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Mattel Games Apples to Apples Junior - The Game of Crazy Comparisons (Packaging May Vary)

Mindprint Rating

Tags

ELA: Reading ^21st Century Skills All Ages Game

Skills

Flexible Thinking Expressive Language Listening Comprehension Verbal Reasoning

Mindprint Expert Review

Pros

  • Great opportunity to teach students new vocabulary in a fun and applicable way.
  • Game gives students the opportunity to speak to a group and advocate for their answer.
  • Younger students can compete on equal level with much older students as long as they are creative and read the definitions provided on the cards.

Considerations

  • There is no "right" answer so the judge must be reasonable and fair and disagreements could easily arise.
  • Some words may be too advanced for elementary school students. We recommend giving young students the option to put those cards aside.
  • Students with weak social skills could play and learn from this game but only to the extent there is an understanding adult involved.

Mindprint Expert Review

This is an excellent family game that is fun and will develop language and flexible thinking skills in children of all ages. The appointed "judge" selects from one of approximately 200 adjective cards (crunchy, gorgeous, trustworthy, etc.) and all the other players must select from one of the five noun cards in their hands that best associates with that word (Neil Armstrong, Washington, D.C., my science project). Every card has a bold-faced word and a concise definition, giving students an opportunity to improve their vocabulary and general knowledge without potentially being embarrassed for not knowing the word. The words are all age appropriate for younger audience but they do include some pop icons (Miley Cyrus, Charlie Sheen, etc.) or horror film-type words (Frankenstein, vampires, etc.) which might not be suitable for select children. The thinking and the fun arises when players must make creative associations to prove that their answers are the best match to the judge's card or the judge defends why one answer was better than another. The game can be as short or as long as the group wishes and can be used across a broad age range even though this is the junior edition.

Academic Benefits

Improves academic skills

  • Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
  • Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
  • Presents educational concepts accurately
  • Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
  • Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
  • Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
  • Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

Fun

Engaging for the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
  • Visually appealing to children in the target age range
  • Adults would enjoy playing with a child
  • For electronic games, gives positive or encouraging feedback
  • Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
  • Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

Easy to Use

Understandable for children in the Mindprint recommended age range

  • Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
  • Student should be able to use independently after first use
  • Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
  • Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
  • Does not require excessive set-up time after first time use
  • Can be fun as a single player game
  • Multi-player game which fosters collaboration or cooperation
  • Well-made for the cost
  • For electronic games, can play without sound
  • For electronic games, allows user to save work
  • For electronic games, voice/sounds are appealing and pronounces words properly
  • Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
  • Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
  • Overall - Easy to use

Cognitive Concerns

May not be advisable for students with the following cognitive needs

  • Auditory Processing
  • Expressive Language
    • Student must be able to speak clearly to be successful
  • Self-regulation
    • Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements
    • Themes that might disturb sensitive students (death, blood, slime)
    • Multi-player activity with a clear 'winner' and 'loser'
  • Social Awareness
    • Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements
    • Themes that might disturb sensitive students (death, blood, slime)
    • Multi-player activity with a clear 'winner' and 'loser'

Manufacturer Description

APPLES TO APPLES Junior-The Game of Crazy Comparisons!: The card and party game for ages nine and up. Players will delight in the crazy comparisons while expanding their vocabulary and thinking skills. The 576 cards provide hours and hours of fun! Ages 9 and older.