Customer Reviews

International Playthings Great States

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My son started playing this when he was 3. At 4, he can name all the states, abbreviations, capitals and most of the state birds. He can tell you where the major points of interest are without looking at the map. It helps to teach the concept of distance, such as "which state is closest to Maine". It also teaches the concept of compass direction, such as "which state is north of Texas". The game can be played with or without a board for portability. All in all a great educational game for children as well as adults.

You don't need the board to play this game, just take the flash cards with you to travel, etc. Make up your own rules, as you'll have fun 'refreshing' your memory of states, capitals and landmarks. I'd even recommend it for kids ;)

I've enjoyed playing this as much as the kids. Very educational and fun. The kids don't even realize they're learning, but their interest in and knowledge of geography has improved immensely!

I highly recommend this game! Very fun while still being extremely educational. The best way to learn is while your having a good time doing it. My son (4 years) has this game and we have given the Jr. version as a gift. The Jr. version is appropriate for pre-readers.

My 7 year old daughter is a geography buff, and her skills definately improved after playing this game! It improved mine too! I found out how little I remember about differnt states! She learned North, South, East and West, can name all the states and the capitols! She is leaps and bounds ahead of her classmates in this area, I attribute that to the fun learning she experienced playing this game! I plan to purchase one for all my nieces and nephews when they are 7.

This game is fantastic for learning about the states and engaging young children in geography. The answers are easy enough for them to handle, and the information really seems to stick. That being said, is it too much to ask International Playthings to proofread their questions? We came across a number of questions with incomplete answers, which are easy enough to fix when we know the answers. It makes me wonder about the ones we don't know (state birds?), however. Are those correct, or misprints? Also, some of the pictures don't match what is on the card, which makes it tough for young kids when the directions say to match the pictures. Finally, for advanced play it recommends using the cards that are "starred" to indicate a question that older children should refrain from looking at the board. Not one of the questions has a star. Ridiculous. Great concept, but this isn't nuclear physics. Of course we can work around it, but it's unfortunate that the execution is so sloppy.

My 8 year old daughter LOVES this game!! However... we have come across numerous cards with incorrect answers on them. (Example: What are the two states that start with the letter O? Answer: Oregon and Ohio. Last time I checked Oklahoma was still in the United States.) I am very reluctant to keep playing this with her as I'm wondering how many other answers are wrong that we don't know about. My daughter decided to write the company an e-mail and nicely tell them about the issue and received no response. I am very unimpressed with this company and will not be purchasing products from them going forward.

My 8 year old grandson has learned so much from this game. He knows all the interesting facts, such as "Where is Alcatraz? What state is known as the bread basket of America? Where is the cowboy hall of fame? In what state and city is the largest building located? What state has the best surfing?" He knows all the state capitals and most of the largest cities. After playing it as described, we made our own game: without using the board and providing a little incentive, such as a nickel, I'd say a fact, and he'd answer it. He is soooooooo good. He's going to be the most knowledgeable child in his class on the United States capitals, largest cities, and facts. We now need to work on the state birds, etc. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Great States kept my nine-year-old's interest and it was fun for his parents, too. It's a good geography learning game.

However, while playing the game for our first time, we encountered several game cards with incomplete answers. For example, the answer given for "Name states with double N's in their name" omitted Connecticut! I added additional states to the answers on a few cards to make them correct. How hard would it have been for the game's creator to double-check the answers? They're all right there on the map gameboard!

I watched Amazon for nearly 2 months for this item to be back in stock. We finally got our game and the quality is not all that great. Over all it's pretty good, but the timer broke before we even started our first game and the spinner is so cheaply made that it's a pain to use. *When we pass it from one player to the next, we have to take a moment to straighten it up and get the spinner arrow back in the center of the hole properly so it'll spin as it should. It's quite annoying.

My boys (ages 6 & 4) played this game with their Daddy and me and we had fun with it. Learned quite a bit too. Of course, it's a little advanced for our 4 year old, but we were able to include him just fine.