Pick-a-Dog

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Oh my goodness, my head is spinning. I'm a teacher and I work with small groups of kids trying to stretch their thinking. One of the things that I've used with them is attribute blocks. (See the picture above.) I have plenty in my classroom, but they are a mixture of sets (so some have medium sizes or right triangles, etc.). Still we can have a good time with them. Usually I build Venns and have them try to figure out the attribute of each circle. I've also tried building attribute trains with them (Put them in a row only changing one attribute each time.), but they really struggle with that. Also, my attribute blocks are noisy. They are cheap plastic and the banging together hurts my ears. (As do the excited shrieks of children discovering something new, but that's worth it.) So, my first thought when Dave starts showing us how to play: Wow! This would be perfect. Now, they are actually a bit simpler than my blocks as there are only two types for each attribute: big or small, popcorn or no popcorn, etc. My attribute blocks have more variety: red or green or yellow or blue, square or triangle or rectangle or circle, etc. However, I still think these would really help the kids understand attributes. Now, can I get them? Are they still available? Are they ridiculously expensive? Okay, I checked Amazon. $12.00 each. That's not bad. I may even have a gift certificate. However, I WANT all four. (You can get Pick a Polar Bear and Pick a Seal, too.) The set is available right now for $43.17, but it's summer and I don't get paid until August (or is it September). Oh well. Also, I wonder how sturdy those cards are. Will my kids rip them up? (accidentally, of course)

Okay, so watching them play, I was slightly annoyed by Aaron's decision to call the end because he goofed. I thought he should just put it back like Lincoln confessed to doing later. However, the discussion about the penalty for calling the end of a round really made me think. What if instead of scoring zero, if you're wrong, you lose a card for each card you could have played? Also, if you have a mistake, why not just lose the cards from that mistake on. So if you had three right, but your fourth had 2 attribute changes, you still get three points.

Oh, I love this quote by Dave: "The rules are so sparse they make, like, Sid Sackson rules look verbose."

July 11, 2019