in the future for Mii. Check out the video and you will Sii.The game is rated “E” for everybody (no stabbing the nasty diners or anything, now), developed by SuperVillain Studios, and published by Zoo Games.