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.

Army vs Aliens, Pirates vs Ninjas, Robots vs Dinosaurs Dice Games

 A head-to-head dice game. Work on those palmar arches!

 

Army vs Aliens, Pirates vs Ninjas and Robots vs Dinosaurs are one-on-one dice elimination games (each set sold separately). I like dice games because they offer a natural opportunity for repeatedly cupping the hand to hold and shake dice, and this one has a lot of dice. Cupping the hand(s) is one way to help develop stable palmar arches. Stable palmar arches contribute to all kinds of things - skilled movement of your fingers, legible handwriting, in-hand manipulation skills - so you could say the two go hand-in-hand. The game comes with a dice cup for each side, but we just set those aside.

The object of the game is to force your opponent to eliminate all of his (10) dice before he can force you to eliminate all of yours. The dice are plastic, about the size of a standard die and have stickers on each side. The place where the sticker goes is indented, so maybe the stickers will last longer since they are not touching the surface when they land. I have not had any problem with a sticker coming off yet. Each player has a different color dice so they are easy to tell apart when thrown in the same playing space.  

The rules may seem complicated at first, but get easier for most as you repeatedly use them over and over. The game will take thought and the ability to apply basic logic and strategy, but is also largely based on the luck of the throw of the dice. Each game has four basic rules in addition to multiple special rules that relate to that particular game. Each person will get 2 panel cards for reference, one for your rules and one for your opponents rules. It sounds complicated, but all have picked up the rules quickly as they play. Below are images of the rules. Click on them for a larger view if you want to read them.

Click for larger view.

Object:
Force your opponent to eliminate all of his dice before he forces you to eliminate all of yours.

Set Up:
Give each player two panel cards for reference. Figure out who will be who and each person takes the appropriate can of dice and removes the lid.

Play:
The first player throws all of his dice. On each turn you have a choice of attacking your opponent to eliminate dice, or rallying, which is throwing the dice in your cup and any from the combat zone that you want to throw. What you do next will depend on how the dice landed. Refer to the rule cards above for specifics. Play until someone loses all their dice.

Try this:

• Chuck the cup. Use your hands to mix and throw the dice.  You will start with 10 dice, so you will probably need to cup one hand over the other to shake.
• Count to 10 or tell a joke about a pirate, dinosaur, alien etc. before throwing the dice to keep the hands in that position longer. Come prepared with your own jokes because they are not included.
• Put the game away by picking up one die at a time and squirreling it into the palm. Pick up as many as you can before putting them away by the handful.
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, visual scanning, executive functioning skills, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, palmar arch development, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In each box: 20 dice, 4 panel cards, 2 cups