Tuesday, August 12, 2014

QWunder, a Mom-Invented Educational Game, Teaches Your Child About Emotional Intelligence To Excel and Grow #Qsracetothetop #pmedia #ad @EQtainment

Disclosure: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and EQtainment, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia  #Qsracetothetop http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.









In addition to this week's Spotlight Mom post I shared yesterday, I wanted to share another wonderful product from a mom inventor that the girls and I have been enjoying lately.  Sofia Dickens, mom of three, is founder and CEO of EQtainment.  
She created a fun board game for kids ages 3+, to help develop their EQ.  During her studies as Harvard, she became fascinated with impact of emotional intelligence.  It wasn't until years later when she had children of her own that she found a need that wasn't being met.  While trying to identify educational goals for her kids, she was surprised to find that only a handful of schools were teaching about emotional intelligence.  And, just like other moms (and dads) I have spotlighted over the years, Sofia took it upon herself to fulfill this need by creating the QWunder board game.




Are you scratching your head wondering what emotional intelligence is?  And, if you don't know what it is, why is it important that your children learn about it?  Well, emotional intelligence has to deal with abilities like creative thinking, leadership qualities, social skills and social-control, all of which experts have found to be important in the overall success of your child's development and success in life.

Do you have tools to help teach your child EQ skills?  Or, are these learning these necessary skills being taught in your child's school?  Well, thanks to Sofia's new board game for kids, she is making teaching the fundamentals of EQ available to kids and families.  She hopes that kids who can't afford this game will be able to have access to it, so that they can achieve greatness, too.



As you may know Savannah will be heading into preschool this fall, and Bella is about to turn 3 years old.  I have struggled to find board games for the girls that are not only educational, but are fun.  If they are not fun, then the girls will not want to stick with them, and will not learn anything.  While I like to do one-on-one play with them, I also find that Bella is picking up and grasping new ideas and concepts by imitating Savannah.  She wants to be like her big sister and learn all that she can.  



So, when I set up the QWunder board game the other day for Savannah, who is now 4 yrs old., as well as my 7 year old nephew and 9 year old niece to play, Arabella pulled her chair up to the table, too.  She couldn't help but point out and comment on how cute the monkey on the board game box cover was, and wanted to see what the game was all about.  



I took a few minutes to read the instructions out loud and talked about how the game was to be played.  I shared about the different cards that the kids would be choosing and completing either with personal responses or actions.




The QWunder board game includes: 


  • 150 fun question and action cards
  • 4 colorful Q The Monkey figurines 
  • 1 big green dice 
  • Gameboard featuring the tree house Q built! 
  • The first storybook, Q’s Wild Ride 
After going through the instructions and explaining the above question and action cards, the kids were ready to get started. They chose their monkey game piece, and with Bella sitting next to Savannah and I to observe, we began playing this fun new game. And, before we knew it, the afternoon had flown right by.
 

The idea of the game is simple...by rolling the dice, moving around the board and answering questions and completing fun actions, kids will help Q, a genius monkey, get to the top of his treehouse. From asking kids what patience is to having them perform actions like, the new QWunder game from EQtainment will have kids of all ages laughing and smiling, as they play together and build necessary EQ skills that will help excel and develop into well rounded individuals. Kids will use Q cards to show and verbalize feelings, thus learning how to work through these emotions in a more positive way. I couldn't believe how this board game opened up lines of communication with the kids, to talk about behavior and their feelings.  


Kids will also learn about manners and proper social skills, that will help them better conduct themselves in public, when they are with friends or in a new environment.  I found this especially helpful with Savannah who will be heading off to preschool next month.  While I have made a point to teach her to say "Please" and "thank you," with the help of QWunder and the different Q cards she learned about things like respect and how she should treat others.  These skills are crucial in developing new relationships and growing as a person.  And, if not taught and talked about at an early age, can hinder a child's ability to develop social skills, leadership qualities, creative thinking and social control -- all of which add up to EQ or emotional intelligence.  Lacking any of these crucial skills will hinder a child's ability to excel and they learn and grow as a person.

Even though Bella is still a little young to play this game, she did have fun trying to do the actions on the "Do" cards, which help children with developing proper coordination and balance, as well as control over your arms and legs.  Without these basic skills, it will be hard for a child to achieve mental and emotional self control.

In addition to the board game, we were also send a cute story book, "Q's Wild Ride," which has become a must read at bedtime with the girls.  




The story lets follows Q as he interprets other people's emotions and act accordingly.  Just like the board game, this storybook also opens the door to communicating with your child about how to act and interpret other people's emotions.


While I don't want to give away all about this cute educational game, I did want to share some photos of the kids completing the actions on the "do" cards, as well as some of their funny responses to "Q" cards. Like they say, "Kids say the darnedest things" and when you sit down to play QWunder with them, you will see this for yourself.



Example of a Q Card:

"Q played soccer with the neighborhood kids. He dribbled the ball down the field all by himself and scored 20 goals. Why do you think the other kids stopped wanting to play with him?

Response from the kids -- My nephew picked this card, but everyone was quick to chime in about Q needing to share and include the others in the game. Sports are team player games, and without a team or letting other join in, it is not fun. Bella was also quick to add that you have to share and take turns, as she is learning this now with Savannah in regards to playing together nicely and sharing their toys. :-)

Example of a "Do" Card:

"Hop on one leg 20 times. Now try the other leg 20 times."

Reaction from the kids -- This was a great action task to do, as it made the kids not only concentrate as they jumped on the correct foot, while counting out loud, but also support one another when they saw each other getting tired halfway through. They started with so much energy that by number 14 they were tired. They pushed each other and together got through the "do" task before taking a moment to rest before trying the other leg. Bella, although not playing the game because of her age, amazed everyone, including me at her balance and coordination skills. She zipped right through this "Do" challenge card and all the others. On a few occasions, she offered up suggestions and support to my niece and nephew when she saw them struggling to rub their bellies and tap their heads at the same time. :-)

Example of a "You" Card:

"What is your favorite dinner? Can you say how it is made?

Reaction from the kids -- Go figure, our picky eater in the house, Savannah, landed on this card. She talked about how Mac and Cheese from the box is her favorite dinner. And, it was cute to hear her talk about how I make it for her. When she got to the part about the cheese, she talked about how I cut up a big piece of orange cheese into little pieces, mix it together with a stick of butter and lots of milk and then viola, the pasta is all cheesy. Don't worry, I didn't step in and correct her. One day, she will have the pleasure of making mac and cheese and see how it is really made. For now, I will let her go on thinking I make it this way - at least she is eating it, and it is her favorite dinner. :-)

Another topic that was brought up during game play was about respect and treating others with kindness. I was shocked to hear Savannah chime in when my nephew was talking about respect and how you should treat others as you want to be treated. She shared an instance at the playground a few days earlier on how a child with eczema like Bella was being made fun of by the other children. They didn't want to play with her, let alone slide down the slide with her. But, Savannah knew her skin condition was not contagious, and took it upon herself to show the other kids that this little girl was just like them. She grabbed her hand and went down the double slide together. And, together with Bella, the three girls ran around and had fun at the playground. Savannah stopped this little girl's tears and with her empathy, she told the other kids to stop making make of her and treating her poorly. Not only did she make a new friend, but she saw firsthand how kids can be cruel to one another when they are ignorant about things like eczema. They lucked out on making a great friend, and having a wonderful day at the park.

I wish I had this board game to pull out and share with all the kids, as they would have all benefited from learning about EQ. But, at least Savannah is able to pull from personal experience like this, when asked about interpreting others emotions and communicating effectively. 

I love watching my daughters and niece and nephew's faces light up while they play this game.  They can't stop giggling when doing the "Do" cards and even root each other on, as they take their turn. And, soon enough our youngest will be able to join us on game night when we play QWunder and move her own game piece around the board, as she helps Q reach the top of tree house. But, in the meantime, she is sitting back, absorbing everything and growing, as she learns emotional and social skills that will come into play when she heads off to preschool next year, and as she grows and develops relationships with others.

Please join me in helping Sofia reach her Kickstarter goal in bringing QWunder to the masses.  With her game, kids all around the world can benefit and learn these Life changing skills that will help them excel in school and life.  Even though we have only had this game for a few short weeks, I haven't stopped raving about it at Mommy and Me meetups, and have even brought it along to a few playgroups.  I also had the neighborhood kids over this past weekend to play with the kids, and they had a blast.  They couldn't stop asking when they could come over again and play QWunder, while the moms asked where they could pick up this fun, educational game that is unlike any other on the market. 

Now that you know what EQ is and how it is crucial in your child's emotional and social growth, don't you think your child deserves to learn these necessary skills?  Thanks to Sofia and her QWunder board game, now they can through practice and repetition.  The game is so much fun, filled with cute illustrations of Q the monkey, and the "Do" action cards will keep them engaged until the game is over.



To learn more about this mom-invented game, and how you can fund Sofia's Kickstarter campaign, visit http://bit.ly/EQtainment. By just pledging $30, you and your family can Sofia's new game, QWunder, in addition to the cute story book, with shipping included. Act fast, as there are only a limited number of these Kickstarter pledge rewards available for those who fund at this level and up. So, get your hands on this must have game for kids today, while helping me and others support a fellow mom entrepreneur. Thank you!


Don't forget to follow QWunder and Sofia on her social media pages, in addition to helping her achieve their Kickstarter goal...


Disclosure: This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and EQtainment, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia  #Qsracetothetop http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.

1 comment :

  1. these cards sound like a great way to teach children I really like that it teaches them manners.
    heather [email protected]

    ReplyDelete