Liz and I reviewed The Presidential Game.

She won. Every time. And she did a little dance. ugh

Contents:

• 1 20″ x 30″ GAME Board
• 1 Score Pad
• 3 Blue Dice
• 3 Red Dice
• 80 Politics Cards
• 40 “Write-Your-Own” Politics Cards
• 150 Republican Votes (red chips)
• 150 Democrat Votes (blue chips)
• 1 Electoral WebMap™ Calculator Access Code

Liz is almost 13 and this game is a perfect supplement to our history program. She really loved the feel of this game. She was quite competitive and loved beating me. Over and over again. She likes power.

We weren’t sure how to play the chips at first, but got the hang of that after we ran out before the game was over! Games can take a while, so be prepared. Chips equal 1 vote. Votes are determined by dice rolls.

Republicans have red chips and Democrats have blue chips. Whoever has more votes has a chip on the game board and the iPad app (WebMap)  helps keep track for you (if you get confused like I did). I love how realistic the game is with campaigning and fundraising and the politics cards with real world situations.

It’s really fun campaigning and fundraising and seeing the results of that on the nation (game board). It helped me understand elections. I’ve never really paid that much attention to it all. You can only fundraise in California, New York, Florida, and Texas. You draw a Politics Card after fundraising. The dice determines how many votes you can count in your choice of states – whether you fundraise or campaign. So, if a player rolls a “10”, they can distribute 10 votes, with at least half in the fundraising state. When campaigning, players choose any three states and roll 3 die. So if you roll a “6”, “5”, and “3”, you can opt to allocate those votes to your three states.

The Politics Cards are interesting. I had to explain most of it to her. It allowed for much interesting conversation. Lobbying, personal behavior, poor choices, dumb luck all are in those cards. And you can write your own. Some cards state “play immediately” and others can be saved for later in the game. Liz liked saving hers and going in for the kill!

We had lots of great conversation about politics and history and the fallen state of mankind. Liz found some new topics to research in her fascination for history and biographies. This game really helps Liz see the connections in our government – with companies, organizations, citizens, religion, and all the factors that play into it. I think it’s a great tool to understand our nation’s election rules.

We loved the WebMap app. It was so easy to just click on the state for blue, red, or neutral to resemble electoral college voting. We didn’t even use the score pads. (sorry the screen is all fingerprinted!)

We really enjoyed this game. I can’t wait until the littles are older and can play with us so we can have teams! I think this could be fun with adults and older kids. I need to plan a game night.

The Presidential Game is $35. For kids 11+. Because it’s got adult issues on the politics cards. So you can discuss the negative ads at election time. I wish I’d had this game when I was in 11th grade U.S. History!

Here’s a little video that shows you the high quality of this well-made game:

I knew Liz would love Seed Sowers: Gospel Planting Adventures. We received the paperback and Liz highlighted some of her favorite passages.

Liz read Seed Sowers straight through, like a novel. She loved it!

We were especially interested in the appendices where the author defines “heart language” and discusses the job of a language surveyor. What a brilliant job description and opportunity. For my little linguists, we love learning how we can use those talents for God. We support Wycliffe through CFC already and I’m a blogger for The Seed Company.

The kids and I are fascinated with missionary stories. They make me want to travel and do great things. I know my place is at home, teaching and discipling my kids. But I can dream, pray, and prepare my kids for a possible foreign mission field. Kate and Tori have often expressed a desire to travel to China and India for God. I pray that there is a way for them to fulfill this dream, if it’s in God’s will.

I love the idea of exotic places and the stories…and the amazing testimonies of these missionary pioneers.

From chapter 7: The Conrads –

“Countless throngs will spend eternity in heaven as a result of their sacrifice and work.”

From chapter 15: Vi Reimer Stewart –

“Winning the trust of these people was a high priority.”

Chapter 21: The Bensons –

“‘We can do this,’ Bruce said without hesitation.”

Sacrifice. Trust. Perseverance. We could learn about that and apply it to our own rather mundane lives here.

It’s difficult for us to imagine the hardships these missionaries faced while we sit comfortably in our houses with heating and AC and refrigerators and clean water coming from multiple faucets and washers and dryers. It’s difficult for our kids to understand that most of the world doesn’t have these luxuries. I strive to teach my kids a Kingdom perspective and not have an entitlement attitude for more, more, more all the time. We limit our activities so we are together as a family every night for dinner. We discuss missions and pray and read our Bibles together in the mornings. I am blessed to homeschool them. I pray they grow up to impact the world for Jesus.

I love how the 21 chapters have meaningful titles, but also list the names of the missionaries in parentheses. Gracia Burnham’s Foreword is heart-wrenching and soul-searing. “God can use anyone, you know.”

Liz and I both found the Preface interesting. When we think of missions, we think of traveling far away and doing something exciting, but with Liz’s interest in languages, she could work with Bible translation! Kate has also expressed much interest in language and I pray they both use those gifts for God in some way, whether with Bible translation, mission work, or some other creative way God leads them.

I absolutely adore the call to action for Bible translation at the end of the book. It is near and dear to my heart. #EndBiblePoverty

Liz’s review:

This book is a collection of stories of men and women who serve God all over the world. There are 21 chapters and each chapter is about a certain missionary or missionary family. It is well written and easy to understand. I read it straight through and learned about many missionaries and the people they preached to. It was fun to read and I enjoyed it immensely. There were some parts that I felt like I was there with the people doing what they were doing. This is an awesome book that I will read over and over and never get tired of it.

It’s all His Story.

Purchase Seed Sowers. $12.50

For all ages. Can be a read-aloud for younger kids or older kids and adults can read. A great family study!