Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game - Features a tree-shaped game board and a squirrel squeezer

I have read several good reviews of Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel, but I am not crazy about it. Yes, the cute factor is off the chart, but the squirrel squeezer makes it awkward to place the acorns in the holes upright. 

The acorns and squirrels are made of a hard, rubbery-type plastic. There are five different color caps on the acorns - red, green, yellow, purple and blue. The tree shaped game board is the inside of the box bottom. It is not what I would think of as a game board, just a place where you keep the acorns until you are ready to pick them up. The logs are a heavyweight cardboard and each of them has five holes. Each of the holes has a colored ring around it that matches an acorn cap color.

The acorns lie on their sides so you need to tip the squirrel way up to pick them up in the correct position for placing them upright in the holes, as you see in the image above. Once you have an acorn, the squirrel hands are so wide they cover most of the acorn and make it difficult to put it in the log hole before letting go. If you want to just lay the acorn across the hole it will be much easier.

The spinner is easy to use, and you will be directed to pick up acorns by color, by number, or to lose acorns.

Click here to check out my post for The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Card Game. For a list of other fall-themed games I have blogged about, click here. 

Object:
Be the first to fill your log with delicious acorns (one of each color).
 
Set up:
Leave the acorns in the box bottom. Give each player a log. Place the squirrel squeezer and spinner nearby.

Play:
Players take turns. Spin the spinner and either:

• Use the squirrel squeezer to pick up an acorn by color and put it on your log. If it's a color you don't need, your turn is over.
• Use the squirrel squeezer to pick up a specific number of acorns and put them on your log.
• Take an acorn off your log and return it to the box.

Play until someone fills their log and wins the game.

Try this:

• Try using a different kind of tweezers or tongs. You will still need to move your hand into different positions to turn the acorn upright and place in the hole.
• Pick up the acorns with the fingers and place onto the logs, instead of using tweezers or tongs.
• Hold the spinner in the non-dominant hand and use the thumb and index finger of the dominant hand to flick the arrow. Look for a nice "O" before spinning.
• Turn the logs upside down and sort the acorns into them by color.
• Place one or more acorns into the players palm and ask them to bring the acorns to the fingertips, one at a time without dropping, and sort by color.
• When putting the game away, pick up the acorns one at a time and squirrel them into the palm. How many can you hold without dropping?
• When putting the game away, cup one hand and hold it in that position as you place the acorns, one by one, into it. Can you hold them all without dropping any? Go again and switch hands.
• Use different fingers to flick the arrow on the spinner.
• Start with a rounded web space before flicking instead of just pushing it with one finger.
• Pick up one acorn of each color and squirrel them in the palm (or fewer if the hand is small). Bring the acorns to the fingertips, one at a time, and orient and place them in the holes on the log. Fill all four logs this way.
• Pretend the squirrel is gathering acorns to store for the winter. Instead of picking them out of the box, start with the acorns already on the logs and then pick them off and return them to the box.
• Work on manual dexterity, palmer arch development, fine motor precision, tool use, web space development, finger isolation, thumb opposition, separation of sides of the hand, visual discrimination, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Tree shaped game board (bottom of the box), 1 squirrel squeezer, 20 colored acorns (5 different colors), 1 game spinner, 4 logs
 
If you would like to purchase this game or just want more information, click on the image below.