Game Review

STACK UP!

Spin The Spinner and get Stacking! Can you stack 12 blocks before the Stack Smasher get to the tower and topples it? Stack Up! has three levels of game play so the game grows with children and kids of different ages can play together. Start by spinning the spinner. If it lands on a color, kids playing at Level 1 use their hands to place that color block on the board. Kids playing at Level 2 use the wood ends of the Stack Sticks to stack the block, and Level 3 players use the foam ends. If the spinner lands on the Stack Smasher, move him forward 1 space at all levels of play. If the spinner lands on a Challenge, kids playing at Level 1 make a stack with any two blocks and use their hands to place them on the board. In Levels 2 and 3, you get to play with a cooperative, 2-player challenge! Draw a Challenge Card and work with the player on your left. Using either the wood or foam ends of the Stack Sticks, work together to perform the challenge while moving a block onto the stack. Stack all 12 blocks before the Stack Smasher makes his way around the board and you all win!

Why families love this item:

Learning color matching and balance are important development skills for young kids, and it's more fun when you're learning those skills together! Stack Up! fosters cooperation and collaboration with a few fun challenges in the mix. Cooperative games create non-stressful play situations and encourage creative problem solving.

Game Review

A Cooperative Game from our friends at Peaceable Kingdom!

What is a cooperative game?

A cooperative game is a game where all players play together against a common obstacle, not against each other. In a cooperative game no one feels left out and everyone has fun! Peaceable Kingdom’s cooperative board games use familiar game mechanisms – spinning a spinner, matching cards, moving a token, strategizing a win! The difference is that players play together. Playing together helps kids in many ways – they experience shared decision-making, they build self-esteem, they learn to share, to feel compassion, and to work as a team. Playing cooperative games teaches kids to cooperate.

How to Play:

Work as a team to build the three animal puzzles before the rain comes. Players take turns spinning the spinner and adding puzzle pieces. Finish the puzzles before all of the rain drops are on the board and everyone wins!

Why kids love this game:

Unlike most games, Sunny Day Pond encourages kids to work together to build their puzzles. This way, kids work together, learn together and they help each other! A cooperative game eliminates stress, builds self-esteem, and teaches kids that playing together can be fun!

Game Review

Watch out, Mermaids! The Sea Witch is on the move! 

 The object of the game is to move all 3 mermaids from start to Mermaid Island before the Sea Witch gets there. Because Mermaid Island is a cooperative game players play any of the mermaid tokens - no one player has a single mermaid she is trying to get back to the island. Players take turns spinning the spinner and moving a mermaid or the Sea Witch. Mermaids move 1 or 2 spaces at a time and can take the bridge short cuts. The Sea Witch moves only 1 space at a time and always goes the long way around. If the Sea Witch lands on a mermaid, the mermaid must go back to start. But mermaids can collect wand tokens which move the Sea Witch back one space. Players decide together when to use the wands and which mermaids to move to keep the mermaids going. Looks deceptively simple, but is a lively and strategic game of chase!
Components:

• 1 game board
• 3 mermaid tokens
• 1 sea witch with stand
• 4 wand tokens
• 1 spinner

Mermaid Island from Peaceable Kingdom is a fantabulous game to use to introduce board games to your child.