Kids love games. I don’t know any kids who don’t. My favorite games are those that can be played by several ages, and if they learn something, that is even better!

eeBoo is a company that excels in creating learning materials meant to withstand frequent use and appeal to people’s innate desire for beauty. What Do You Know Bingo is another gem from eeBoo. Consisting of six sturdy, recycled cardboard bingo boards/cards, 48 game pieces, and a blue drawstring bag, What Do You Know Bingo is intended for ages 5 and up, though we have found it works quite well for our older three-year-old also. The bingo boards and game pieces are divided into six science topics: Under the Water, Fossils & Minerals, Mammals & Marsupials, Weather & Celestial, Birds & Leaves, and Flowers & Bugs. Each of the bingo cards has a free spot in the middle and eight items around the perimeter related to the topic.

The game boards are passed out among the players until they run out. The bingo caller reads the fact off the back of the card and the item. Each game piece is only on one bingo board, so the piece is given to the player who has the corresponding board (i.e., the rainbow goes to the player with the Weather & Celestial board). Once a player has covered all but the free spot, he calls bingo and ends the game.

In our experience, the game takes quite a long time to play this way, about 50 minutes. It takes about a minute to pull a piece, read the text on it, and give it to the owner. This is much too long, in my opinion. It is, however, easily remedied. We used just one board per player instead of using them all. We read every fourth or fifth game piece, and when we weren’t using all of the game boards, I asked my kids what board the piece belonged on. Even the three-year-old quickly learned that salt is a mineral and learned to separate ocean cards from plants and weather & space.

The game was sturdy and was even able to withstand highly supervised play by our 15-month-old. A good baby drool session would probably damage the pieces, but the pieces and the boards didn’t bend. I didn’t see much point in the drawstring bag, though. Since the box is not big enough to store the pieces in the bag inside the box, it was just as easy to place the tiles inside the box/lid face down as it was to put them in the bag.

Because this game was designed for the general population in mind, I think it would be a fun addition to any style of homeschool. It’s not a science curriculum, but a great way to introduce young children to science concepts in a gentle and fun way. Older students could use it to learn more about certain science topics by reading the game pieces, and the younger ones could gain knowledge just by listening. Plus, everyone can play together. It really is a win-win situation.

Overall, our family really enjoyed What Do You Know Bingo. It was a quality set with beautiful artwork. My children could tell it was a step above their normal board and card games and took better care of it as a result. I would absolutely consider What Do You Know Bingo to be worth the $15.99 price tag. The quality, beauty, fun, and educational value were all present.

-Product review by Jen Steed, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January, 2015