Fun With Shapes!

A shape and color matching game.

A kid-themed shape and color matching game. The shapes are incorporated into four pictures - farm, outer space, under water and circus with clown.

Each puzzle board measures 9.5" x 8" and has six cut-out spaces for shape pieces. The pieces are nice and thick, 3/16", and would be quite difficult to bend or break. Each puzzle board has one of each of these shapes: square, rectangle, half circle, circle, triangle and diamond. The shapes for each board come in these six colors: red, orange, purple, green, yellow and blue.

Fun with Shapes won the 2014 Game of the Year Award from Creative Child magazine.

Try this:

• Play with the pieces before using the boards and point out the differences in size, shape, color, etc. Show how one piece can look different in different orientations.
• Talk about the pieces by their shape and color and encourage the individual to do so. For instance, you could say the alien's space ship is a yellow half circle and the treasure chest is a blue rectangle. Or, the rabbit's tail is a square, but when you turn it like this, it's also a diamond.
• Give the individual one puzzle board and then hand them one piece at a time to complete it. Name the piece, "Find the green rectangle". Ask them to repeat the color and shape of each piece.
• Place only the six pieces that the individual will need next to his puzzle board if looking over all the pieces would not be appropriate.
• Place all the pieces on the table and ask the individual to pick out the six that he will need to complete his puzzle. Then ask them to complete the puzzle and see if they were right.
• Place the pieces on the table but turn them into different orientations than how they appear on the puzzle board. See if the individual can find them.
• Hand the individual a piece he will need and ask him to turn it in-hand for the correct placement.
• Ask the individual to turn the piece in-hand to the correct orientation if the piece is not in the correct orientation when they pick it up. Set the pieces up this way so that they will have to practice in-hand manipulation.
• Sort the pieces into piles by color. Then go through each pile and name each piece by color and shape.

In the box: 4 puzzle boards, 24 shape pieces

 

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

Fish Feud

Fish Feud - I'm not crazy about the launchers.

 

Fish Feud is a fishy target game with small squishy fish and launchers. I like underwater themed games and I like games with launchers. This seemed like a great match, until we tried it. I think it's the launcher.

The big fish with the hole in it is heavy cardboard (see image below). There are two plastic feet with grooves and you push the fish into the grooves to make it stand. The launchers are also plastic. All other launchers I own have the area where you place the item to be launched on the same piece that is pulled down. This way the distance the item travels is in direct proportion to how much pressure you put on the piece when you pull it down and how you pull your finger off at the end. The launchers in this game are made so that those two areas of the launcher are separate pieces and they aren't sensitive enough to press lightly and get the fish to lift off. Therefore, when pressing harder so the fish would fly off, the fish tends to fly too high to go through the hole.  Of course if you play with it long enough you will figure out the "just right" pressure, but it takes some practice. The big fish does not tip over when the squishy fish hit it, which surprised me.

The squishy fish that are launched are fun. They're made of that squishy plastic material with a little air inside the body so that you can squeeze them and get a bubble. You've probably seen similar things in the dollar store, sometimes kids use them as fidgets. There are three orange fish and three pink fish. Here is something you should know about the fish: Unlike real fish, these fish turn into one sticky blob if they get wet. I work at a home that has a dog that runs for anything that hits the floor. The parent assured me he would not go for one of these, so against my better judgement we played. He easily snatched one out of the air as it flew by and I was scared to death that he might swallow it and choke. Instead he just mouthed it, I don't think he knew what to make of the texture. Eventually he was convinced to trade it for a piece of hot dog. The parent grabbed the fish and took it to the sink to wash off the saliva. It turned into one big sticky blob and remains that way to this day.

Object:

Be the first person to have no squishy fish on your side of the big fish.

Set up:

Slip the cardboard fish into the two plastic legs and place it between players so that both players are facing the hole. Give each player a launcher and three of the same color of the squishy fish.

Play:
Both players play simultaneously, no turn taking. Launch the fish from your side as fast as you can, through the hole and onto your opponent's side of the big fish. If your opponent's fish flies through the hole and lands on your side, you have to launch it back to them. Keep playing until all the fish are on one side of the big fish.

Try this:

• Practice with the launcher before playing.
• Use a launcher from another game.
• Take the squishy fish out of the game and use them as fidgets.
• Throw the fish through the hole.
• Set up a different target that is not as precise as the hole in the big fish, like maybe a salad bowl or onto a blue piece of paper on the table that you are calling the ocean. Play alone and see how long it takes you to get them all in/on your target.
• Change the distance that the target is away from the launcher if you want to change the pressure needed to launch it.

In the box: Large cardboard Big Fish, 2 plastic legs, 2 plastic launchers, 6 squishy fish

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