Discovery Garden

Discovery Garden is similar to the Find It! tubes in that small objects are hidden in pellet-type material and you must find and identify them. Unlike the Find It! tubes, Discovery Garden comes in a shake-and-look box (with pellet-type "soil") that has five see-through windows covered by a puzzle piece. You can see one of the shake-and-look areas in the bottom left corner of the images above and below. It is a cut out in the box that has clear plastic over the top.

Actual box with shake-and-look area in the bottom corner.

Object:

Be the first person to collect six cards (triangle shaped, above).

 

Set up:

Take the lid off the box and make sure the five removable puzzle-piece doors are in place. Shake the box. Shuffle the cards and put them in a pile, face down, next to the spinner.

 

Play:

Players take turns. The first player chooses a card, which will tell him what he is looking for, and spins the spinner, which will tell him where he can look. He will then lift one of the puzzle pieces and look into the box. If he finds what he is looking for, he keeps the card. If not, he leaves the card face-up on the table and the next person plays. On a turn, a player may take any and all face-up cards on the table that he can match on his turn. He will get one turn to open a door and any of the pieces that are showing on the cards that happen to show up, he can take the card(s). When the player is done looking and collecting cards, he replaces the puzzle piece and the next player plays. Once a player collects six cards, the game is over.

Try this:

• Tell the player to remember what he sees and where he sees it as other players lift puzzle pieces. It may help him find his piece when it is his turn.
• Play alone, without the spinner. Pick a card and lift any puzzle piece. If you miss it, put it on the bottom of the deck. Go through the deck until you can remember where each item is and you collect all the cards.
• Place all the object cards on the table (there are also color cards). Open one door and look inside, memorizing what you see. Close the door and look at the cards. Choose the one(s) that you saw. Open the door again and see if you are correct.
• Work on figure ground, visual discrimination, visual memory, visual scanning, manual dexterity, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation, socialization skills
  

 

In the box: Shake-and-look game box with 21 plastic items to find, spinner, 29 cards

Ages 3+, 2 or more players

 

This game also comes in Curious George and The Little Mermaid versions.