Our favourite resource this week was a charity shop find – the game Mastermind.
Mastermind is a logic game in which one player (the codemaker) places four differently coloured pegs (out of a possible eight colours) in a row, and the other person has up to twelve chances to crack the code.
The codemaker gives feedback by scoring each guess according to how many pegs of the correct colour it contains, and how many of those are also in the correct position.
I was amazed at how educational this game is – something I hadn’t noticed at all when I played it as a child. Playing recently my brain has at times felt quite scrambled figuring out the logic of my next guess!
One of the reasons Mastermind works so well in our house is because it’s not directly competitive. The codebreaker’s goal is to crack the code in as few guesses as possible and although theoretically the codemaker’s goal is for the code not to be guessed at all, in practice we were all rooting for the codebreaker!
If you don’t have the game, you can play Mastermind with pen and paper. There’s also an online version and a free iPhone app. A great way to develop logic skills and have fun together at the same time.
My kids just discovered Mastermind last week too. Via a board game dump by our dumpster! 🙂
Even better than the charity shop! 🙂
I used to enjoy Mastermind as a child. I haven’t introduced it to my boy yet, but this is a good one for Christmas! We’re not out of the cold yet and I’m already thinking of next Christmas…. 🙂 Thanks for sharing what you’re using. The game seems like a really good introduction to codes.
Always good to plan ahead! 😀 Thanks so much for stopping to “chat”, Hwee!
I really wish we were a gaming family. There are so many wonderful games out there now (thinking of course of the ones linked to history!). The children enjoy them but Gary and I, not so much. We try though!
I’m enjoying my two being old enough for games I actually enjoy, now! For you guys, one of the benefits of having a large family must be that the children can always find someone to play games with 😉 Our family favourite at the moment is Carcassonne.