Smart Mom’s Toy Box: March 2015Brain training experts Ken Gibson and Tanya Mitchell have created a listof toys, games, and activities that support healthy cognitive development.“We want to give parents practical tips they can use to make savvybuying decisions,” Gibson explains. “Science continues toprovide insights into how plastic our brains really are, and there’sabsolutely no reason not to use that characteristic to help our kids experiencemore success in school and in life.” “A parent whose child has Attention Deficit Disorder, for example,can purchase toys that improve attention,” explains Mitchell. “Likewise,a child who struggles with reading can benefit from games that practicesound-blending and segmenting.” Gibson is the founder of nationalbrain training franchise LearningRx, and the coauthor of“Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Upthe Smart in Your Child” with Mitchell. Things to Keep in Mind A smart toy box will stimulate the brain in ways that support core cognitive skills. Parents can help their kids get smarter at any age. Brain research shows that the brain continues to grow throughout life. Children who are already good learners will do even better in school withstronger cognitive skills. Parents should take 30 minutes three times per week to focus on developingstrong cognitive skills in their children. One way to strengthen cognitive skills is to use fun, game-like activities. How important are strong cognitive skills? Research shows that 88% of allreading struggles are the result of a single weak cognitive skill. Get Ready for Family Game Night! There’s nothing like a little competition to really bring the familytogether, right? Check out these five amazing games to bring out the winnersin your family. And boost everyone’s brain power while you’re at it! 1.Egghead Naming cartoon characters, super powers and stuff you need to survive azombie apocalypse sounds like a cinch. But there’s a catch: in Egghead,the roll of the die determines one of five ways to play. So you mighthave to recall things from the 80’s in alphabetical order or namestuff a pirate would say with your answer starting with the last letterof the previous player’s answer. If the egg timer goes off duringyour turn, one of your golden egg cards turns rotten. The last playerwith at least one golden egg card wins the game. Everyone else gets “egg-straordinary”memory and word skills as a parting gift. Egghead Builds short-term memoryrecall and strengthens listening and word recall. 2.Tapple Tapple is an hilariously fun and insanely addicting alphabetic categorygame that will leave all players teetered and toppled over in suspenseand side-splitting laughter. The group chooses a card with a categoryof various things to name, for example, “Things you would find ina circus.” Then, players take turns naming anything that could fitin the given category. The trick is, players must tap down the first letterof the example they shouted. Once a letter is tapped it cannot be usedagain. Players only have ten seconds on the timer to name an example andif the alarm goes off before a player can say something they’reout for the round. The last player standing wins the card! Tapple is amarvelous application of memory recall, word skills, and keeping coolunder pressure. Tapple is a game that rewards quick recall of words andconcepts; it will engage the linguistic regions of the brain, includingthe hippocampus and a language production region called Broca’s area. 3.Ooga Booga Prehistoric humans weren’t exactly known for their expansive vocabulariesand sophisticated gestures. So you figure it’ll be a cinch to memorizea few nonsensical syllables and primitive actions. But winning Ooga Boogais harder than it looks. This hilarious party game challenges playersto remember and repeat a sequence of caveman-inspired words and gesturesshown on cards. As the cards stack up, so does the challenge. If you slipup, your fellow cave folk can call you out and stick you with three penaltycards. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game andtitle of clan chief. This game tests your auditory memory and visual perception,and utilizes the speech production processing found in Broca’s area. 4.Linkee It’s time to reconnect those neurons that may have lost their wayover the years with a fun, new party trivia game where every answer iscorrelated to each other. Linkee is a rollicking, socially active triviagame where wits prevail. Players must get into teams and the reader readsaloud each question on the Linkee card. Each answer has something in commonwith the next and the first team to find the common theme in all of theanswers and shout it out wins the card. However, guess wrong and you’reout for the round. Use your memory recall and word processing powers towin the game! You’re guaranteed to (The Roman god of affection andattraction, blood pumping organ, famous story of star-crossed lovers,popular Peter Frampton hit) it! Linkee is a unique and addictive triviagame that really stretches my long term memory recall skills. 5.Thinkamabob Thinkamabob is a game that tickles every inch of your brain! This MarblesThe Brain Store original game stars 64 Thinkamabobs in various colors,shapes, sizes, and textures. Together these game pieces exist to bothhelp and hinder you while completing tasks from the four card categories:see saw, word nerd, locomotor, and recall-it-all. The goal of every roundis to complete whatever your card’s task is, before time runs out.However, if you can’t complete a challenge, be prepared to be judged,because as a group, all your competitors will decide your score! Justremember, what goes around comes around… Auditory, visual perception,memory, and critical thinking parts of the brain are exercised when youplay Thinkamabob.