Monkeying Around

Monkeying Around - Don't let the crocodile catch you Monkeying Around!

Hang the monkeys on the tree but don't let them fall into the crocodile pool below! Monkeying Around is a balancing game that requires players to orient their hands and monkeys in different directions as they carefully hang them onto the tree and onto other monkeys.

The tree comes in several parts but is easy to assemble. The large umbrella of leaves above the monkeys (image below) is held on with a magnet and the overall weight of too many monkeys, or hanging too many monkeys on one side, will eventually make the magnet let go and the leaves and monkeys will fall. Next to the crocodile, on the base, is a spinner. Spin it to tell you how many monkeys you will be adding on your turn, or just take turns adding one monkey per player. All pieces are plastic.

Object:

Don't be the player who makes the monkeys fall.

Set up:

Assemble the four piece tree and place it in the middle of the players. Scatter the monkeys around the base or put them inside the bottom of the blue base (which is hollowed out).

Play:

Players take turns. Spin the spinner to see if you will hang one, two or three monkeys on the tree. Follow through by carefully hanging the monkeys. Try to balance the weight out so that you do not hang too much on one side and make the tree fall prematurely. Keep playing until someone hangs a monkey that brings down the works.

Try this:

• Play with the tree and monkeys before you start. Talk about balance, show how hanging too many on one side will make it fall. Show how to hang monkeys on the other side to balance the weight.
• Call the color and have the players hang them by color.
• Place the monkeys on the trees in different orientations without moving the tree or waking around it for a better vantage point.
• Place the monkeys in a pile and ask the player to pick out and hang all of one color.
• Try using the spinner with each hand.
• Use a 1-2-3 die if you have one and practice cupping the hand to throw the die to tell you how many monkeys to hang (instead of using the spinner).
• Hang two monkeys on at the same time, one in each hand.
• Line up four monkeys, using one of each color, in a place where everyone can see them. Use that pattern when hanging monkeys. For instance, if you are going to hang a monkey on a blue monkey already on the tree, you must add the color monkey that follows blue in the pattern. If the first monkey in the pattern is red, then every time you hang a monkey directly on the leaves, it must be red.
• Hold one monkey in your hand. Start in sitting, and ask the player to hang monkeys from the one in your hand. Stand as the chain gets longer. How many can you hang in one line?
• Stand up. Hold a monkey in your own hand and hang other monkeys off it. How many can you hang?
• Hang a bunch of monkeys on the tree. Take turns taking the monkeys off without toppling everything. Take off one each till the tree is empty. Use the spinner and she who has the monkeys at the end.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, manual dexterity, graded movement, fine motor, separation of the two sides of the hand, proximal stability, balance, decision making, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 

In the box: Tree with base, 32 monkeys

Ages 4+, 1 or more players

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