Ok, probably most homeschoolers are well familiar with this, but I just heard about it and am looking forward to using it with my little ones when they are old enough. Kim’s Game is a critical thinking exercise, a memory game. The name of the game is from its use in Rudyard Kipling’s 1901 novel, Kim, where the protagonist played the game while in training as a spy.
To play the game you simply collect a grouping of objects, more for older kids, fewer for younger ones. Let your child examine the objects for a period of time, then cover the objects with a towel, blanket, handkerchief, receiving blanket, etc! Let the child name all the objects he or she can remember, or for older children, have each make a list.
According to the Wikipedia entry on Kim’s Game, Robert Baden Powell used it in his book Scouting, as a training exercise for Boy Scouts. What a great exercise for building thinking skills, expanding memory abilities, and training the budding scientist! (Or spy, I guess.:)