Rapidough is a great game from Drumond Park and one that you can involve the family in.  You have two teams and it’s up to you how many on each team and you can have uneven sizes to perhaps allow for a younger player.  It’s recommended for players age 8+. Rapidough is the original game of modelling charades that has recently been thoroughly refreshed to provide many hours of fun with family and friends.

It’s a game full of fun and everyone plays at once so there’s no time to get bored.  You are either making or guessing. We round it can get rather noisy and excited as every one tries to guess. The Modeller in each team takes a card and then attempts to sculpt the word or words shown into a shape, as their teammates begin their frenzied attempts to guess what’s emerging from the coloured modelling dough.

Guess too slow and you lose some dough, leaving you with less to shape your word next time around.  In each round, the first team to identify what’s been modelled correctly is, of course, the winner. There’s a sting in the tail of course… at the end of each round, the losing team has one ‘plug’ of dough taken away from them. The game ends when one of the team runs out of dough, so the other team wins.

It’s a really simple game to understand and play, but the creativity isn’t limited at all and your imagination and skill can come to the forefront.  If you’d like to win a copy of the game (worth £27.99), enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

5. Competition closes on 31st October 2018.
Rapidough

One of the things I liked about Word Bandit from Drumond Park is that it is actually four games in one. It’s a game for those aged 8 and over and you play in two teams.  The teams can have any number so it’s pretty flexible and you can even up the teams in terms of age and ability to make things more exciting.

Basically Word Bandit is a word-spotting board game that comes with an exciting wheel-spinning letter machine. Inside the box you’ll find a Word Bandit machine, playing board, two playing pieces, sand timer, sticker sheet and instructions. There’s minimal set up to do – just put a single sticker on your Word Bandit machine.  The rules are easy, so you could be up and playing within about 5 minutes.

Each team picks a playing piece (red or blue) and puts it on the red starting space. As you move around the board, the space you land on dictates which of the four games your team will play. One of the team pulls the bandit’s handle to spin the wheels each turn, and the opposition counts the score.

• Red spaces use just one row of letters. You have to shout out as many words as you can that contain any two of the letters you have spun.
• Yellow means you play with two rows of letters. You must come up with as many words as possible in that category (each yellow circle on the board has a category printed on it) beginning with one of the letters on display on the bandit. You can use any letter as many times as you like, as long as the words are different.
• A green space means Famous People. The aim here is to find the initials of as many famous people as possible while the sand runs through the timer and the letters do not need to be touching in the grid.
• If you land on a purple space, you play Winding Words. Open the sliding cover on the machine to reveal four rows of letters, then pull the handle to spin the word wheels, which come up with a set of random letters. You race the timer to find as many words as possible that wind around the grid of letters.  The letters of these words must follow on from each other, but can be in any direction.

It’s a fun game that should help with vocabulary building and general knowledge, but it’s a great one to play with a group of family or friends.  I have a copy of the game to give away to readers, so enter via the Gleam widget below.

Word Bandit

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

5. Competition closes on 31st October 2018.

I’ve got a bit of a confession to make, but before today I’d never made waffles.  I had very little idea about what was involved, but given that I love waffles, I was very happy to give them a try. Domu asked me to review the VonShef Rotating Waffle Maker and try out their quick, easy waffle recipe, so I did both of those things.

The VonShef Rotating Waffle Maker has 20cm diameter non-stick plates to create four perfectly formed waffles and for easy cleaning.  There is a variable temperature control that lets you make waffles just how you like them and it features heat resistant handle, removable drip tray and non-slip feet. A recipe sheet is included to get you started.

I was impressed by how easy it all was and how good the results were.  First of all I heated up the waffle maker to get rid of any residue from manufacture.  Then (after the surfaces had cooled obviously) I gave them a quick wipe over with a damp cloth and allowed to try.  Now I was good to go.

Next I made up my batter mixture according to the recipe.  It’s very similar to making pancake batter and you can treat it in a similar way i.e. it will keep in the fridge for a few days.  I heated up the surfaces to a medium temperature and then oiled the surfaces using vegetable oil and a pastry brush. Next I ladled in the mixture being careful not to overfill.  Then I closed the handle and cooked for 5-6 minutes whilst turning the handle from time to time to ensure an even and complete waffle.

Then the moment of truth.  I was very pleasantly surprised to find that my first time had been successful and the picture below is taken with waffles made on this first attempt.  It really is very easy to do.

I’ve teamed up with Domu to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a waffle maker too.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winners will be chosen by a random draw.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter.

5. Competition closes on 23rd September 2018.
Waffle Maker

We got sent the Music Star Pack from Tech Will Save Us to review over the summer holidays.  It was great for H to have something different to build over the school break and it gives an extra sense of achievement when you are building something that will actually work. The Music Star Pack includes the two music kits from Tech Will Save Us in one pack: a Synth Kit to create music and a Speaker Kit to amplify the sound.

The first thing to point out is that you need to provide a 9 volt battery (the sort you use in smoke alarms usually) and a soldering iron.  Now we did have a battery available, but not a soldering iron.  That said, we didn’t have to look that far as my parents had one.  If you don’t want to buy one and don’t already have one, I’d suggest asking either someone older if they have one (I can remember Dad repairing things with his in the past, so I knew he had one) or you could try someone who has a relevant hobby or job (mechanics, those who are interested in electronics or jewellery making for instance).