ThinkFun Games: Have Fun While You Think!

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‘Think’ and ‘fun’, two words that are usually not put together in the same sentence, especially by children!  That is until you try play some of the best brain teasers, puzzles and logic games created by ThinkFun!  With games for all ages from toddlers to adults, ThinkFun puts the fun in thinking!

Their games for children combine play with thinking to help build both reasoning and creative thinking skills in a fun, challenging way!  They have games to challenge and improve skills in every area from math to verbal, from reasoning to memory, and even visual.

Teachers and parents alike know that children learn best if the lesson is fun, not boring. For adults their games challenge what you already know and keeps your thinking and reasoning skills sharp!

Mini Mouth

I had the opportunity to review one of their most popular games, Mini Mouth, a fast paced word race game for ages 8 to adult.  I have always loved words, and especially games that involve words such as crossword puzzles and Scrabble.

Mini Mouth is a multi-player game where the object is to be the first to make a word out of the chosen letters.  It comes with 26 letter tiles (A to Z) and a carry bag so you can take it where ever you go.

How To Play

All Letter Tiles are spread out and mixed-up face down into what is known as the ‘Letter Pile’.

The player with the most letters in his or her whole name goes first and selects 2 to 5 Letter Tiles and flips them over for all players to see.

Once all letters for that round have been revealed, the players race to call out a word that includes all letters shown (words may use more letters than only those flipped).  Any word that can be found in a standard English dictionary is legal, although Proper Nouns are not allowed.

The first word called that uses all the letters wins the round.  If there is a tie,the tiles are returned to the Letter Pile and drawn again.  Once a round has been won, the winner takes all of the tiles used on that word and puts them to the side in their own score pile.

NOTE: certain tiles are marked with an asterisk (J,Q,X,Z).  If more than one of these tiles is flipped, players must use at least one of the asterisk letters in a word, but they do not have to use all.  The first player to call out a valid word collects only the letters used in that word.  Any letters with an asterisk not used are returned face down to the Letter Pile.

If, after a reasonable amount of time, no word has been called that uses all of the currently flipped letters, the tiles are mixed up back in the Letter Pile, face down, and the next round begins.

The player to the left of the first player now selects which tiles to flip to begin the next round.

Play continues until there are no more tiles in the Letter Pile.

The player with the most Letter Tiles at the end of the game wins!

My Verdict

What makes this game so much fun is the fact that you are in a race to call out a word that used the letters. Some hilarious words do come up and when my husband, son and I played we had quite a few laughs!  It helps to have a dictionary on hand, and you may be surprised at some of the words that really do exist!

As a teacher I can see how this game is very beneficial for children.  It makes them think quickly, encourages creativity, helps teach new words and improves both reading and spelling skills.  I could even see creating an easier version of this game to help teach a younger child letter sounds and their site words.

I also really like that MiniMouth comes with a handy drawstring bag to keep all of the pieces together.  You can store the game easily, and take it anywhere you go to help keep the children occupied on long car trips, while waiting at the doctors office or for your food to come at a restaurant!  You could even take it to work for a quick challenge during lunch!

MiniMouth is a fun, challenging game for all ages!   And with the Holidays quickly drawing near, this would make an excellent stocking stuffer!

MiniMouth, and tons of other fun games, can be purchased directly through the ThinkFun e-commerce website, and all orders over $25 have free shipping in the U.S. There is also a section for Online Play where you can find ThinkFun apps and downloads!

Their games can also be found at many stores, both online and off.