Customer Reviews

Learning Resources Sum Swamp Game

I have been a kindergarten/first grade teacher for 12 years. I have this game and school and wanted to order another one for my own grandchildren. It is a great game that practices addition and subtraction while having fun. I highly recommend it.

We bought this for my boys and they really enjoyed it right from the start. There is addition and subtraction practice and the concept of odd and even numbers, but the kids don't care because it's fun. The target ages are about 4 to 7, but it's fun enough that Mommy doesn't mind playing it again and again.

Sum Swamp isn't *so* much fun that, say, they'd ever want to make a movie about it. I don't think you're going to see Liam Neeson and Jennifer Lopez starring in a summer blockbuster thriller about a magical swamp where you have to roll dice and get through it, and need to find the magic combination to get out of the "endless" loop.

On the other hand, playing games with your kids and teaching them basic math can be pretty mundane, if not boring, if you don't have some sort of story. So, as far as an activity goes to make this easy and fun, Sum Swamp fits the bill. The are charming aspects to the board, for instance, that make it play a bit like Candyland (possible "short cuts").

The game is remarkably simple. A board, two numbered dice, a plus/minus die, and four character pieces for the players. Theoretically, you could build this game on your own if you were so inclined, say, with a bunch of toy cars or ponies and call it Sum Race. The plus/minus dice would be hard to procure, though.

The best part, though, kidding aside, is that my kid actually asks to play this game preferentially over, say, other lame-u-tational games like Sequence, SuperWhy ABC Letter Game, etc.

Part of the charm, also, is that the game takes maybe a grand total of 5-10 minutes to get through a game, if you're efficient about it. So it's not going to stretch on and on without some sort of redemption, like a bad movie might. More reason why they probably shouldn't turn Sum Swamp into a movie. Unless, maybe, if they had Samuel L. Jackson in it.

Here are the directions straight outta' the box:
- Each player chooses a game piece and places it on start. Players roll a number die and the player with the highest number goes first.
- The first players rolls all 3 dice and creates a number sentence by placing the highest number die first, the operation die second, and the smallest number die last.
- The player then adds or subtracts the numbers, and moves ahead the sum or difference. For example, if a player rolls 3+2, he/she moves ahead 5 spaces. If a player rolls a combination that equals 0 (5-5=0), heshe does not move. Then it is the next player's turn.
- The first player to reach the finish space is the winner!

Special spaces on the board
"Evens" or "Odds": if a player lands on one of these spaces, heshe rolls one die. If a player rolls an "even" or "odd" number as indicated on the game board, he/she moves ahead that number of spaces. If an evenodd number is not rolled, the player must wait until his/her next turn and try again!

Number Space: If a player lands on a number space, he/she rolls the operation die. If the player rolls a +, he/she moves ahead the number indicated on the space. If the player rolls a -, heshe moves back that number.

"Short Cut": If a player lands on one of these spaces, he/she follows the arrows as indicated on the board.

"Endless Loop": All players enter the loop as the arrow on the board indicates. Players continue moving counterclockwise around the loop. If a player lands on the space marked "exit", he/she can exit the loop on his/her next turn.

I have 3 small children and we love playing this game as a family! Grantedm my 2 year old just likes to roll the dice but it is great at reinforcing the math concepts that I am teaching the kids in homeschool. My 4 year old is starting to be able to add and subtract and my almost 6 year old is gaining confidence in her ability to add and subtract. Not only does it reinforce math concepts but also helps to teach them to be good sportsmen, taking turns, and gives parents the opportunity to help them deal with disappointment if they don't win. The best part is that this this game is a lot of fun and they have no idea that they're learning all of these great things!

My daughter has begun her basic arithmetic, and this game made "studying" fun and relevant. It is also good family time! I highly recommend it for the first grader (or earlier, if that is the case) who is practicing their early math. Too bad the numbers only go up to six (the dice only go to six).

The game is attractive, my kids like it and request it. Sum Swamp does stimulate the kids' thinking. My 7 y.o. strategizes and knows exactly what rolls of the dice he needs at critical points on the game board...limited and not the objective, but still problem solving. Our four y.o. is reinforcing the concept of counting when reading the dice and moving the game piece; he is also grasping addition from this game and has not been introduced to it elsewhere. I think it is high priced for what it is and there is not enough repetition in the time it takes to play for it to get the learning done. The little variation in the game board landing spaces and their rules are neat. The down side, if you don't guide the children they can count moving the game piece by individual number on each dice and not learn addition or subtraction. Not one of my favorite teaching/educational repetition tools, but is certainly acceptable. Best for introducing basic math concepts, i.e., number identification, counting, addition and subtracting, and simple rules to preschoolers and kindergarten students. Shipping and timing were satisfactory! Thank you!

Almost 2 years later and our kindergartner is loving addition and subtraction and seems to be ahead of his peers. Still not my favorite, but it is my kids and it works. Our oldest is entering 4th grade and he does not seem to be negative about such a simple game. For these reasons, I've bumped my 2012 review up another star to 4.

The game is great for a variety of reasons - it teaches kids addition and subtraction in a fun way, rolling the dice is fun for smaller kids who aren't there yet to count, and it also teaches kids to deal with winning and not winning (we don't use losing as a term at home - just our little positive reinforcement thing). The game makes is fun and children learn without feeling that they are sitting down to learn something. Quality of the game in terms of hte board, dice, and pieces is great too.

Sum Swamp is a fun and easy to use game about addition and subtraction. The board seems durable and there are only three dice and four rubber game pieces to keep track of. The game is easy to understand and play and my first grade students can play it without any help. I think it would be very appropriate for K-2. The game reinforces the additon and subtraction signs and odd and even numbers. I would recommend it for any first or second grade classroom as well as for at home fun.

I got it when the price dropped to around 6 dollars and for that much it is worth it not more than that. Go to camel camel com and put in the asin number found on all the items on amazon and it tells you all the price of the item. Wait when it hits the lowest. This game is fun but very simple math. It is sturdy and good quality. I would recommend it for pre-K learning simple math. The dice have numbers up to 6 and that is how much you can add and subtract, 6+6 and 6-5, is the highest, wish it was more than that. It is fun and finishes quickly.

My son, who I call SmartyPants, is working on addition and subtraction. I didn't want him to have to do a million worksheets. He'd start hating math! So, I went on Amazon and found this fun game. Sum Swamp is a game for kids who understand how to add and subtract already, but just need to practice and or memorize the math facts.

Inside the box is a large colorful game board, 4 game pieces, and three dice. The game pieces are shaped like little swamp creatures: a yellow turtle, a blue snake, a red frog, and a green snail. They are cute, but seem a little cheaply made. They almost seem like pencil toppers, but not the eraser kind. To test this theory, I had SmartyPants try to put one on a pencil. Yep, it fit perfectly. So, I don't know if they were just trying to cut costs by buying pencil toppers, or if it's just a coincidence that they fit a pencil perfectly. It doesn't really matter to me, as long as SmartyPants likes the game, and learns his math facts.

There are three dice. Two of the dice are green with white numbers, one through six. The third one is white with plus and minus signs ( + and - ). Therefore, the student will practice addition facts with answers up to 12, and subtraction facts with answers 0 to 5. Subtraction was a little tricky at first. The greater number must come first. Negative numbers are a little too advanced for young children. This was only a problem the first few times we've played it. Now my son knows to put the greater number first.

It is possible to roll a zero and not get to move at all. SmartPants is always so sad when that happens.

Dispersed through out the board are squares with the words evens and odds. When you land on one of these squares, you roll a numbered die. If the number is even, and you are on an "evens" square (like in the picture), you get to advance that number of spaces. If you roll an odd, you stay where you are. When you land on a numbered square, roll the plus/minus die. If you roll a +, you advance the number of spaces written in the square, if you roll a -, you go back that number of spaces.

The last unique aspect of the game is the endless loop. You keep going around and around the loop unless you land on the exit square. This is easier than it seems. The most I've ever gone around the endless loop is four times. Most of the time we get to exit on our second or third time around.

Overall, Sum Swamp is a fantastic game. It is fun, and educational at the same time. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros: Teaches addition and subtraction and odds and evens, fun, colorful, much more fun than a worksheet. durable. Pretty good price, around 15 dollars.

Cons: Are the game pieces pencil toppers? I'm still not sure. The subtraction can get a little confusing if the lesser number is placed before the greater number.

Here is a youtube video of my son reviewing this game:
http://youtu.be/-YfHQ2cTDuc