I wish we had time or made the time to play games as a family.  As a child, I remember playing games mostly on vacation.  When my children were younger, we did play more games.

Family games are a great way to be together without the television.  Our family time tends to be more centered around outdoor activities like hiking, but game time can build brain power given the right game.

We were sent a fun little game called [amazon_link id=”B007JPS3LC” target=”_blank” ]Speedeebee[/amazon_link].

This family word game Speedeebee builds brain power!

It comes in a nice metal tin, it is designed for humans eight-years-old to adult, and two to four people can play.  It takes about 20 minutes to play.

To play the game, the top card is chosen and read. A player rolls the dice to see what the color challenge is to be played. Everyone plays simultaneously to be  first to say the correct answer.

For example, one card gives the following options for the challenge:

Green=Name a farm animal containing this letter (throw the die of your choice)

Blue=Find a word containing the set two letters (throw the red and blue dice)

Red=Name something you enjoy doing, starting with one of these letters (throw all 4 dice)

Speedeebee won the 2013 Teachers’ Choice Award for the Family award by Learning Magazine, the trusted resource for elementary school educators for over 40 years. Teacher teams from across the country judged the entries on uniqueness, educational value, and ease of use.

Speedeebee is a travel-friendly game for ages 8 and up that comes in an adorable little tin canister. Inside are four alphabet dice and a set of cards with over 150 word challenges combined. Game play is easy to learn and takes seconds to set up. One player picks a challenge and reads it aloud. It may be a general question (Name a country containing this letter) or something more personal (Name something you would take to a desert island, starting with one of these letters). The challenge will tell you which dice to roll. The first player to call out a correct answer wins the card. The winner then draws a new card and reads the challenge matching the color of the back of the card just won. At the end of the game, the player with the most cards wins!

Speedeebee is perfect for elementary school in-class activities and will hook word game fans of all ages. The variety of the challenges, the chance of the die, and player dependent responses make Speedeebee excitingly different every time it’s played.

I think for our family we would modify the rules so that our youngest son is not at a disadvantage.  Perhaps when it is his turn, he would get to answer alone and not compete against the other players.

At first, I though there was nothing eco-friendly about this game.   Thankfully, I was wrong.  Blue Orange Games motto is “Hot Games, Cool Planet”.   The company plants trees for those used to make the games:

We at Blue Orange Games respect the environment and understand the need to work towards the preservation of our planet.
 
We launched a program in 2007 to benefit the environment and make our business more sustainable. We plant two trees for every tree used to create our wooden products and game cards. We planted 25,000 trees in 2012 and have planted over 100,000 trees to date!
 
In addition, we partner with Pure Project to calculate and offset the carbon emissions resulting from our annual road trips. This organization provides native trees for the reforestation of small producers’ Fair Trade cocoa plantations in the Amazon. Trees are strategically planted following agroforestry systems to improve the yield of cocoa trees while increasing biodiversity, replenishing the forest canopy, and preserving soil and water quality. Click here for an aerial view of the Pure Project planting location.
 
As of January 2013, we have offset 600,000 miles worth of CO2 emissions and participated in the sustainable development of rural communities.

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Disclosure: The products described above were sent to us as free samples. Prior assurances as to the nature of the reviews, whether positive or negative, were not given. No financial payments were accepted in exchange for the reviews. The reviews reflect our honest, authentic opinions