Elefun & Friends Mouse Trap

Elefun & Friends Mouse Trap - A very simplified version of an old favorite.

The Mouse Trap game came on the scene in 1963 and is one of the first mass-produced, three-dimensional games. It has changed several times over the years, but it still uses a Rube Goldberg machine-type contraption to catch unsuspecting mice.

Assembly required. If that puts you off, Elefun & Friends Mouse Trap isn't for you. In the original Mouse Trap game, the trap was assembled as part of the game play. In this version, the game board is built and the trap is set before playing. This process takes about 10 minutes the first time you put it together. After that, some of the pieces will stay snapped together and it will take less time to assemble. The Elefun characters are incorporated into the trap.

The pieces are plastic and they snap together as seen below. If you don't use it often, hang on to the directions or you will find yourself trying to build from the picture on the box. There is a cardboard spinner with a free-moving wedge of cheese as an arrow. The spinner features three different colors, orange, purple and blue, and the colors correspond to the space colors on the game board. There are three additional characters (mice) made of hard plastic. The three mice characters are used as pawns that you move around the board.

Object:
Be the first player to trap a mouse.

Set up:
Follow the directions and assemble the game board. Place the spinner nearby. Each player chooses a mouse and places it on the start space.

Play:
Players take turns spinning the cheesy spinner to see what color of space to move to. If you end up in a space with a red boot on it, and there is a mouse that has moved into, and is sitting in, the cheesy trap area of the game, you get to launch the trap. Push down on the red arrow to make the boot kick the bucket and release the metal ball, setting off a chain reaction across the board. The last step in the reaction is for the trap to fall over the cheesy trap area. If the trap falls over, thus capturing, a mouse, you win the game. If it does not trap a mouse, your turn is over. Reset the trap and the next person plays. If you move to a space with a red boot and there is no mouse sitting in the cheesy trap area, do nothing, your turn is over.

Try this:

• Use as an activity for building a 3D model from 2D instructions.
• Practice isolating a finger to spin using different fingers.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, eye-hand coordination, isolating fingers, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

In the box: 3 mouse pawns, 2 metal balls, game board (18 pieces), spinner
 
If you are interested in purchasing this or just want more information, click on the image below.