Not Your Average Board Game
Blokus encourages creative thinking and has received a Mensa award for promoting healthy brain activity. The goal of this game is for players to fit all of their pieces onto the board. When placing a piece it may not lie adjacent to the player's other pieces, but must be placed touching at least one corner of their pieces already on the board. The player who gets rid of all of their tiles first is the winner and strategic thinking helps as you block moves from your opponent. Blokus sometimes comes to an end because there are no more possible moves.

Four players make this abstract game especially fast and exciting; however, it can be just as fun for two or three players. Blokus has come up with a number of different ways to play the game to make it more thrilling when playing with less than four players. Draft Blokus allows a player to use more than one color and Reverse Blokus reverses the entire game so that the person who places the least amount of tiles on the board is the winner. It can even be played in a solitaire version when one player attempts to place all of their pieces in a single sitting. A game of Blokus typically lasts a 30 minutes. As a practical feature, raised edges on the board help keep the tiles in place and allow convenient clean-up. This game includes 84 pieces in four vibrant colors, an instruction guide, and one gameboard with 400 squares.

Blokus is simple to understand, but the game's complexity is revealed shortly after everyone begins to play. It can be addictive, even for those not normally into abstract games. Blokus is a catalyst for spatial thinking, as players form images in their mind before placing the pieces on the board. Children and adults can play together for hours of competitive family fun. As Europe's 2003 Game of the Year, Blokus is adored by many and even played in professional tournaments.

What's in the Box
84 pieces in four colors, gameboard with 400 squares, and an instruction guide.

Once a piece has been placed on the board it can't be moved, so plan your moves carefully.

Adding to the game's challenges, each new piece must touch at least one other piece of the same color, but only at the corners.

Customer Review: Fun Game
Fun game for children or adults. We pulled it out during a rainy evening at the lake and the four of us had an enjoyable fun filled evening

Publ.Date : Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:56:02 GMT

Sesame Street - The Great Numbers Game
Customer Review: I have bought this THREE TIMES it is so good! PERFECT
I have two boys spaced apart. I bought the VHS version of this tape twice for my oldest son (the first one got lost). He could count to thirteen before he was 20 months old, after watching it a few times a week for about a month. My youngest one is 19 months and I just bought him this video (DVD) a couple weeks ago...he has watched it about 3 times and is already trying to sing along with the skits. There isn't a lot of the muppets but my kids never watched a lot of tv when they were little so they were not disappointed to not see a lot of Elmo and Telly (to be honest neither was I). I think this is a wonderful video for little ones and I usually watch it with them (My 7 year old likes it too...again). This is the first review I have done for a product, I don't normally bother but I just love this video so much I want others to try it out.

Publ.Date : Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:56:02 GMT

53" River Run I
53", River Run I Inflatable Tube With A Mesh Bottom, Built In Backrests For Easy Cruising Down Any River, Includes Cup Holder, All Around Rope & Repair Patch.
Customer Review: Excellent tube
I had to rush home and write this review. I was super impressed with the quality of the tube. I am guessing this tube was not made for white water but it with stood some of the most brutal collisions with rocks. And I stayed up right where all other tubes were turned over. The Air pillow saved my head from serious injury when I was pulled against my will into a nasty grave yard of rock and trees. This tube will not make you invincible so don't go taking it off niagra falls or any crazy business like that. But I have never had any other tube survive this type of punishment!

Publ.Date : Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:56:02 GMT

Live Butterfly Garden
Did you know that painted ladies (the butterflies, that is) taste with their feet and have 10,000 eyes? You and your kids will be fascinated by all you learn about these beautiful creatures with the Butterfly Garden from Insect Lore. The kit comes with a relatively easy-to-assemble observation chamber; supplies for feeding the butterflies (you provide only sugar and water); an informative booklet of clear instructions and butterfly facts; and a certificate for three to five free painted lady caterpillars. The metamorphosis from larva to butterfly takes about three weeks from when you receive the caterpillar larvae (which arrive in a small container with all the nutrients they need). Your children can watch the larvae increase dramatically in size, form chrysalides, and finally emerge into full-fledged painted ladies (it's suggested that they release the butterflies after a few days of observation). This would make a wonderful activity for families with kids of any age, but younger children will need help assembling the observation chamber and reading the instruction booklet. (Note: The manufacturer recommends that butterflies should not be set free in temperatures lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.) --Rachel Radway
Customer Review: Butterfly Garden
My eldest daughter loved each step of this garden's processes. We watched avidly to see any changes. Unfortunately, the day that these guys hatched was also the day that I had my youngest child. So, in essence, we missed the main event. However, I highly recommend this toy unless you are due to give birth within a few weeks.

Publ.Date : Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:56:02 GMT

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan
Customer Review: powerful concept behind this book
The concept behind this book is what makes it such a phenomenon. It was not only great concept-wise, but it was an engaging read. I wouldn't call it pure entertainment (some portions could be dry) but it was definitely easy to get through the whole thing and actually enjoy it. I recommend this book to anyone looking for more info on the idea of how things that seem obscure, go on to gain enormous popularity and spark trends or fads.

Publ.Date : Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:56:02 GMT