Hedbanz Game

Product Information

The question cards show sample questions that you could ask to help you figure out what you are. These questions are only a guide; you don't have to ask them if you don't want to. You can use any question except, "What am I? " At any point you may ask, "Am I a...?" Each player takes one card and WITHOUT LOOKING at the printed side, places the card in the center of his or her headband with the printed side visible to others. To Play

If you guess your card before the timer runs out, you may take another card and try to guess it before the timer runs out. Now flip over the timer. You get to go first! A great way to start is to try to figure out which category your card falls into. Try starting with a question like Am I an animal? To work out which games your child will probably enjoy the most, there are some things to consider: Competitive level: Some games are more competitive than others and there’s nothing wrong with nurturing a competitive spirit – games can help children learn to win or lose with grace and respect. Alternatively, you can encourage a child’s ability to work with others by choosing cooperation games instead. Encourage creative thinking. The cards included in the game are deceptively simple—it’s actually harder to pin down what your card is than you might think! Players have to be creative with their questions; for example, asking Am I smaller than a toaster? will give you a better idea of what your card could be than just asking Am I small?

Setup

Hedbanz is a favorite game at our house. I’ve also been able to tweak it and use it in my lessons at church or in Family Home Evenings as an attention getter to introduce the lesson’s topic. The object of the game is to guess what the word or phrase is on each card. If you are using it to introduce the lesson’s topic, use words or phrases that relate to the topic. Build expressive vocabulary. The 60+ cards depict many common animals, foods, and household items, and interacting with other players provides a great opportunity for your child to add to his or her expressive vocabulary. The game is designed for ages 7+, but you can include younger kids by allowing hints from older players.

The game helps children develop their powers of deduction with the support of those around them. They will also practise estimating probability and paying attention to detail, as well as learn the benefits of collaboration. Gameplay is pretty straightforward, with players starting in the middle and working towards clues. If their dice roll isn’t successful, the thief is one step closer to escaping. When it is timed, it is more of a competition of who can be the first one to guess what is on their card. Even after someone has guessed their card correctly, continue on until everyone has guessed their cards.When a player feels confident that they can identify their emotion, they may take a guess on their turn. The first person to identify their emotion is the winner of that round. The other players can then keep taking turns to ask questions about their emotions card until all emotions have been identified.

The “official” game has 60-second rounds but you can make your rounds however short or long you want, as long as they are the same for both players/teams. The box includes 16 suspect cards, 16 thief cards, 12 clue markers, four detective pawns, three custom dice, one fox figure, one evidence scanner, the game board and a rule sheet. Some pieces can be a choking hazard for very young children, so it’s not suitable for children under three.You can also make a simple construction paper headband like we all did in preschool or kindergarten to be Indians at Thanksgiving. My girls had so much fun playing Hedbanz on a play date with friends recently that it got me thinking about how easily the game could be adapted to become a fun way to further the conversation with your children about big emotions. Having regular conversations about their (and our) emotions helps kids to become more emotionally intelligent– as they learn to recognise and manage their emotions and develop the ability to keep calm in the face of overwhelming emotions (and to act in healthy, socially unacceptable ways in response to them), they begin to feel more confident, competent and capable. And our game of Which Emotion Am I? is another tool parents and educators can add to their big emotions toolkit as they help children to develop these skills. To make it a little more competitive, you can also have a timer and give each person 1-minute to ask their YES or NO questions. If in that time they have not guessed correctly what is on their card, the next person then gets a 1-minute turn. Continue on with each person taking 1 minute until someone guesses their card correctly. Want more cards? You can buy the full set of 120 cards I’ve created. The complete set comes with instructions for three different games you can play with the cards (headband game, memory, and 20 questions). Participants should have three chips each as well to start with. Players place these chips in the ‘bank’ when they identify a card.