I have a house full of history lovers and just about anything that involves history brings on much excitement in my home. Then add a history game in the mix and the kids get really excited. Recently, we have been playing a couple of games that involve the Medieval time period with History for Kids: Medieval History Memory Game, History for Kids: Medieval History Go Fish Game, along with the Teaching Medieval History with Games (book).

Teaching Medieval History with Games (book) is a small paperback booklet with 32 pages. With 48 different games to play using both the History for Kids: Medieval History Memory Game and the History for Kids: Medieval History Go Fish Game. With so many games you have many options whether you have one student, a family game, or in a classroom of 40 students. It’s pretty amazing all the different games that are conceived out of two games. There is something for everyone from your basic Go Fish and Memory Game. To more action games like Charades to games that involve teamwork. Each of the different games has an age range along with how many players are suited for that particular game. I would recommend the book with the games for the variety of games.

History for Kids: Medieval History Memory Game has 64 cards for matching 32 pairs of cards. The cards are full color pictures and made of a thick and durable glossy finish cardboard. The cards have a variety of pictures from people of the time period, monuments, art, symbols, and maps. The game comes in a sturdy box for storage.

In the box there are instructions to play the game two different ways. Remember, with the Teaching Medieval History with Games (book) you have more game options.

1. Medieval History Memory: The classic basic matching game. The Player that finds the most matching pairs wins. For ages 3 and older. Intended for 2 or more players

2. Categories Game Instructions: The object is to place the memory tiles in their correct categories as fast as possible.  Place four Category Tiles -Europe, The Americas, The Far East, and Arabia.  Place all 64 cards face down. One player says, "Go" and starts timing. Player one puts all the tiles under the correct Category Tile. When all the Category Tiles are done you check them and any incorrect placement of the tile gets 10 seconds added to their time per tile. Then the next player will play. Intended for 8 and older and 2 or more players.

History for Kids: Medieval History Go Fish Game has 48 jumbo cards. The cards are very sturdy. Each of the cards is full color and has a variety of pictures from people of the time period, landmarks, art, and objects. The game comes in a standard card game box for storage.

The card game has four games in one with instructions for the 4 games in the box. Teaching Medieval History with Games (book) you have more game options. Intended for age 5 and up depending on the game.

1. Go Fish Game is your standard game and is for 2 or more players.

2. Collect the Cards Game- Players use historical facts and have to try and guess the image on the card. If you guess correctly, the player wins the card. For 2 or more players and can also play as teams with several individuals.

3. Chronology Game-The players assembles all cards in chronological order, as fast as they can. The fastest time wins. For 2-6 players.

4. Continents Game- The players assembles all cards by continents, as fast as they can. The fastest time wins. For 2-6 players.

How did I use this in my homeschool?

This year in history we are learning about the medieval time period. This has been a fun activity to go with our studies this year. We’ve had a lot of fun playing all the games. I liked seeing my kids see a picture on one of the cards and recall something that we have learned already. It made for some good discussions without the kids thinking they are learning. I could tell that they have been paying attention when they recall the information. Sometimes, the kids wouldn’t remember what they learned and I could talk about it more. It made me feel like I was sneaking in a lesson!

My son (10) really enjoyed the games. He liked exploring as many games as he could in the book. I pretty much let him explore the games and teach me how to play them. The Teaching Medieval History with Games (book) is very easy to understand and he didn’t have any issues understanding how to play the games.

My daughter (14) has lots of special needs and was very happy playing Go Fish and the Memory Game. She didn’t want to venture outside of those two games. She spent a lot of time exploring the cards and looking at the pictures.

I would love to see a bit more information on the cards like dates and details about the picture on the cards. Just watching how many times my daughter looked over the cards I think she would have retained a lot of facts if they had more information on the cards.

The Classical Historian has more of these games in different time periods. The prices are very reasonable. I would recommend this product. It’s a good way to get out of textbooks and just have fun with history.

-Product review by Renee Knoblauch, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2016