Jumping Jack

Can you catch the Jumping Jack rabbit?

Jumping Jack rabbit is sitting atop a lovely garden mound with tempting carrots planted all around. The carrots are peeking out of the ground and ready to be harvested. As you start picking the carrots you will startle Jack and he will jump into the air. Catch him and win the game. 

Jumping Jack's garden has 12 spaces around the base where the 12 carrots will be placed before play. The garden and carrots are all hard plastic. The carrots go in easily and you will hear a small click as they take hold, and they will take a small tug to pull out. As the carrots are pulled out of the garden, one of them will trigger Jack to jump into the air. That carrot is picked randomly so you never know which carrot will trigger Jack to jump, it is different each time. The rabbit is a soft plastic but does have some metal inside and it takes a good push to snap into place while setting up the game.

In addition to the garden base and the jack rabbit, the game includes 4 plastic cups and each player will get one to hold their carrots as they pull them from the garden. The spinner will tell you how to proceed on your turn. The options on the spinner are:

• Pull one carrot out of the garden and put it into your basket.
• Lose a turn.
• Pull two carrots out of the garden and put them into your basket.
• Lose one carrot from your basket. 

Object:
Collect as many carrots as you can and catch the rabbit when he jumps.

Set up:
Place the base on a flat surface. Push the rabbit down in the center of the base until you hear it click into place. Plant the 12 carrots into the 12 holes on the garden base. Give each player a basket to hold his carrots. Place the spinner next to the base.

Play:
Players take turns. On your turn, spin the spinner and follow the directions. If the rabbit jumps up on your turn, try and catch it. If you do, you are the winner. If you don't, the person with the most carrots is the winner.

Alternate play:
All players keep their hands flat on the table top unless they are pulling out a carrot. When the rabbit jumps, everyone attempts to catch it. The person who succeeds is the winner.

Pop-Up Pirate is a similar game.

Try this:

• Throw the rabbit up in the air several times and practice catching it before playing a game.
• Skip the game and play with just one person. Push the carrots in, then pull them out one at a time and try to catch the rabbit when he jumps.
• Set the game up and pull out the carrots till the rabbit jumps if you are working with someone that startles easily. Let them know what to expect before asking them to catch something.
• Count out loud as you push each carrot in.
• Skip the spinner, just take turns pulling out a carrot until the rabbit jumps.
• Try to collect the most carrots. On each turn the player pulls out as many as he dares, quitting before he feels the rabbit will jump. If the rabbit jumps, he lost.
• Play several rounds and give one point for each carrot held at the end of each round as well as three points for each time a player catches the rabbit. Subtract 3 points if he misses. Highest number after a set amount of rounds (say 5) is the winner. Remember though, most of this is random luck. The only thing you can really control is whether or not you catch the rabbit. And the chance that it jumps on your turn will be based on luck also. It's just such a short game, I was trying to think of a way to extend it.
• Hold the spinner in the non-dominant hand and spin with the dominant hand. Then switch hands.
• Isolate different fingers to flick the spinner. Look for a nice big O in the web space before spinning.
• Put the game away by picking up the carrots one at a time and dropping them into your cupped hand. How many can you hold? Put them back into the box by the handfuls.
• Leave the base sitting in one spot and try to pull out the carrots by moving your arm and hand to different areas, instead of turning the base so that the carrot you want is in front of you. 
• Pull out the carrots on the left with your left hand, pull out the carrots on the right with your right hand. Hold the base still with one hand as you pull the carrot out with the other.
• Predict how many carrots you can pull before the rabbit jumps. Pull the carrots, counting as you go. Subtract one number from the other to see how far off you were.
• Serve a crunchy snack of carrot sticks as you play. 
• Work on manual dexterity, coordinated use of two hands, catching, flicking spinner, isolating fingers, eye-hand coordination, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Garden game base, jumping jack rabbit, four cups, 12 carrots, spinner
 
If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.

Snowball Fight Card Game

Snowball Fight Card Game - A snowball fight without the cold or snow?

All this winter I've listened to my family describe the heavy snows, the icy roads, the blowing winds and the frigid temperatures. Still a Midwesterner at heart, I miss the cold and snow and have MANY wonderful memories of building snowmen, snow furniture, snow forts, and having snowball fights. Stuck in this cool, but nowhere near frigid weather of the southwest, I have to find my snow fun elsewhere. Enter Snowball Fight Card Game, a card game that lets you lob dipsy doodles, rapid fire, and even sneak attack snowballs at your opponents. Without the frostbite or soaked mittens. (It's still not the same thing, but it runs a close second).

This is a card game that consists of 22 different cards (170 total). There are 10 different offensive snowball attack cards and 7 defensive cards (there are multiple cards of each particular card). Each card is assigned a score. The overall goal is to keep your score as low as possible. 

Taking turns, one player will choose one opponent and play an offensive snowball card against them. Then they will throw the die and that number will be the amount of points that will be added to the score of the person attacked. However, the player who is attacked is allowed to play a card in their defense, if they have one, which may reduce the amount of points held against them. A defending card may even give the attacked a chance to throw the die and force points on the attacker. The different cards that are played are worth different points and unless you play this game A LOT, you will probably have to play with the score card by your side. Here is a picture of it.
 

LEFT: Offensive shots.   RIGHT: Defensive shots.

 Object:
Be the last person to accumulate 30 points.

Set up:
Shuffle the cards. Deal six cards to each player. Put the remainder of the cards in a face-down pile on the table.

Play:
The first player announces the person they want to attack, they plays an offensive card against them, and then they throw the die to see if their snowball hits the defending player. Now these three things must happen in this order (and I quote):

1. Reduce the attack roll(s) as instructed by the defending player's defensive card. Example: Subtract 2 from Attack Roll reduces die roll of a 5 to a 3. 
2. If the reduced die roll still falls into the offensive card's hit range (indicated on each card at the bottom), the defending player has been hit with a snowball! Add the points noted on the card to the defender's total score. If it does not fall into this range, it is a miss and no one takes points.
3. If Bad Aim, Powder Ball, or Catch has been played by the defending player, that player just happened to have a snowball in their hand and attacks you back. When the defender plays this Return Attack card, he is allowed to roll the die. If it comes up five or six, the attacker now becomes the victim and must take 2 points. The attacker is not allowed to defend himself (unlike a REAL snowball fight). 

The turn is over and each player that played a card will pick one from the deck. Continue playing, eliminating players as they reach 30 points. Game ends when all but one person has been eliminated. They are the winner.

It seems a little complicated, but it is just a matter of playing a snowball attack card and throwing the die, then playing a defensive card, and then using the number on the die with the number on the card to determine the score.

Try this:
Work on following directions, keeping score, strategy, manual dexterity, problem solving, shuffling/dealing/holding/fanning cards, process skills, executive function skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 1 6-sided die, 170 cards, card description sheet