Smart Farmer

Smart Farmer - A 1-person logic game with 60 challenges.

Smart Farmer is a farm-themed game/puzzle with 60 challenges that increase in difficulty as you go. It's a single-player logic game by SmartGames, one of my favorite game companies. This is a great game to work on spatial relations and one of my favorite, since the kids love it.

The farmer (you) would like to separate the animals in the field so that each animal type has their own fenced off pasture. To do this, you will have three pieces of fence. Place the fence piece(s) on the game base to make sure the horses, pigs, sheep and cows each have their own pasture and you have solved the challenge.

The game base is made of hard, green plastic and measures about 8.5" x 6.5". There is a permanent white fence around the game base. The base is full of hollowed out diamond, cross and small dash shapes (see image above). Animals and water troughs sit in the diamonds, and fence pieces can sit in the crosses and dashes. Two fence pieces may sit in a cross going in different directions. One fence piece is L shaped and the other two are straight, one straight piece being one section longer than the other straight piece. The fence pieces and animals are plastic and while not really bendable, they are very slightly flexible. The three water troughs are hard plastic.

There are a total of 60 challenges which get progressively harder as you go. There are 12 starter, 12 junior, 12 expert and 24 master level challenges. There can be either two, three or four different animal types on the field per challenge.  You will use either one, two or all three fence pieces to solve a challenge. The master level challenges also include water troughs, one for each animal type, which will be placed on the game board during set up. In these challenges, each type of animal has to have his own trough within his fenced off pasture. The challenges show the field from the "bird's eye view", a good opportunity to talk about how things can look differently as you look at them from different angles.

I have found that it helps to visualize how the pasture will have to be divided before you start trying fence pieces. It will also help to note that the long fence piece placed north/south will cut the field exactly in half and the two smaller fence pieces, lined up east/west, will also cut the field in half.

 

Click here to see a long list of logic and spatial games that I have used in therapy. Logic Games

Object:

Complete each challenge in the book.

Set up:

Choose a challenge. Stand the animals on the base in the places you see them standing on the challenge puzzle. Place the fence pieces (and water troughs if using) nearby. 

Play:

Place the fence pieces on the board so that each type of animal is completely closed off from any other type(s) of animal(s). 

LEFT: Challenge 1.                                      RIGHT: Solution 1.

LEFT: Challenge 60.                                              RIGHT: Solution 60.

Try this:

• Play with the pieces before starting a game. Show how all the pieces fit into the different shapes. Show how two fence pieces can sit together on a cross.
• Start by solving a puzzle or two while the individual watches. Problem solve out loud as you go so the individual can learn how to use the process. Then take the puzzle apart and see if they can build it.
• Place one piece of fence on the board (if more than one piece is used) and let the individual place the other piece(s). Once one piece is placed, the other piece(s) placement will be easier to figure out.
• Stress how it is a trial-and-error process if the player starts to get frustrated when they can't figure it out right away. Model thoughtful perseverance.
• Look down on the animals from the top and talk about how they will look differently in the puzzle book than they do from the side. Learn to identify each animal from this perspective. Consider things like the cows will have horns and the horses will have manes.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, manual dexterity, planning, problem solving, logic, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Game base, fence pieces, 2 pigs, 2 sheep, 2 horses, 2 cows, 3 water troughs, challenge booklet with solutions

 

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