Summer Toy Idea - Dolls that tan/ Summer sport/game idea- 'One step back, two steps forwards' race. Plus: Language bot idea/ Plus: Blinker game/ Plus: Hydra game

Summer Toy Idea – Tanning Dolls

Why not have dolls made out of heat reactive colour changing plastic that go golden brown in the sun; dolls that get suntans. These would be the perfect toys to take to the beach.

Summer Sport/ Game Idea: The ’One step back and Two steps forward’ race-

1.            This is a hopping or jumping race, like the 12 days of Christmas, in which competitors, each time they take another step forwards, go back to the beginning and start again.

2.            The race is made up of 8 different steps – 1.The first step is a jump forwards 2. The second step you spin around 3. The third step is a star jump  4. The fourth step you turn around and jump forwards backwards 5. The 5th step, you hop forwards three steps on your right foot 6. The 6th step is another jump. 7. The seventh step, you hop forwards three times on your left foot. 8. The 8th and final step is a cartwheel.

3.            The first competitor to perform all of the steps is the winner

Languagebot: How a Robot toy could be used to teach language

1. Suppose that a robot is programmed to obey vocal commands in a foreign language.
2. In order to command the robot to do things, all the entertaining tasks and tricks it can perform, you have to be able to use foreign words and phrases.
3. Thus, if you want the robot to do things, you are forced to learn the foreign words and phrases.
4. However, you would be rewarded for your efforts by gaining greater control of the robot thus you would have an incentive for learning.
5. Furthermore, regular use of the robot would also mean that you would regular practice speaking the language and regular practice is the only way to learn.

Blinker –

1. Blinker is a game for 2 people or more.
2. 1 player wears a blindfold, they are the blinker.
3. Another player, the balancer, has to cross an indoor court and get past the blinkered player while balancing a ball on their head.
4. Each time the balancer drops the ball, the blinker has to use the sound of the ball to find and catch the balancer.

The game of hydra – A dice game based upon the beast of greek mythology for 2 players

1. Each player begins with 6 points.
2. Their points represent the heads of a hypothetical hydra.
3. They take turns rolling a red dice called a cutting dice and then a green dice called a growing dice.
4. Each time they roll the cutting dice the number that they roll is the number of heads which they cut off of their opponents hydra.
5. Each time they roll the growing dice the number that they roll is the number of heads which grow upon their hydra.
6. The goal of the game is reduce your opponents hydra heads to zero.
7. Example:

   Player A rolls the cutting dice and rolls a 4. He has reduced Player B’s 6 heads to 2.

   Player B rolls the cutting dice and rolls a 2 reducing Player A’s heads to 4.

   Player A rolls the growing dice and rolls a 3 increasing his heads from 4 to 7.

   Player B only manages to roll a 2 with the growing dice increasing his heads from 2 to 4.

   Player A now rolls a 4 with the cutting dice, reducing player B’s heads to Zero and winning the game.