Apples to Apples

What do barbershops, winter, and dead fish have to do with the word miserable?  What do board games have to do with homeschool?

Making connections, of course.

While Zach and I were in Houston, our host’s mother called to say that she was reading through the blog and had made it to October.  She had ordered the book Mind in the Making from the library based on my reviews of it.

Based on her mother’s interest, my host wanted to know what the book was about. When I said that it was about seven life skills that all kids need, she naturally wanted to know what the skills were.

Alas, I could only remember two.

I couldn’t believe it.  I had written and thought about these skills for over a month.  I’d implemented strategies from the book and bragged that Ellen Galinsky, the author, was Tweeting about my blog.

And four months later, I could only remember two of the skills.  Which could mean that I have internalized the concepts so deeply that I don’t need to remember their names anymore.  Or that the skills aren’t actually all that essential.  Instead, I think it’s time for a refresher.

Remember these?  If not, feel free to jump back and refresh yourself.

1. Focus and Self Control
2. Perspective Taking
3. Communicating
4. Making Connections
5. Critical Thinking
6. Taking on Challenges
7. Self-Directed, Engaged Learning

Tonight, back in Boston and after several reunion meltdowns from Ezra, the boys asked for a family game night.  We settled on Apples to Apples Jr.  As we were playing, I realized that this game is perfect for helping older kids develop skill number four, making connections between disparate things.

If you haven’t played, here’s a description from Amazon: Players take turns being the judge. The judge starts each round by playing a GREEN APPLE card featuring a one-word characteristic such as Chewy, Amazing or Scary. The rest of the players must then look at the RED APPLE cards in their hands and select the one they think is best described by the judge’s card – will you play A Volcano, Unicorns or Burned Toast? When everyone’s RED APPLE cards are on the table, you should try to convince the judge that yours is the best match.  Just wait until you hear all the clever – and not so clever – ways that people try to convince the judge to choose a particular card. Do your best, because if the judge picks your card, you win that round!

Both boys had trouble choosing RED cards that were connected to the GREEN card.  But the game forces them to make connections and plead their case, and they continue to get better at it as we play more.  Like when Ezra told us that barbershops could be miserable if you got a bad haircut. Or when Zach convinced us that cutting the grass was a perfect fit for the word fragile because grass was so easy to break when you are cutting it.

One of the few drawbacks to Ellen’s brilliant book is that it gives relatively few suggestions for developing the skills in older children.  This game does just that.

In case you can’t tell, I’m a fan.  Plus, I’ve never met a kid who didn’t love playing it.  And if you can connect fun game to teaching essential skills, you certainly have a winner.