Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Goals for the New Year

New Year's is when a lot of us make new goals.
We reflect over the past year and plan for the new one.

But honestly, goal-setting can feel overwhelming if you don't make it simple.
Here are a few steps to making it simple and easy to keep track of during the year.





1. Think about your goals.

I really like this "SMART" method of making the goals specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and setting a time to finish it by.




2. Write your goals down.
You can use one of the printables below
or perhaps write them out on a big poster.




3. Display your goals.
Put your paper or poster in your bedroom
where it is easy to see as a reminder.


4. Follow up.
Once a month take time to review your goals.
See what you have accomplished so far and what you can work on
during the upcoming month.
This also helps to break down big goals into smaller pieces.




5. Celebrate!
If you accomplish one of your goals, celebrate!
Throw a party, go out for ice cream, watch your favorite movie...
do something to reward yourself for accomplishing awesome!


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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

5 Dice Games for NYE

New Year's Eve is tomorrow and such a fun night to party!

Some of our favorite party games are played with dice
and we wanted to share them with you.



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Pig

Need: One dice
Paper & pencil for scoring

Object: Be the first player to reach 100 points or more.

How to Play:
Each turn, a player repeatedly rolls a die until either a 1 is rolled or the player decides to “hold”.
  • If the player rolls a 1 they score nothing and it becomes the next players turn.
  • If the player rolls any other number, it is added to their turn total and the player’s turn continues.
  • If a player chooses to “hold”, their turn total is added to their score and it becomes the next players turn.

For example: If Ann begins a turn with a roll of 5, she could “hold” and score 5 points, but chooses to roll again. She rolls a 2 and could “hold” with a turn total of 7 points but chooses to roll again. Ann then rolls a 1 and must end her turn without scoring. The next player Bob, rolls the sequence 5-4-3-5-5 after which he chooses to “hold” and adds his turn total of 22 points to his score.
Winning: The first player to score 100 or more points wins.
Variations:
Two-Dice Pig:
This variation is the same as Pig except:
-       Two standard dice are rolled. If neither shows a 1, their sum is added to the turn total.
-       If a single 1 is rolled, the player scores nothing and ends their turn.
-       If two 1’s are rolled, the player’s entire score is lost and their turn ends.
-       If a double is rolled (other than 1’s) the points are added to the turn total and with any roll but the player is obligated to roll again.
Big Pig:
This variation is the same as Two-Dice Pig except:
-       If two 1’s are rolled, the player adds 25 points to the turn total.
-       If other doubles are rolled, the player adds twice the value of the dice to the turn total.


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Doubles to 100

Need: Two dice
One Paper & pencil

Object: Be the first player to write out all the numbers from 1 to 100 on the paper.

How to Play:
Write each players name on the paper, leaving plenty of space between each name so that they can write all the #’s. (So 7 or 8 lines between each name)

Start with one player rolling the dice. If they do not roll doubles, they pass the dice along to the next player. If they do roll doubles, they grab the paper and pencil and begin writing numbers beginning with the number 1 as fast as they can.

While they are writing, the next player rolls the dice to see if they get doubles. If they don’t, they dice continue around the table, each player rolling to see if they get doubles.

When another player does roll doubles, they steal the paper and pencil and begin writing numbers under their name.

Winning: The paper continues going to whomever rolls doubles until one of the players writes all the way to 100 under their name. Play stops and that player wins.

Variations:

Doubles to 100 Elimination:
Instead of writing numbers under your own name, write them under someone else’s name. When someone’s name has numbers 1 to 100 written, they are “out” and play continues with the remaining players. The last player to remain without their name reaching 100 wins.








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Hot Dice

Need: Six dice
One Paper & pencil for scoring

Object: Be the first player to reach 10,000 points.

How to Play:
Hot Dice (or Farkle) is played by two or more players, with each player in succession having a turn at throwing the dice. Each player's turn results in a score, and the scores for each player accumulate to the winning total.
  • At the beginning of each turn, the player throws all of the dice at once.
  • After each throw, one or more scoring dice must be set aside (see sections on scoring below).
  • The player may then either end their turn and bank the score accumulated so far (you must reach a minimum of 300 points before banking your score), or continue to throw the remaining dice.
  • If the player has scored all six dice, they have "hot dice" and may continue their turn with a new throw of all six dice, adding to the score they have already accumulated. There is no limit to the number of "hot dice" a player may roll in one turn.
  • If none of the dice score in any given throw, the player has "farkled" and all points for that turn are lost.
  • At the end of the player's turn, the dice are handed to the next player in succession, and they have their turn.
  • If the previous player banks their score (doesn’t farkle), the following player can choose to pick up the remaining dice and roll them. If they roll a scoring dice, they can build upon the previous player’s score and continue adding their own points until they bank or farkle just as in normal play. If they do not roll a scoring dice, their turn is over. (This person’s turn does not affect the previous player’s points - they keep those no matter the outcome.) This pattern of using a player’s leftover dice can continue from player to player until someone farkles.
Once a player has achieved a winning point total, each other player has one last turn to score enough points to surpass that high-score.

Standard scoring

Dice combination
Score
Dice combination
Score
Each 1
100
Three 6s
600
Each 5
50
Four of same number
Double the score for set of three
Three 1s
1000
Straight of 5
(1-5 or 2-6)
1000
Three 2s
200

Three 3s
300
Three 4s
400
Three 5s
500
If the player continues throwing, they risk farkling and thus losing all accumulated points. On the other hand, if they score five dice and have only one die to throw, they have a 1 in 3 chance of scoring a single 1 or a single 5, and then having scored all six dice they will have "hot dice" and can throw all six dice again to further increase their score.
Each scoring combination must be achieved in a single throw. For example, if a player has already set aside two individual 1s and then throws a third with the four dice remaining, they do not have a triplet of 1s for a score of 1000 but merely three individual 1s for a score of 300.






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Tenzi

Need: Each player needs 10 dice of their own color.

Object: Be the first player to get all ten of their dice to show the same number.

How to Play:
Each player holds their 10 dice in their hands. Someone says “Go” and everyone rolls at the same time. Quickly look at your roll and decide which number you are going to go for. Put all your dice with that number aside, collect the remaining dice and quickly roll again. (You do not have to wait for others to roll again. Only on the 1st roll does everyone roll at the same time.) Keep rolling until all of your dice show the same number.

Winning: The first player to get all ten of their dice to match shouts out “TENZI!” and wins!

Variations:

TENZI TOWER:

Instead of putting your successfully rolled dice aside, stack them one on top of the other. First player to get all ten of their dice stacked and shout “TENZI” wins!

SPLITZI:

Instead of trying to get all ten dice of one number, try to get five dice of one number and five dice of another number, and then yell “TENZI”.

TEAM TENZI:

Join forces and play in teams! Get all your team’s dice on one number. Or play this way – each team member goes for a different number!


MEGA TENZI:

Ten dice not enough for you? You’ll really have your hands full with twenty dice! Double the challenge, double the frenzy!

STEALZI:

If you see another player roll the number you’re going for, steal those dice and give the player an equal number of your dice. No stealing on the first roll of the game, or from any player going for the same number as you!

TARGET TENZI:

All players declare which number they’re going for before the first roll. Or, decide on one number that everyone has to go for!

TIMED TENZI:

How fast are you?

Over 40 seconds……Cubie Newbie
30 – 40 seconds……..Tumbler in Training
20 – 30 seconds……..Rockin’ Roller
10 – 20 seconds………Dice Dragon
Under 10 seconds…..TENZI Master

TWISTED TENZI:

Mix and match your favorite TENZI games. Play TEAM TENZI TOWER, or TIMED TARGET TENZI, or even MEGA TENZI TOWER SPLITZI STEALZI. Whew! That’s a mouthful.

And just in case you’re wondering, the odds of getting all ten dice to land on one number in one roll are 10,077,697 to 1.








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Yacht

Need: Five dice
A paper & pencil for each player

Object: Be the player with the highest scoring total.

How to Play:
Yacht (predecessor to Yahtzee) can be played solo or by any number players. Players take turns rolling five dice. After each roll, the player chooses which dice to keep, and which to reroll. A player may re-roll some or all of the dice up to two times on a turn. The player with the highest total score wins the game.

Scoring:

The following combinations earn points:
Upper Section:
  • Ones: The sum of all dice showing the number 1.
  • Twos: The sum of all dice showing the number 2.
  • Threes: The sum of all dice showing the number 3.
  • Fours: The sum of all dice showing the number 4.
  • Fives: The sum of all dice showing the number 5.
  • Sixes: The sum of all dice showing the number 6.

If a player manages to score at least 63 points (three of each number) in the upper section, he is awarded a bonus of 35 points.
Lower Section:
  • Three of a Kind: Three dice showing the same number. Score: Sum of those three dice.
  • Four of a Kind: Four dice with the same number. Score: Sum of those four dice.
  • Small Straight: Any four consecutive numbers (1, 2, 3, 4; 2, 3, 4, 5; 3, 4, 5, 6). Score: 25 points.
  • Big Straight: A combination of either 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Score: 30 points.
  • Full House: Any set of three combined with a set of two. Score: 40 points.
  • The Yacht: All five dice with the same number. Score: 50 points.
  • Chance: Any combination of dice. Score: Sum of all the dice.