Early Bird: A Timberdoodle Game Review

Early Bird from Timberdoodle is a fun, fast-paced game that involves a deck of specialized cards and a squishy worm.

While the concept is simple, the game provides hours of fun and learning for a wide variety of ages.

What is Early Bird?

The box says it is a “soarin’ game of fast flying worm madness.” This game reminds me of a mix of UNO and Dutch Blitz, with some fun, silly challenges added to the mix.

It is a game where you have to discard your cards by adding them to a pile in numerical order. The order can go up or down at the discretion of the person who called the play. It is a game of speed and strategy.

How Do You Play Early Bird?

Each player is given 7 cards; the cards are a mix of numerical cards 1-8 and special challenge cards. The person who does the best impression of a worm gets to start the game by discarding one card and determining the direction of play (up or down).

Unlike many card games, you do not take turns; anyone can lay down the next card as long as it is in order, and the goal is to be out of cards first.

Just when you think you have a plan, someone throws a challenge card into the mix and changes everything up!

There are funny challenge cards in the mix, and they can be played at any time. Some have you chasing the foam worm, spinning in a circle, or building a birdhouse from cards.

Each round takes as little as five minutes, and the game recommends playing 5 rounds to determine the winner. However, you can easily do more or less depending on your time constraints.

Our Experience with Early Bird

Our first experience with Early Bird was my husband, my eight-year-old, and me. While getting out of my chair for some of the challenges was not overly appealing (I mean, who doesn’t relish the opportunity to stay seated for a few minutes in a busy day), the game was honestly a lot of fun.

We were figuring it all out during the first round, and then the rounds went quickly and smoothly. My son loved it and appreciated that during one challenge when you had to stand up and spin around, he always won because the adults were not nearly as motivated.

He loves having a game his sister will play with him!

My son loved it so much that he started begging other family members to play, and my twelve-year-old son and eighteen-year-old daughter enjoyed it as well.

More than playing, I enjoyed watching them all spend time together laughing and enjoying a good game.

“It is a fun fast pace game for the whole family. Super easy to learn and lots of fun to play.” Elizabeth, age 18

Who Would Enjoy Early Bird?

This game is great for anyone old enough to recognize their numbers and count them in order. I think it would work well for helping younger students improve their number recognition as well.

Due to the active nature of several of the challenges, participants do need to be able to physically move around to retrieve the worm, switch seats, or spin around. However, if you have someone with physical limitations, you can adapt the challenges.

Aside from physical limitations or children who are still getting comfortable with their numbers, the nature of the game creates an even playing field across ages and skill levels, which helps make a family game feel more “fair” for younger children when playing with adults or teens.

Overall Thoughts

Our family enjoyed this fast-paced game. The speed and ease of play are a bonus, and the challenges add a lot of laughter and surprise. We think it is a great family game for multiple ages.

While this might not be a school-time staple, I do think it is great for a family game night, a rainy afternoon, or a nice break between chores.

You can find out more and purchase your copy of the game at Timberdoodle.

FAQs

What ages is this game for?

Recommended for ages 7+; any child who can count and recognizes numbers could play.

How Many Players?

2-6 Players

Does the game require reading?

While someone needs to initially be able to read the instructions, the game can easily be played by players who are not yet reading.

Adding Games to Our Homeschool Routine

We have used some educational games off and on throughout my years of homeschooling, but I often wished we had more time to incorporate them. We typically either used them as evening family activities here and there, or we intentionally included one on a day when it fit well with whatever else we were studying. I also said we would play them more when we had “extra” time.

The truth is there is no “extra” time; there is always something that can fill that time, and if I do not schedule it, it most likely will not happen.

Scheduling Game Time in Our Homeschool

When talking about events, schedules, and such, I often tell people that if it is not in my Google Calendar, then it is not happening. I rely on that calendar to keep me on track. With our homeschooling day, I could say if it is not in my planner, then it is not happening.

Thus, this year, I am intentionally including educational games into our homeschool plan. For morning time this year, I am including our two “staple” subjects (World Watch and Bible) as well as one additional subject for each day of the week.

On Fridays, game time will be that extra subject for our morning time. So, each Friday we will set aside at least 30 minutes to play an educational game together. I believe this intentionality will help ensure that we actually get game time most weeks.

I also believe the game time will add something fun that the boys can look forward to during the school week.

What Do You Mean by Educational Games?

A wide variety of educational games are available. Some of them are very specifically educational, such as the Math Sprint Game or the history game, “Get Your Kicks on Route 66”.

Other games are less specific in their educational goals but are still valuable educational tools. For example, there are many logic games (like the ones from Fun Squared Games) that help students build logic skills that help them across many subject areas. Other games might build memory skills, fine motor skills, or imagination.

Whether it is a specific content area or general brain building, all of these games provide valuable tools for your child’s education.

Some of our Favorite Educational Games

Wildcraft

Card Games for Math Skills

Ticket to Ride

Prime Suspect

Bao’s Cloudland

Trekking the National Parks

Oregon Trail Card Game

Battleship

Go to our educational game page to check out more game reviews and ideas.

Other Ways to Incorporate Games in Your Schedule

Friday morning might not work for your schedule, but there are lots of different ways you could add them in.

A few examples:

One afternoon after your regular subjects
Plan a time for them after so many days of successfully completing a goal.
Set aside a whole day for them once a month or once a quarter.
Use the shorter ones as a break between subjects.
Have some children play games while you get one-on-one time with a different child and then rotate.

FAQs

What do educational games teach?

There are so many different options; you can use games for logic, counting, spatial awareness, math, history, science, and more.

What ages can use educational games in your homeschool?

Games can benefit all ages, even high schoolers.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is now offering a lifetime option! They are a great place for a one stop shop curriculum or a way to have a lot of options to fill in different electives and courses into what you have already chosen.

Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep: A Timberdoodle Review

Sometimes the simplest activities are the best activities. Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep from Timberdoodle is a simple logic game that includes a book of puzzle tasks, a small game board, and eight transparent puzzle pieces featuring sheep and a shed.

While the concept is simple, the game provides hours of fun and learning for a wide variety of ages.

What is Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep

The game includes a small game board that is laid out with green squares for the grass and blue for the water. Then there are seven transparent puzzle pieces in different shapes, each with small white or gray sheep on it. Additionally, there is a small transparent piece with a shed on it.

The game board has a cover, so you can easily store the pieces. There is also a small book with 60 different challenges, divided into different levels of complexity. There are five levels, ordered and marked by color on the page, so even non-readers can easily find the right level.

Levels:

Starter
Junior
Expert
Master
Wizard

How Do You Play Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep?

Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep is simple and easy to understand. However, while the concept is simple, the varying levels of challenge mean that it can provide a fun mental challenge even for adults. It is a one-player game (which is really convenient when you have a child who is “bored” and needs something to do).

Simply pick a challenge of your choice, then make the puzzle pieces fit while avoiding sheep in the water and ensuring they fit as shown in the challenge. For example, the challenge might show you where a few pieces belong, and then you have to fit the rest without overlapping.

There is an answer key at the back of the challenge book in case you get stuck, or your child wants to check and make sure they are correct.

Our Experience with Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep

While the two-year-old thought the sheep were fun to play with, this game was best for my eight-year-old son and older. Even the beginning levels are a bit more challenging than some of the other similar-style games they have tried.

It worked really well for both my eight- and twelve-year-olds, and the adults enjoyed the challenge as well.

As a mom, I love how it doesn’t have to take hours to play, but they can play it for hours if they have the time. I also appreciated that the different levels meant everyone could work to their own abilities. I also really appreciated that the lidded game board made it easier to keep all of the pieces together.

While I love playing games with my children, the independent nature of this game means it works well when I’m cooking dinner or otherwise occupied. I think it would be great for them to play during school while I was working with a different child.

The game helps develop problem-solving, visual skills, and logic. My children did not see it as an educational game, but it was great work for their brains.

Who Would Enjoy Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep?

This is a game that many ages can enjoy, especially with the different level puzzles. It is recommended for ages 7+, and I think that is fairly accurate. A younger child could certainly try and might be able to do the easier challenges, but some of them are quite difficult.

It is a quiet and quick game, great for giving children something to do independently for a few minutes. The cover on the game board makes it very portable, and it could even be used in the car.

With all the different tasks, you could spend as few as five minutes playing or spend an hour or more doing multiple tasks.

Overall Thoughts

Counting Sheep Without Falling Asleep from Timberdoodle is a fun, easy game that helps build visual skills and logic without feeling like work. It can be played and enjoyed by a variety of ages. You can find out more and get your set at Timberdoodle.

FAQs

What ages is this game for?

Any age from elementary school through adulthood.

How Many Players?

This is a single-player game, though you can take turns if multiple people want to play.

Gnome Sweet Gnome a Timberdoodle Review

Children learn so much through play, and I love it when I find tools that can help guide that learning while still being fun and enjoyable for the child. I recently had the opportunity to review the game Gnome Sweet Gnome from Timberdoodle.

Gnome Sweet Gnome is a game that children can play independently. It has several different skill levels, making it great for developing skills. It works on fine motor skills, critical thinking, comparing sizes, and color recognition and is great for preschool through kindergarten or first grade.

What is Gnome Sweet Gnome?

The game includes three different gnomes, each gnome is a different size and color. The Gnomes each come with a matching flower pot, each with a different depth. The different sizes and depths mean that when stacked in different combinations, you can see different amounts of the gnome. For example, if you put the smallest gnome in the deepest flower pot, you can only see the top of his hat.

There are forty-eight challenges included with the game (each challenge is a different picture that the child needs to recreate). The challenges vary from easy to expert levels. I loved that the challenges were all enclosed in a spiral-bound book. That means no loose cards that are easy to misplace.

How Do We Play Gnome Sweet Gnome?

The beginning challenges use only a few pieces, and the challenge card shows the color for all of the pieces used. Then, they get a little more challenging by using more pieces but still showing all of the colors. On the final levels of difficulty, some or all of the colors are grayed. Other than the easiest level, all the challenges have a solution picture on the back of the page so the child can check their work.

This game can be completed independently, or a parent could work with the child to check their work and help them problem-solve. Depending on their attention span and ability level, children can work through anywhere from one challenge to the whole book. Younger children can start with the easier levels, and as they get more practice and confidence, they can move up to the more challenging options.

Overall, we really enjoyed this game. My six-year-old wanted to check it out and went through all the levels in one sitting. Even though he had completed them all, he still wanted to play again on other occasions, so it was not a one-and-done activity.

This is also a great game to prepare students for the more challenging IQ Gears that we reviewed a few weeks ago for Timberdoodle. They work on similar skills at different levels.

Where Do I Find Gnome Sweet Gnome?

I highly recommend this game if you have a young child and want to work on fine motor skills (stacking), colors, or problem-solving. You can find out more and purchase Gnome Sweet Gnome at Timberdoodle. It is also included in their preschool kit.