By Beth S. Pollak
Memory Match, Tile Puzzles, Sequence Scrambles — Caribu’s new games are an exciting way to connect with family members in your next virtual playdate! These colorful contests are excellent activities for all ages. Play one-on-one, or try a team tournament with your grandchildren! You can also play by yourself when you need some solo gaming time.
To get started, make sure that you’ve signed up and installed the latest version of the Caribu app on your phone or tablet. Only the newest updates include the games! Be patient: It might take a few days for your games feature to load. Also, remind your Caribu contacts to update their app as well so you can all enjoy the fun together.
Once your app is updated, you can find all of the games when you tap the ‘Play’ tab in the Caribu Library.
To add a sense of challenge, set a timer and see how long it takes you to complete one of the games or puzzles. Then, try to beat your time the next time you play! Or, challenge friends and family members to race the clock. Who can finish first? Keep track of your times, and try to improve from call to call! Here’s a preview of what you’ll find:
Memory Games
Start the gaming with Caribu’s Memory Match! Test your memory with family and friends to see who wins the most matches. Flip the squares to find the pairs. Do you remember where the pictures are? Take turns to find their locations! Choose from themes like pirates, space, monsters, rainbows, animals, and fruits for your next family video-call. Laugh at your mistakes and celebrate the victories! For an additional challenge, pick a theme that has tricky patterns. The subtle differences will keep you guessing! Challenge your competition — or let the little ones win.
Sequence Games
Are you good at putting puzzle pieces together in the correct order? Choose from a rainbow, a space scene, a twisty pipe, and more! Sequence these 16-piece puzzles in your next virtual playdate. To move a piece of the puzzle, tap it once, and then tap the location where you think it belongs. If your kids are learning their letters, try an ‘Alphabet Potion’ sequence game: organize the letters A-Z along with the correct potion bottles. There’s also a puzzle to practice counting, with the numbers 1-16. Keep going until you finish the puzzle! Your trophy awaits at the end.
Tile Games
Remember the plastic tile games you used to get in goodie bags? Caribu brings these favorites online with colorful nine-piece Tile Puzzles, featuring fantastic images of unicorns, dinosaurs, sea treasures, monster trucks are more! The puzzles are similar to the Sequence Games but with fewer pieces. To move the puzzles pieces around, tap the one you’d like to move, and then tap the location where you want to place it. Time yourself with different puzzles to see how fast you can solve them!
Word Searches
Search for animal names, autumn words, space vocabulary and more fun terms in our Word Search pages! Explore in all directions to solve the puzzle in your next family video-call. It’s a great way to practice spelling with kids who are learning to read and write. Take turns finding the words, and collaborate to complete the whole search! Cross off words as you find them so you can keep track of which ones are left. How many words can you find?
Mazes
Caribu’s got mazes of all shapes and sizes for your next interactive playdate! Try simple ones with younger kids, and harder ones with the older siblings. Monkey through a jungle maze, navigate a ship’s course, and swim through the currents. There are also unicorn mazes and NASA spaceship mazes! Pick a fun color to wind your way around, and see who can complete the maze in the shortest amount of time. Twist and turn until you find the right path!
Matching
Matching is an important skill for all kiddos! Practice pairing words, colors, animals, and more. Do you know the names of neighborhood animals? How about everyday vehicles? Can you match insects with their body parts? How about matching animals with their shadows? Draw lines to connect objects with their names or corresponding images. Practice reading and learning new vocabulary so you can find the right pairs! Have fun with all of the mix-ups and match-ups in your next Caribu video-call.
Sudoku
Caribu Sudoku is designed especially for children! Solve our kid-size sudoku boards by finding the correct sequences of shapes, images, icons, and numbers. Start out small with 4×4 grids, and then move to our 5×5 boards. Draw the symbols into the grid to complete each sequence. Practice your math and logic skills by working together (or competing head to head!). Make sure you don’t have any repetition across lines.
Hidden Objects
What’s hiding between the lines of Caribu’s Hidden Objects coloring pages? See how many different shapes, creatures, and objects you can find! Make it a competition: who can identify the most shapes? Enjoy smiles of excitement and discovery when you catch a tricky one! Choose from themes like dinosaurs, insects, shapes, animals, toolbox, and more. Circle the objects one by one, make a list of the ones you find, or color them in during your next family video-call. May the best detective win!
Spot The Difference
Test your observation skills with Caribu’s Spot The Difference Pages! In each activity, you’ll see two pictures drawn that have just a few small differences between them. Can you find what makes each one unique? Color in the differences, or take turns circling them with a loved one in a virtual playdate. Look carefully to catch the tiny details! Pick from themes like trucks, diving, surfing, and friendly animal scenes. How long will it take you to spot the differences?
Remember to upload the latest version of the Caribu app to get started, and remind your contacts to do so as well! Let the little ones pick a game, and get ready for a night of fun for everyone.
Beth S. Pollak is a writer and educator based in California. In addition to working with Caribu, she consults with educational organizations and EdTech companies. Beth has worked as a teacher and journalist in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. She holds degrees in journalism, bilingual education, and educational leadership. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, biking, picnics, and dance.