Doctor Office Toys Helping the Child to Visit a Pediatric Clinic in the Good Mood

A pediatrician friend of mine often laments about zealous parents promising children that there won't be any needles or procedures that may agonize the child. And if the child is due for a vaccination, as a doctor she has broken the child's trust. The next time pediatric doctor makes a promise to the child, he is unlikely to believe her. But you can't really blame parents for this. As a mother of two, I understand how difficult it is to prepare a child for a visit to the pediatrician. Anxious parents in an effort to calm children often unknowingly end up making matters worse.

But there are several ways through which a pediatrician's visit can be made interesting and welcoming. Waiting room toys, activity wall panels, play table or wooden play cubes are the centers of attention and the place where children of all ages congregate to play while waiting for the doctor's checkup. These toys, when placed in the pediatric clinic, distract kids from the unpleasant thoughts and start the visit in the right mood.

Needless to say, the first step is to ensure that the atmosphere is calming but fun filled and interesting. The friend whom I earlier mentioned made sure that the rooms completely distracted the child from the purpose of the visit. There were walls with different themes that range from deep sea to dense forest. If the deep sea room had walls with pictures of corals, star fishes and octopuses, the dense forests had pictures of giraffes, monkeys and elephants amidst wild bushes and trees. To throw in a good measure of reality, the deep sea room had an aquarium as well. There were waiting room toys placed in each room.

While we are on the subject of toys, it's important that the pediatrician chooses the toys with care. They should be interesting enough for the child to play and the collection should be vast enough to be used by children of all age groups. A good idea is to include at least one game that involves group activity. You can't be having enough toys to give all the children at the same time. Thus, activity wall panels or activity tables are of great use, since many children can play at once. You can even choose from giant building blocks that children can play with.

But make sure, you've devised a way to ensure that the toys from the' unwell' section does not spill over to the toys in the 'healthy' section.

And finally it's not only about the clinic and the pediatric clinic toys; it's about the pediatrician himself as well. Doctors who end up making false promises that a procedure would be painless (when it's going to be just the opposite), doctors who aren't patient enough with children are sure to be unpopular among children.

The next time a parent's complaining about a child refusing to visit the pediatrician, make sure you take a good look around the clinic. The solution probably lies within the clinic, than with the child.

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Chess Setup Of Bishops And Horses And Rooks Oh My

Chess setup seems a bit overwhelming at first because the pieces must start in certain squares and are only allowed to move in certain ways, but it does not take long to begin having fun playing. It is good if two people can learn together avoiding discouragement if one person constantly wins over the other.

Starting from the corners and working inward, we will set up the chess board and discuss briefly the moves the initial pieces can make; remembering that vertical rows are files (letters) and horizontal rows are ranks (numbers). When beginning it is best to have a board with the files and ranks marked.

Rooks are generally shaped as castles on a traditional board, but to call them castles is incorrect in some circles. The person playing white has a black square at "a1" and a white square at "h1" and this is where their rooks begin. The person playing black will have rooks at "a8" and "h8". Rooks are generally considered to be very powerful and are able to move horizontally and vertically along the files and ranks. It can move multiple squares if needed until it encounters the other player's piece (capture), the edge of the board, or one of their own pieces (stop).

The next pieces to set are the knights. Generally shown as horses, or horse heads, the knights occupy "b1" and "g1" (white) and "b8" and "g8" (black). The movement of the knight is special because it is the only piece that is allowed to jump over other pieces of the player or the opponent. Their movement forms an "L" by moving two spaces up or back and one left or right or vice versa. It does not matter if there are other pieces except at the end of the L where the knight lands. It cannot land in a square occupied by its own color but it can capture a piece of the opponent's color. Part of its power is that it can sneak up on pieces the opponent may consider protected. It is not considered to be as powerful as the rook, but equal in power to the bishops.

The next pieces to set are the bishops, which usually in English sets resemble a bishop's hat or mitre. This is not true of the appearance of the bishops in all sets from all countries. The bishops occupy the squares "c1" and "f1" for white and "c8" and "f8" for black. Bishops move along the diagonals and will always be on the same color square they started on. It can move multiple squares if needed until it encounters the other player's piece (capture), the edge of the board, or one of their own pieces (stop). It is not as powerful as a rook, but is equal in power to the knights.

Breaking the chess setup and movement of the pieces into groups helps the game to be less confusing.

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Several of the Most Recognized Classic Board Games and Their History

I grew up playing board games with my siblings, some of the games we used to play seem to be timeless; I thought I would make a list of the most recognized board games on an international level. Here is what I came up with.

1. Checkers, which evolved from the game of Draught, was introduced to Europe through Egypt sometime during the 16th century. The oldest known draught (checkers) manual was found to be published in 1549.

It is common knowledge that the game of checkers as we know it today, has been the source of countless hours of fun for families, friends and has been taught generation to generation within our families.

2. Another game that always ranks as one of the most recognized games is Chess. This game is also one that follows on the shirt tails of checkers (draught). It is recognized as an evolved version of checkers. Chess has been used throughout time as a source to gage intelligence and deductive reasoning and has also been used to enhance these processes. Chess, just as checkers, has been the source of countless hours of entertainment, fun, and even some fun frustration to families, friends and their opponents since its invention.

3. Another game that ranks in the most recognized board games would be the game of Chinese Checkers. This games name leads one to think that it was originated in China, but its origin is not Asian at all. This board game actually originated in Germany rather than China as the name implies.

The name also may lead you to think that it is a variation of the game of Checkers but again it is not. Chinese checkers is a deviation of an American game called Halma that originated in the United States and was first called Stern-Halma. The "Stern" portion of the name meaning star refers to the design of the playing surface of the game board.

A game of luck and strategy, the Chinese Checkers board game is also ranked in the Most Recognized Board Games, and is also known as a favorite of many generations.

4. Tic-Tac-Toe is another board game recognized the world over. This game is believed to have originated as a game called Terni Lapilli during the Roman Empire in the first century. It is believed to be the oldest game in history still being played today. This game of chance and strategy is a favorite of young children and the young at heart.

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So You Want to Learn to Play Chess Well?

Learning to play a game like chess is a great idea as it's an effective way to learn new skills, and have a lot of fun too. There are organized chess clubs all over the world and you can make a lot of new friends who have the same interests as you and are looking for new partners to play against.

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get started either, all you need invest in is a standard sized chess board, wood is fine and probably one of the better options as it lasts for years and actually looks better when it starts to get a little shabby as this gives it character. So spend wisely on your first board and ensure it is durable and hard-wearing.

When buying a chess set you can either choose to get the board and pieces together, in which case they will match, or buy them separately if you like the idea of a set that's a bit different. Wooden chess boards with marble pieces can work just as well if the colours contrast and it can give a set a unique look that suits your personality.

The objective is to make moves that lead to winning the game, each player chooses a colour, generally black or white, and there are 16 pieces in a chess set consisting of 6 different types, a King, a Queen, two Bishops, two Rooks, two Knights, and eight Pawns.

These pieces are each allowed to move in various directions and a certain number of squares, so Knights can move in the shape of the letter L, two squares forward, backward, left, or right, followed by one square left or right, and their added advantage is the ability to jump over other pieces, the only piece that can do this. Bishops can move as many squares as they like as long as it's diagonally and the path is clear. Rooks can move forward, backward, left, and right as many spaces as desired without jumping over any other chess piece.

Then there are the pawns that take over the whole front line to start with and doggedly make their way, one square at a time, to the top of the opponent's side whereupon they can be crowned as queens. Although pawns are only allowed to only move one square at a time, on the first move they can move two squares if they want to, also they can only move straight ahead, until they want to capture one of the enemy then they have to take the piece diagonally.

Queens have the most powerful role of all the pieces, and are one of your most important players, as they can go anywhere they choose, forwards, backwards, sideways and diagonally, unlike the king who can only move 1 square a time forward, backward, left, and right and diagonally.

The aim of the game is to capture your opponents King, so if you hear your opponent say checkmate, then you have lost the game. There are other possibilities, for example the game could be a draw if the only pieces left in the game mean that nobody can win. Check means you still have a chance as it's a warning that your king is being attacked and could be captured on the next move, but gives you the opportunity to move away from the danger, unlike checkmate.

White is always the first to move at the beginning of a game, and you should be aware that y once you have moved a piece you can move it back only if you don't take your finger off it, once you let go then you have committed to that move. Make sure you are definite about that move before letting go. Electronic chess sets are an effective way to teach yourself chess if time is limited and means you can carry a portable product around with you whilst on trips or travelling to and from work.

Playing backgammon or chess are great ways to unwind after a long day at work or school, or a stressful day doing chores, whilst simultaneously developing cognitive skills for any age. Backgammon for travel is also a popular game and can be carried around easily enough when bought in lightweight, compact designs.

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Chess Basics and Strategy to Dominate the Home Game - Beat Your Friends at Chess 1

4 Basic Chess Strategy Factors

In general, we will focus on four basic factors that need to be taken into account when choosing your opening. Each opening in this book will include a gauge to measure how powerful each opening is for each factor. Keeping these factors in mind during the entire course of the game will give you a good idea of how to react to any situation.

Tempo

Tempo means making every move count. It's closely related to speed, and is needed both offensively and defensively. To keep tempo when opening, one must avoid moving the same piece twice. Another way to loose tempo is to move pieces that do not work together or do not accomplish anything quickly.

Keeping tempo throughout the opening means more flexibility, quicker attacks, and a more fluid defense. On higher levels of play, being a single move ahead in tempo is a solid advantage. On the home game level, a mistake in tempo is much more likely and therefore the advantage from keeping your tempo can be enormous.

Center Pawns:

Despite their appearance, pawns may just be the most powerful piece in the game. Think about it - the only piece worth trading for a pawn is a pawn. Forcing your opponent to trade when you have better center pawn control will give you an advantage and give your opponent a chance to make the game ending mistake.

Having pawns in the center means having pawns that are either positioned in, or able to attack, the four squares in the middle of the board. This can drastically reduce your opponents options, and eventually tighten a noose that will likely end in your victory. Just don't forget to keep the pawns protected from a distance. As long as your center pawns are protected, you want them up as far as physically possible.

Minor Pieces:

Minor pieces are everything other than pawns, the king, and the queen. Advancing the minor pieces is vital to both attack and defense. Where you place your pawns early on will be the biggest factor in how easily your minor pieces can advance.

The most important role of minor pieces is to put pressure on the opponent's king. This pressure doesn't just mean an immediate checkmate but also includes locking down the minor pieces or queen of your opponent, forcing them not to move and expose the king.

King Safety:

While some players may prefer more aggressive strategies, the defensive player will be most interested in this factor. The first opening we will work through is a perfect example of a formation with high king safety. Check our ebook for more beginner chess openings.

The king is typically safest after castling, which can be performed as soon as there are no pieces between the king and one of the rooks. The king is even safer if there are also a number of pawns close by. Openings which leave room for the king to castle, and don't remove defensive pawns, will develop a safer king.

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The Settlers of Catan: Strategy Guide

The Settlers of Catan, by designer Klaus Teuber, is one of the most successful board games of the last few decades, a game that brought many people back in playing board games, initiated many into the hobby and has millions of fans worldwide. In this perspective and while preparing for the national championship of Catan in my country, Greece, I thought it might be a good idea to compile a strategy guide for the game for beginners and experienced players alike. So, let's go!

Main Strategies

There are actually three main strategies you can follow, depending on the setup of the board. The first two usually work better and faster while the third will be your last resort, if the setup isn't favorable or if you don't have the opportyunity to get the initial positions you'd like at the start of the game. Actually your strategy will be very much dependent on your initial placement of settlements and vice versa.

Wood/brick strategy. Your goal is to build as many settlements as you can while also building and maintaining the longest road. To pursue this strategy you need strong positions for wood and brick production, as well as a little grain and a little wool. Build your first road as soon as possible and go for the best available third settlement position. Continue to expand your road, trying to connect your first two settlements which ideally should be far from each other. Continue building settlements, possibly at harbors too. Finally upgrade 1-2 settlements to cities and there you go! Grain/Ore strategy. Your goal is to upgrade your settlements fast and purchase many development cards in order to have the biggest army. In order to achieve your goal, you need strong initial positions for grain and ore, a little wool too. Before upgrading your settlements, try first to build a third settlement. That will assure your don't get blocked by a fast wood/brick opponent. As soon as you have three settlements try to upgrade all of them, while purchasing development cards. These cards will provide knights that will become your army while also removing the thief from your settlements/cities. Hopefully you will get some victory points too and finish the game abruptly surprising your opponents. Mixed strategy. If there aren't any good initial positions to go for one of the previous strategies or you lose them by playing 3rd or 4th, you can try to mix them by building your initial settlements in a way that you get a little of everything. This way you will be slower but more flexible to bad dice rolls. As soon as you see the scale weighing towards one of the two strategies, emphasize on that one.

Initial Placement

One of the most important decision you will have to make during the game is where to place your first two settlements. Take your time to study the board and don't rush things. This decision will affect your ability to produce materials in an efficient way and will determine your whole strategy. There are many factors to consider in order to choose the best available positions. The most important ones are the following:

Dice roll statistics. For the throw of a single die, all outcomes are equally probable. But in the throw of two dice, the different possibilities for the total of the two dice are not equally probable because there are more ways to get some numbers than others. For example, there are six ways to get a total of 7, but only one way to get 2. Number seven that moves the thief is the most common roll but of course there is no such hex on the board. Numbers six and eight are the next best thing. To help you decide, numbers with a higher probability are designated on the Catan island with larger font than those of lower probability. The best resource producing numbers are 6 and 8 and apart from being bigger than the other numbers their font is red. If you look closely, you can see a number of black dots below the numbers (not in all editions though). They also represent the probability of a number to be rolled. 6 and 8 have 5 dots because they can be rolled with 5 different ways. 5 and 9 have four dots, 4 and 10 three dots, 3 and 11 two dots and finally 2 and 12 have one dot being the less frequent rolls. Upon deciding for your first settlement position the most important factor is to count the dots on each position open on the board and find out which position will produce materials more efficiently. For your second placement this factor will become less important because that settlement will finalize your strategy and thus you will probably more specific needs. Resource types / Strategy. Having in mind the strategies mentioned above, you should always try first to pursue one clear strategy, either wood/brick or grain/ore. A position with 12 dots which produces a wood, brick and wool with highest numbers on wood/brick is better than one with 13 dots producing wood, wool and ore because the latter doesn't serve any particular strategy. Your first settlement is the most important one, so choose it so that resources match your strategy if you can. Variability of resources. You could try to build a settlement on a 13 dot wood/wood/wood position, planning to build your second settlement on a wood harbor but I warn you: that is most probably not going to work. Ideally you could build your first two settlements so that you can produce all five resources, although you will actually want that only if you are going for the mixed strategy. In general you will want to emphasize production on a combination of either wood/brick or grain/ore with supplements from the other resources. If you narrow your production too much, and focus on 2-3 resources you will have to trade two of them in a harbor (trading with other players is never guaranteed) to get a new resource this way decreasing the total number of available resources you have and slowing you down. Producing at least four different resources seems crucial because it guaranties flexibility in building and trading. Variability of numbers. Although building in two different locations, each adjacent to a number 6 tile, let's say one producing wood and the other one producing brick, initially seems a good idea, you may find that at times you will be either flooded with resources when 6 comes up or with nothing at hand when it doesn't. Having a streamline production of resources by occupying spaces with variation in numbers seems the way to go as it helps mitigate the factor of bad luck that always plays a role in dice-rolling games. Having one common number in your first two settlements is acceptable but try not to have more. Harbors. It's not wise to build one of your first two settlements in a harbor as you will have at least one less resource producing hex at your desposal. It's definitely not advisable to build on a harbor adjacent to a single hex. However if there is no better location building on a harbor would be acceptable in an occasion in which the harbor is adjacent to two high producing hexes and it enables you to trade in a resource which will be abundant. The location of harbors in general should be taken into account during your second settlement placement. Having the ability to do 3:1 trades or even 2:1 for a resource you will have plenty of shouldn't be underestimated as it could give you a significant boost in late game. Try to always have at least one settlement near the coast and if you have to choose between two equal locations go for the one closer to a 2:1 harbor of a resource you will have plenty of. Space for expansion. Try to position your settlements far from one another especially if on a wood/brick strategy. That will prevent opponents from blocking your way around, give you more flexibility in expanding and will enable you to ultimately connect your two settlements when going for the longest road. Direction of initial roads. That is a tricky one, especially if you are playing first or second. The board will, in that case, be empty or almost empty and you will have to decide where to direct your first two roads. Try to think which are the best positions around the one you just built. Consider that these will probably be taken up from other players and direct your road to a less favorable but still promising location. If you are on a wood/brick strategy, you can risk directing your roads towards interesting locations towards the center of the map, having in mind the possibility of connecting your first two settlements. The center of the map is always a bit risky though, as there is a good chance that you get trapped in there and not able to expand your road enough to build the longest road. In general go for the center if you have a lot of wood and brick and feel confident that you'll get there before your opponents. If you are on grain/strategy it's better to expand outwards as you will probably not be fast enough to build at a location near the center of the map. If a convenient harbor is near, go for it.Thoughts on gameplay

First few moves:

Together with initial placement of settlements, your first few moves will be very crucial. When on wood/brick strategy try to expand quickly, building new roads and settlements, thus blocking your opponents and strengthening your position on the board. If on gran/ore strategy try to grab the best free position near one of your setlements before starting upgrading.

Expanding:

Try to expand as soon as you can and occupy spaces with numbers you don't already have. This way you can ensure a steady flow of resources no matter what the dice roll is. Even if you are on a grain/ore strategy expanding is the first thing you must do before upgrading settlements to cities. Grab one more settlement (so you have 3) and then you can forget all about it and focus on upgrading.

Longest road:

If you are on a wood/brick strategy, it's crucial for you to build the longest road in order to win. Expand, always have that in mind. Choose a path which is less likely to be blocked by opponents and try to connect your initial settlements soon enough before the path is blocked.

Pay attention to your opponents' moves:

While you are focused on executing your highly polished strategy, don't forget that your opponents are doing the same. Especially when you have accomplished the goal of having the longest road, watch your opponents' moves closely. They are almost sure to try to get it away from you with sneaky moves:) Try to block their path before they can be dangerous even if it slows down your plans.

Play aggressively:

The best defence is offence! When going for the longest road, always try to block early any opponents that you see as potential competitors for the prize. Don't forget that you can also break an opponent's road by building a settlement along it. You can also try to trap grain/ore opponents, denying them a third settlement and thus slowing them down considerably.

Trading:

Always try to take part in trades. Remember that each time your opponents are trading between them, they are strengthening their position and you get nothing. Don't be easy on your trades but don't be too demanding either. Trading in your turn is better than trading on others' turns because you can immediately use the resources and do some meaningful stuff. If you trade on an opponent's turn, you may lose what you got by the time it's your turn to play due to a knight, the thief (if holding too many resources) or even a Monopoly card.

Monopoly development card:

Stealing all resources of one kind from all players is a very powerful weapon and you should use it carefully. Before playing it, you must consider two things: First, what resource do I need? (Well, that's the easy part!). Secondly, do other players have that resource and actually do they have plenty of it? Supposedly, you need brick. If you play Monopoly and get two bricks, that was pretty lame. If you don't exactly remember what kind of resources your opponent have, wait a turn or two and see what they get. If they get a lot of it, don't use it and it is what you need, go play Monopoly in your next turn.

Thief

Some thoughts about the correct way of playing the thief:

Try to always attack the stronger opponent. You will decrease his resource cards and you will slow him down, enabling you (and unfortunately other players too) to catch up on victory points. If you are looking for a specific resource, steal from the opponent who is more likely to have it. You can try to get a hint about that by first asking to trade for the resource you need and see the reaction of other players. If someone has it but don't want to give it up they'll probably tell. That is a bit nasty but one has got to do what he's got to do! Place the thief on the best producing tile of the opponent you are stealing from. It will hurt him more. Also try to go for hexes that hurt multiple opponents. Scrabble's X Factor   Scrabble Tip - Learn High-Scoring Words   Bohnanza Board Game Review   Washer Toss - Playing a Simple Yet Fun Game   Interesting Facts About the Letter V   Tips and Tricks for Playing a Washers Game