News, Reviews, and Recommendations!

Feed your mind

Telescopes have presented a conundrum for me ever since I first opened our Brain Spice doors.  Our night sky is full of extraordinary objects and vistas, begging to be explored.  The whole premise of Brain Spice is to encourage such exploration.  But telescopes are just tricky things to use.

Over the years, I’ve sold many cheap telescopes – very capable cheap telescopes - but I wonder how many recipients did their best, and then gave up and lost interest after seeing little more than the moon.

I speak from experience.  I was one of those kids.

Had to share this.  Ella brought in her Brain Spice voucher today from seven years ago!  Brain Spice vouchers really are forever!

This was a blast from the past for me: the old 7-character code, the "12-month expiry date" (that we discontinued years ago) and our old shop address!!

And it still had $7.25 on it.  Which we honoured, of course! 

So many people have recommended I try this game over the years - I don’t know why it took me so long.

Actually, that’s not true.

I do know why… 

It was the cover. Between the artwork and the wording, I assumed Dixit was more of a peaceful cooperative storytelling game rather than a competitive game. So it never made it to the top of my wish list. 

Plot twist…

It’s actually a party game!

In Enthrone, you out-sneak your opponent.  This is a 2-player bluffing game, and I love it!

I've discovered a personal fascination of bluffing games, late in my life, which is hilarious, because I'm also very bad at them.  I don't really care.

Bluffing games give you permission to be a little bit wicked.  You find a dozen subtle ways to deceive - even down to where you stare at the board.

We’ve started doing something new in store… and I think it might be one of my new favourite things.

We’ve asked some of our younger customers to write little reviews of games they love - and we’ve put them up on our shelves…

I was doing a jigsaw puzzle with the kids this week, and had a random thought.

Who actually invented jigsaw puzzles? Was it accidental… or did someone come up with this on purpose? 

Can you create the best crew to sail the 7 seas and get you the most gold?
Captain Flip is a lightweight, family-friendly game for 2–5 players, aged 8 & up, with a typical playtime of around 20 minutes. 

I believe that every child is beautifully and wonderfully unique - each with their own passions, strengths, and way of learning. 

But when a child starts to fall behind in reading, and everyone else around them seems to be picking it up easily, it’s heartbreaking how quickly their confidence in so many areas of life can start to fade.

At that point, it’s not just about reading anymore - it starts to affect how they see themselves.

I am occasionally asked why an “education store” would bother selling magic tricks.  It seems that not everybody feels positive about this entertainment art.  Some even see the hobby as a little immature or dishonest.

I have a few things to say...

This week, my recommendation is a reading/writing/comprehension workbook series which I’ve discovered here at Brain Spice recently.

It’s not often I get excited about workbooks. They’re great, and they have their place, but “exciting” isn’t normally how I’d describe them. HOWEVER… this is a series that I was pleasantly surprised by - and I would definitely recommend! 

The name of the series is Reading For Me. It’s a fantastic and affordable open-and-go workbook for homeschoolers, or for parents wanting to help their kids with their reading/writing/comprehension skills.