What Is The Sentence? Board Game

 

What Is The Sentence?

A Brain-Stretching Game for Everyone by Sherry Martin, CEO of SFM Intl LLC

Having a successful business is about finding a need and filling it. I accomplished this goal with a game that promotes fun and creativity while developing vital skills in the English Language Arts.

As an African-American game developer, I’ve seen firsthand what it takes to inspire African-American children to strive for their goals and succeed in life. While developing my game, I wanted it to be tremendously effective in improving English Language Arts skills for children who may not have had the best educational experiences or opportunities. As they enjoy creating crazy sentences with the game, they are unconsciously practicing sentence creation, learning parts-of-speech, understanding classifications, and developing their creativity. Dr. Karyn Purvis, founder of the Karyn Purvis Child Development Center at Texas Christian University stated a few years ago, "Scientists have recently discovered that it takes about 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, unless you do it with play, in which case, it takes only 10-20 repetitions, with an average of 12!" What a difference a game can make!

I loved playing games with my family as a child and often created my own rules while playing my favorite games. I grew up getting enjoyment out of creating games too, but it never occurred to me until later in my life that I could market my own games until I saw a television show featuring the luxurious home of a woman who made her fortune by creating and selling her games. I was so excited that I stayed up all that night creating What Is The Sentence?, formally known as Sentence Says. I had also studied music as a child, encouraged by my mother who was a school teacher, prompting me to want to incorporate games with the same type of mental reflexes that are developed when learning to sight-read music fluently. It was important to me that the game be educational, creative, and fun for a wide age range so the whole family could enjoy and be challenged by it.

What Is The Sentence? fulfills all these requirements and more. It is laugh-out-loud funny while developing creative writing, grammar, vocabulary and quick thinking skills simultaneously. It is simple enough for a seven-year-old, yet demanding and creative enough for the most accomplished adult. I have incorporated multiple variations to keep the game fresh with different challenges in every round.

The basic game involves dealing 4-6 Consonant Cards and one Vowel Card to each player. One of the 67 Action Cards is also drawn and read to the players. The Action Card gives some sort of instruction for that round of play. The great variety of Actions can include using a color, emotion, country, state, adjective, plant, sound, insect, etc.

For instance, if your cards are: R, A, C, M, P and the Action Card says, “You must create a sentence with at least one vegetable in it,” your sentence could be:

Carol Makes Really Awesome Pumpkins or

Color My Rumpled Asparagus Purple.

Thus, players will create 5-7 word sentences, many of which will be laugh-out-loud funny, with little stress but lots of challenge. There are special instructions for children under 7 years old to make it easier for them to play and compete and alternate game instructions for Advanced Play. What Is The Sentence? is also great for children with short attention spans; you can play 3-4 rounds in only five minutes! It is also a good “hands-on” activity as your cards are flat on the table but must be moved around to get them in the right order for your sentence. This gives fidgety hands something to do.

As I’ve been seeing that my business succeeds, I’ve truly experienced enjoyment from, and true success in the engagement and creativity from kids who otherwise wouldn’t be so keen on learning traditionally. It’s been amazing to hear feedback from teachers and parents on how something I designed has inspired a decisive educational moment and motive that was a stepping stone toward a child’s bright future.