Maintenant Diversity Deck - Hydrosphere II

Play nine fun card games with this pack of cards and learn more about the Hydrosphere, one of the Earth's seven spheres.  The Hydrosphere refers to the water on Earth, in all its forms.  This is the second deck about the Hydrosphere.  There was simply too much to say about the Hydrosphere to put it all in one pack.  The two decks are independent of each other so you don't need one to enjoy the other.

 

This is one of the 16 different packs of Diversity Decks that the maker, 'Maintenant - Sustaining now', has put together to teach children about Science and the Environment.

The cards all have an science/sustainability theme, so most (like this one) feature the seven Earth's Spheres whereas others are about animals, bacteria and inspirational people, the aim being to educate children as they play the games.  After playing them, they can go onto the website and learn more about the subject on each card.  

Each Diversity Deck has seven theme: in the Hydrosphere one, there are cards entitled 'Water States, Salty Water, Freshwater, Water Cycle & Climate, Water Usage, Ocean Garbage Patches, the Aral Sea'.  There are six cards in each theme, each with the same illustration, plus two 'Parry' ('Water Treatment' and 'Aquifers') and one 'Calamity' (Droughts) cards (good and bad chance cards to spice up the games), so 45 cards in the handy tin.

The cards are cleverly designed so that you can play a wide range of games with them.  These games vary in complexity from Rock, Paper, Scissors (suitable for 4 year olds) through to 17 Goals (a form of Black Jack suitable for 8 year olds).

The games are :

Rock Paper Scissors (4+),

Calamity Game (4+) - like Old Maid,

Be an Elephant (5+), a memory matching game,

Free from (5+), be the first to get rid of your cards by matching pictures or numbers,

Snaffle It (6+), win the most points by playing cards with the same picture but with different points,

Happy Diversity (6+) - like Happy Families,

Double Snap (7+),

17 Goals (8+) - like Black Jack

Pyramid Solitaire (8+)

The games are the same for each tin.

Please note that although the games are designed to be played by children 4 years old and upwards, the pictures and the messages behind them may be way too heavy and not  appreciated by four or five year-olds.  So for younger children it might be sensible to choose one of the animal-themed sets.