Circle of Friends Matching Game

Circle of Friends Matching Game - A matching game based on classic Golden Book characters

Shortly after I blogged about my fond childhood memories of Golden Books and a related game called I See You Game I found Circle of Friends Matching Game, another Golden Book game featuring classic characters from days gone by. Let me say up front that my game is in a tin, and this one is in a box. But, the board and all the pieces are the same, so I am going on the assumption that we will be talking about the same game.

The path on the board is a spiral and each step on the path pictures one of the six original characters (Shy Little Kitten, Poky Little Puppy, Tawny Scrawny Lion, Tootle the Train, Scuffy the Tugboat and The Saggy, Baggy Elephant. These characters are all best friends and the premise is that although they have jumped off the pages of your golden books to play with you, they must now return home and once again become the circle of friends. The players of the game are racing to see who will be the first person to join this elite circle of friends.

Object:

Be the first person to reach the circle of friends, land on the Saggy Baggy Elephant face card, turn over a matching Elephant card, and enter the circle of friends. 

Set up:

Place the board in the middle of the players. Each player chooses one of the characters (token) and places it into a plastic base. Each player places their character on the Start square. Shuffle the cards and place them in a stack, face down, near the board.

Play:

In turn, each player will spin the spinner and move 1, 2 or 3 spaces. 

• If the spinner is pointing to your character, move your token forward to the nearest square on the board that has your character's image. 
• If the spinner is pointing to the Saggy Baggy Elephant, move your token forward to the nearest Saggy Baggy Elephant square on the board.

If you land on a Saggy Baggy Elephant square follow these directions:

• Elephant Face Square - Take the first card off the deck.
• If your card is a Saggy Baggy Elephant - Move to the next Saggy Baggy Elephant square. Pick another card. If it is another Saggy Baggy Elephant card, move forward again. Keep doing this until you draw a card that is NOT a Saggy Baggy Elephant.
• If your card in not a Saggy Baggy Elephant - Move your token forward on the board to the nearest square that matches the one on your card. Your turn is over.
• BIG Elephant Square - There are 4 BIG Elephant squares on the board where Saggy's trunk is pointing upward or downward to another square. Follow his trunk and place your token on that square. Your turn is over.

Keep playing until someone enters the circle in the middle of the board. You must spin a number that takes you into the circle on an exact count. Now turn over a card. If it is not a Saggy Baggy Elephant card, move your token backward to the first space with that image. You will now have to enter and try again on your next turn(s). If it is a Saggy Baggy Elephant, you have won the game. If it is not, repeat the directions to move backward and try again.

Try this:

• Turn the card in-hand to look at the other side.
• Hold the spinner in one hand and flick the arrow with the other.
• Isolate different fingers to flick the arrow on the spinner.
• Skip the game and sort the cards by characters into piles.
• Skip the game. Choose one character card and follow the path with your eyes, stopping each time you come across your character. Count how matching squares there are on the whole path. Try again with another character. Does one character have more spaces than another?
• Check out a book or two with the characters (from the library) and read them before and/or after you play the game.
• Play a standard memory game. Take out two cards of each character, mix them, place them face-down on the table, turn over two at a time to find matches. 
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination, coordinated use of both hands, finger isolation, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below. 

In the box: Game board, 6 Golden character tokens, 4 plastic bases, 24 circle of friends cards, spinner