Toddlers Want to Play Games Too!

Over the past few months we have been playing a whole lot of games. Mostly between my five year old and one or both of the parents. Recently my two year old has really tried to get involved in the games. She is actually okay at sitting with us and waiting for her turn. Usually I have her work with me so that if she gets bored because the game is taking a while my son can still finish the game with me.


She loves rolling the dice, spinning the spinner, or flipping over a card to see what move she is going to make. She is not so good at moving the piece to the correct spot. All as it should be. However, this also frustrates my son to no end and it makes it difficult to play a game when all of the pieces get swept off the board several times during the course of a game.


I had been thinking for a while that it really is a shame that games don't usually cover the age of 2 because both of my kids really wanted to play them starting at about 2. Also games have so many benefits to them and are fun for adults too.


I finally found one that I really, really like that is for ages 2 and up! I am so excited! My daughter also was so excited to get this gift from us for the holidays. We have been playing it ever since and let me tell you it is perfect. Haba has come out with a series of games called My First Games which all look great. I bought My First Orchard for my daughter.


                                                         

                                                                

           
This is such a great game. It uses many of the same skills that a normal board game would, like a dice and moving pieces, but it makes them easy for a toddler to understand. This game has four "trees" that each get a set of four fruits, each fruit having its own color (red, yellow, green, blue). There are five pathway tiles,  a bird (who is trying to get to the orchard to eat the fruit), and a basket that the players are trying to fill together.


You fill the basket by rolling the dice and playing according to the roll. If you get a color or a basket you put a fruit into the basket. If you get a bird you have to move the bird forward on the path closer to the orchard. Together the players fill the basket up and if they get all the fruit off the tree before the bird gets to the orchard everyone wins.


Why my kids love it:


The bright colors, large pieces, and just the fact that they get to play a game with all of us with out pieces being thrown all over. Although I will admit that part is not fool proof.


Why I love it:


My two year old can play a game from start to finish with us and really start to get what playing by the rules is all about. There are nice bright colors that make teaching about colors simple and a dice that allows you to work on matching of colors. The large pieces are so cute, little fruit shaped like red and green apples, yellow pears, and blue plums, cute.


This game did a great job of playing to the developmental tasks of a two year old such as learning about colors, same and different, working together, and the motor skills of moving a piece which is made easier by having the larger pieces and fewer spots to move the bird to.  This game does not take all that long to play which is great for this age group. Even my five year old enjoys playing it with us although he would prefer another game. I would definitely recommend this game to a friend and hopefully will have a chance to check out some of the other My First Games sometime soon.


Have you tried any games made specifically for 2 and up? Do you think it is worth the investment or would you rather wait until they get older? 

By the way if you are interested in getting this game I added in a link so that you can find it easily. Also I recently added in a bookshelf of some of the books that I have enjoyed with my kids or for myself. I hope you have time to look around and see some of the changes I have made to the site as I have gotten to know more about blogging!