Daily Archives: March 19, 2020

Photo-A-Day, Review, Toys

Review – Fast and Fun In Home Learning with Gravitrax

Gravitrax and learning

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00444

We received the Gravitrax Starter Kit for free from Ravensburger to play with and review. Opinions are our own.

This has been our first week of home school for Andy and Eva. While the kids are getting used to the new schedule and how things are working here they do need some supplemental education and challenges to get through each day. Whether is is assembling a go kart or going for a walk these little diversions from structured assignments have been very helpful. Today I took out Gravitrax for us to use.

I first saw Gravitrax at Toy Fair. There was a huge display of it at the entrance of the exhibit hall and it was fascinating. Gravitrax is a marble run system that is easy to assemble, has no motors but can keep the steel marbles going and going, if you create a trax with that intention. What impressed me most was that Gravitrax is a clean modular system. All the parts are measured out to a precise size and so they fit together easily for great marble movement. The starter kit gives you a bunch of pieces and instructions to make several different marble runs. However, you can make so many more of your own creations and with expansion there are all sorts of fun things to do.

Together we used this toy to work on following directions, problem solving, gravity, magnetism and kinetics. After we had built a few of the examples from the instruction booklet Andy wanted his turn at making his own track. Another nice feature is the mat at the bottom of the track. This has holes so that the elements can sit inside securely and they wont go sliding all over the place. This also helps when measuring out the distance between support pieces and the trax pieces. I like that the tracks lay down into the pieces and do not snap in place, it makes for quick changes when building. The toy lends itself well to trial and error and experimentation. Excellent for learning about cause and effect, too. You can see how excited Andrew was when using it in this video.

You can find out more about Gravitrax on their website and that site also has a bunch of useful videos about each of the elements as well as tips and tricks for builders.

I’ve found Gravitrax in Target and other stores but you can also order it online through our affiliate link to the Gravitrax sets on Amazon.com.

Review, Video Game

Video Game Review: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX

Pokemon-Mystery-Dungeon-Rescue-Team-DX

We received a free digital download of the new Pokemon-Mystery-Dungeon-Rescue-Team-DX game from Nintendo. Opinions of the game are my own.

Andy is big into Pokémon these days. He’s got tons of cards and always wants to play with me. He’s got some of the previous Pokémon games like Storm and Shield but this one is a bit different. This game has a beautiful watercolor look to it and in this game you go on all sorts of adventures as a Pokémon yourself. Yes, you are the Pokémon in the story and you get a partner to help you along the way.

When you start the game you are asked a bunch of questions that helps the game determine which Pokémon you should be. However, if you don’t like the choice that the game makes for you then you can choose your own Pokémon character.

Once you have assimilated to being a Pokémon in this world then you go on adventures though various dungeons to save other Pokémon or find things. You get a lot of different little quests to do. You battle other Pokémon with the help of your partner and you find different resources to help you get stronger or heal you.

This game is actually and enhanced reimagining of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team for Game Boy Advance and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team for Nintendo DS. Tose games get a stunning new look on the Nintendo Switch. you can see it all as you explore these dangerous dungeons!

You can find out more about this game on the Nintendo Website.