Have you tried out games made by Peaceable Kingdom? I was recently lucky enough to be sent three of their games and I am now in LOVE with this game company! Their games are high quality, the parts are organized, instructions are detailed, and of course the games are tons of fun for kids!! From a Mom's PerspectiveBefore I go into details about the games I want to tell you all the things I love about these games from a mom's perspective. First of all, these games focus of cooperative play, which as a mom of competitive boys I appreciate anything that teaches them to work together!! In addition to cooperation the games introduce them to concept of strategy and how being analytical before a move benefits the game. Because I'm organizational freak what I LOVE most about their games is the high-quality box they come in, the envelopes for storing all the game pieces, and my favorite part.... the instructions are printed on the inside of the box!! I'm known for essentially laminating instructions to game boxes with clear packing tape so I shrieked with excitement when I saw this. For most people this won't be as exciting of a feature but I love that we won't lose instructions. Speaking of losing items, one of the best features of Peaceable Kingdom games is that the company offers free replacement pieces. The games are also 100% green inside! Peaceable Kingdom is 100% committed to creating products that are safe for families and the environment. The paper and boards in the games are made with FSC papers and printed with soy-based inks. The plastic parts in games are made using a corn-based plastic, which is phthalate and BPA-free. Now on to the games.... Race to the TreasureThis was by far the favorite game amongst my PreK students and my own children. The object of the game is to build a path along a grid from a starting point to the end while collecting three keys and attempting to beating the Ogre to the treasure. This game is best for kids 5+, 2-4 players, and takes 20 minutes to play. You start by rolling two dice to determine where four keys and an ogre snack get placed. Then with the shuffled placing cards face down the first player picks a card and begins the path on the starting square. The second player picks a card and continues the path next to the first card. The path cards include straight paths, corner paths, and "T" paths. This game in particular encourages kids to work together to analyze and determine the best route to a key, calling all future engineers!! If a player picks an ogre card they have to place it along a vertical red column, which is the Ogre's straight path to the treasure. The only chance to slow down the Ogre is plan your path to include grabbing the Ogre's snack. Once you get the Ogre's snack you can remove one Ogre card. The game gets tricky towards the bottom because depending on your path you need specific pieces to get to the finish and you may have to add onto other points on your path if you're stuck at the end of a row without a corner piece. If you make it to the treasure with all three keys before the Ogre does, then you win! Hoot Owl Hoot!The object of this game is get all the owls to their nest before the sun rises. You can vary the difficulty of the game by using fewer or more owls (up to six). Each player receives three cards with a colored circle and they chose which owl to move to a colored spot. Again, this game encourages strategy because they need to look at all the owl's placements and see which owl will move closest to the nest. After a player chooses a color card they discard and pick a new card for their next turn. If a player picks a sun card they have to play that first, which moves a small sun piece closer to the morning section at the top of the board. The sun piece starts at a nighttime section of the board and each time a sun card is picked it moves over one space closer to morning. If the sun reaches morning before all the owls are in the nest then the game is over. Sunny and Stormy DayThis is a great game to teach children about the emotions they feel and how to share them. It is very open-ended and allows parents and children to play it several different ways. Although the book, game, and sharing support one another you don't need to do all three activities at once. The game is designed for ages 3+ and includes a full-color picture book, 24 game tiles, 1 puzzle, heart pouch with 3 sharing token, and instructions. These instructions are not on the inner lid because it's a booklet since there are so many playing options. << Storybook >>First, the game includes a storybook where we learn all the different emotions that Max the Hedgehog experiences throughout his day. << Memory Game >>The second part of the game challenges players to find all the matching pairs before the moon puzzle is complete. This game is for 2-4 players, takes 10-15 minutes, and has three difficulty level options. To introduce this part of the game to your child, start by laying out a few matching pairs from the tile deck and your child that a "sunny" moment and a "stormy" moment from the same scene match. Level 1 is a simple memory matching game with only the picture tiles facing up. Level 2 is a moderate matching game with only the pictures tiles facing down. Level 3 is a cooperative memory matching game. You mix up picture tiles and moon tiles and place them face down in a 6x4 grid. Take turns flipping over two tiles. You are looking for tiles that show a "sunny" and "stormy" part of Max's day. If a player makes a match they collect the pair. If it's not a match they turn the tiles back over. If they pick a moon tile they have to add one moon puzzle pieces to the puzzle and flip the moon tile back over in the grid. Try to remember where the moon tiles are so they don't get picked again! The goal is to collect all 10 matching picture pairs before the moon puzzle is complete. << Sharing Tradition >>And last, players can reach inside a cute pouch and pull out circle pictures to prompt feelings questions. Pull out a sun and talk about what made you happy today. Pull out a storm cloud, talk about what made you sad. Pull out the rainbow card, talk about what you're looking forward to. Where to BuyRace to the Treasure and Hoot Owl Hoot! are available from Mindware.com and Sunny and Stormy Day is exclusive to Target. DisclaimerThese #cooperativegames were provided to me from Peaceable Kingdoms and #Tryazon for the purpose of review and promotion. I received no other compensation and all opinions are honest and my own.
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