Iditamath
I just wanted to quickly share something I’ve been working on this past week.
Last year GB and I did the eIditarod, and it was SO much fun that we are going to do it again this year. But I worried that we had done so many activities last year that he may find it less than fun this year if I didn’t come up with something new.
Then, the other night, I woke up in the middle of the night with a great idea. I thought it was a great idea, anyway…. I would make some Iditarod cards with the mushers and dogs on them. And I couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind just wouldn’t shut off. I kept thinking about how I could create them, and how I wanted them to look. Plus, I wanted to tie them in to math, more specifically multiplication, since you know GB struggles with this.
So I decided to make it similar to a card game he got for Christmas. Each player will get a deck that includes mushers, dogs, and items for a well-packed sled. Mushers, dogs, and items can be combined to battle against strong mushers from your opponent’s deck. The decks will also have a few magic cards, like the Aurora Borealis, which I’m thinking will allow you to bring back a musher who has been defeated. Each card will have an attack value, and a defense value. And players will keep four cards on the field (table) and five cards in their hand to battle. I’ll post rules when I get further along.
But I wanted to show you one of the musher cards I made because I’m so excited by how well they’ve been turning out.
GB is pretty excited by my cards and wants me to hurry up and finish them. He keeps trying to get me to make the rules his way. But I think I’ll stick to my guns. I want it to be educational and not just fun. Fun, too, though, it’s gotta be fun.
I’m hoping that when I’m done, my older son, Jabem, can help me put the cards into a downloadable format, so that I can share them. At this stage, I’m not sure how you do that.
My anti-spam work is whoa and that is just what I was going to say… Whoa!! Wow!
What a great idea! Just an idea, but I believe if you save them as a PDF file, you can load them easily onto homeschool launch.
We’ll be doing the eIditarod this year as well - though it is our first year. Have you picked a musher to follow?
Comment by Makita — January 31, 2008 @ 3:45 pm
What a wonderful idea! My sons would love these. They love to play Pokemon. That is how my oldest learned to add and subtract. It never made sense until he used it in something that he enjoyed.
How are you making these? Are you using Paint Shop Pro?
I have also had ideas wake me up in the middle of the night. I know that once those ideas start to flow it is hard to get them to start.
Comment by Chrissy — January 31, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
How brilliant! I wish I had the time and the know how to start such a project. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Thanks in advance for sharing it with all of us
Linda
Comment by LINDA — January 31, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
That is so cool! My daughter’s not ready for a game like that yet, but it gives me other ideas, like dog counting games and such. Thank you for sharing!
Comment by Rachel — February 1, 2008 @ 12:40 am
Robin, that is wonderful! My son could learn *any* subject from a card game so detailed & professional looking! Please, PLEASE post these when you’re ready to share!
Comment by Piseco — February 1, 2008 @ 2:15 am
It always gives me pleasure to see MY daughter coming up with these brilliant ideas. I sometimes wonder who is having the most fun, who is learning the most, and just what is coming next!!!
GB is lucky to have a mom who is so smart and dedicated.
Comment by Grampa — February 1, 2008 @ 3:57 am
What a GREAT idea! We’d love to get to play! What program or website did you use to make the cards? Cool!!! Hope you figure out a way to share all your hard work.
Comment by Jennifer — February 1, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
This is the program I used. I’ll try to post more pictures and info soon.
~R
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php
Comment by Robin — February 1, 2008 @ 4:43 pm
That is AWESOME!!! You are one of the all-time great creative moms.
Comment by
tribeofautodidacts — February 2, 2008 @ 7:57 am
I agree with Grandpa, “GB is lucky to have a mom who is so smart and dedicated.” I am amazed at your ideas, as always. I, too, sometimes wake in the middle of the night dreaming up some plan… though it hasn’t happened in awhile, and sadly I don’t always follow through. This looks like a great plan and hope you two have lots of fun learning with this!
Comment by Dana — February 3, 2008 @ 10:19 pm