Super Genuis First Words Review- Is It Worth It?
Super Genius, developed by Blue Orange, aims to be a tool to help children learn speech and language. Immediately noticeable is the colorful box, with a boy hero in a red suit, and a girl hero in a green suit. The words “SUPER GENIUS” pop out in bold green and red letters, really popping against a yellow background. The game is a relatively simple and pleasant package – there are no dice or tokens or any choking hazards for young children, only the included cards required for the card game, which are appropriately split into two piles.
The inside of the box includes cardholders, allowing for the game to be always organized neatly and ready to play at any notice. Blue Orange worked closely with professionals who study early child development in order to create a game that made sense for young children. Super Genius is actually considered a sub-studio of Blue Orange creations, and specializes in creating activities and games that are aimed primarily towards young and still developing children.
The game plays like an activity, but also serves to enhance childrens’ learning. Super Genius First Words prepares young readers by breaking down words into sound – these can range anywhere from having one syllable to having numerous syllables, but typically two syllables The children must then find the word and its matching image to create a pair. There are two types of cards – the picture cards, and the word cards. Any two cards have ONLY one match. Once the sound is created, it is up to the child to find the corresponding picture card.
The game is meant to promote early literacy in children, as well as encouraging social skills learned through cooperative lessons. The game can be played for any time frame, but the typical match lasts for around 15 minutes. The game is manufactured in the Peoples’ Republic of China, but designed by Blue Orange, who are tightly partnered with the Learning Express chain of stores. Learning Express focuses on games and activities meant to aid a child’s development. Therefore, as soon as a child is able to understand everything they might need to play the game (certain logical skills, as well as having a grasp on the English language), it is recommended to integrate the game into a daily routine to help your child learn at a more accelerated pace.
The game is aimed at children as young as 5, but can be played by children as young as 3 or 4, according to some reviews; how well these children understand the game is left in the air. Learning Express also offers a nice program to educators, teachers, or student aids; Learning Express will offer a discount of around 15 to 20% for anyone who can prove they are an educator, and intend to use their purchase in the classroom. I personally know of one teacher who helps aid special needs children who purchased a few copies of the card game for the school.
The game is priced as low as $12.99 available online, but can be found cheaper for some Black Friday sales, and occasionally can be found on sale for as low as $10 (excluding shipping/tax). For the pricepoint, it is well worth it to help aid your child’s development and introduce them to activities which will require cooperation with other children. Super Genius First Words is actually just one game in a line of other Super Genius games, all of which have an intent to focus on aiding the development of children’s linguistic abilities, as well as increasing the scope of a child’s skills.
These games include activities that focus on developing a child’s addition skills (Super Genius Addition), developing their reading capacity (Super Genius Reading 1), multiplication (Super Genius Multiplication), all on top of other activities that can help hone and develop a child’s skills prior to ever even being taught these skills in school. Super Genius has been hailed as an extremely effective tool for use by both educators and parents, and should you find yourself wanting to improve your childs’ own skills, then the Super Genius line of activities and games would be an asset that would be worth investigating and at least trying.