Egg Relay Race

Egg Relay Race - Lots of ways to play.

Already familiar to many people is the Egg Relay Game. Often this is played with large kitchen spoons and real eggs (boiled or otherwise). It's fun because it can be played inside or outside, many ways, in most any location.

These spoons are lightweight, hollow plastic. They measure 7 1/2" long by 2 3/16" at the widest place (bowl of spoon). The bowl of the spoon is not very deep, but it has an edge around it so that the eggs won't just roll off. The end of the handle gets wider toward the bottom so there is something to grasp and so the spoon won't twist or turn in your hand.

The eggs are hollow plastic, open like the typical plastic Easter eggs you see this time of year and come in the same five different colors as the spoons - purple, red, green, yellow and blue. There are 5 small, squishy, spikey balls that are also color coordinated. They don't seem to have any real purpose other than riding along in the egg. I suppose you could use them as a prizes if you didn't mind giving them away.

There are a lot of different egg relay games for sale. I think this one may be a good one for beginners because of the wider handle and the edge around the bowl that helps keep the egg in place.

 

Each egg has a small matching color spikey ball.

Object:

Be the first player to the finish line with the egg on the spoon.

Set up:

Place a squishy ball in each egg. Line up 2 -5 kids, each holding one spoon with one egg balanced in it. Determine where the finish line will be.

Play:

On go, all players walk as quickly as they can toward the finish line, being careful not to drop the egg off the spoon. If the player drops the egg, he must pick it up and go back to the starting line and start over. First player to the finish line wins.

Try this:

• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, balance, shoulder stability, coordinated use of two hands, tool use, motor planning, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation  
• Play with only one person. Walk one egg at a time to a container on the other side of the room.
• Place small prizes in the eggs. Let one person win per game, or let each person open his egg once he gets to the finish line.
• Put the eggs in a bowl and try scooping them onto the spoon instead of placing it there with your fingers. 
• Put the eggs in a bowl and tell the player the color of egg to scoop up and walk across each time. 
• Hide the eggs around the room and collect them with the spoon. The eggs will need to be close to something they can stop against so you can bump the egg up against it while pushing the spoon under it. This spoon is too thick to angle and push it under the egg in open space. The egg just rolls.
• Hide the eggs around the room, making sure only part of the egg is exposed to view. Go on an egg hunt.
• Allow the individual to fill the eggs before playing. A good two handed activity.
• Fill a pan with mini marshmallows. Open an egg and, using one in each hand, scoop them together and see how many marshmallows you can pick up. Go again and try for more. 
• Hide the eggs around a room or outside. Use other eggs you may have so there are more to find. Find an egg and run it back to your basket. Set a time limit and see who can find the most.
• Hide a number of your own eggs around the room. Assign the person one color. Ask them to find all the eggs of that color. Tell them in advance how many there are so they know will know when they have found them all.
• Make an obstacle course by putting furniture or other items in the path of the individual that they will have to walk around to get to the finish line.
• Use your imagination and carry other things on the spoon.
• Stack and carry marshmallows on the spoon. How many can you get to the finish line safely. The higher you stack, the more chance they will fall. Should you go safe and low, or tall and take a risk losing them all? Get one point for each marshmallow that makes it. Person with the highest score after several rounds is the winner.
• Dye Easter eggs before or after playing the game.

In the box: 5 plastic spoons, 5 plastic eggs, 5 spikey balls

Count Your Chickens

Count Your Chickens - Kids work together toward a common goal.

Count Your Chickens is a simple, straight-forward, farm-themed cooperative game. The baby chicks have flown the coop. Mama hen needs help collecting them all and bringing them back to the chicken coop. Players will take separate turns, but work together to return the chicks to the coop before mother hen gets to the end of the path.

The game board has 40 spaces between start and the chicken coop at the top of the board. The spinner is made of very sturdy cardboard and the arrow moves freely. The pictures on the spinner are pig, dog, sheep, tractor, cow and fox. The small chick tokens are fairly small circles with a picture of a chick on them. They measure 3/4" in diameter. They are thin and may be difficult to pick up for some. In that case, maybe you could allow the person to put their finger on the piece and push it to the coop. All pieces are shown in the image below.

Something I like about this game is that the rules are printed on the inside of the box cover. They will be hard to misplace!

Object: 

Get all the chicks into the chicken coop before mother hen reaches the coop.

Set up:

Place the board between the players. Scatter the baby chicks around the board but not on the path. Place mother hen on start. Place the spinner nearby.

Play:

Taking turns, each player will spin the spinner and move mother hen to the next space that matches the picture where the arrow landed on the spinner. Count the number of spaces as you move and then pick up that many chicks (off the board) and place them in the chicken coop. There are a few blue spaces on the board that picture an animal PLUS a baby chick. If you land on one of those spaces, collect an extra chick and place it in the coop with the others. If you spin the fox, you do not get to move mother hen plus you must take one chick out of the coop and put it back on the board.The game ends when the mother chicken reaches the coop or all the chick tokens end up in the chicken coop, whichever comes first. If the chicks all end up in the coop first, you and your team have won the game. If mother hen gets to the coo but there are some chicks that have not made it into the coop yet, you have lost.

Try this:

• Work on cooperation, visual discrimination, manual dexterity, coordinated use of both hands, finger isolation, flicking a spinner, counting spaces and advancing around a game board, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 
• Squirrel the chicks into your palm as you pick them up off the board.
• Push the chicks out of your hand, bringing them to the fingertips one at a time, before dropping them into the coop.
• Look for a nice rounded web space as you prepare to flick the arrow on the spinner.
• Use different fingers to flick the spinner.
• Hold the spinner in one hand and flick with the other, instead of leaving it on the table top.
• Allow the person who needs practice with the spinner to spin for everyone.
• Sing Old MacDonald at the end of the game to celebrate your win. With a cluck cluck here and a peep peep there...

In the box: Game board, spinner, mother hen with stand, 40 baby chicks

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