Frosty the Snowman Follow the Leader Card Game

 

Frosty - Follow the leader card game.

I know Christmas is over, and I haven't seen this cartoon in a long time, but does it actually refer to Christmas in the cartoon? Couldn't it just be for a really snowy winter, like we've been having this year? Sure, why not.

Two things attracted me to this game: 1) It's a seasonal game and 2) anything that is called "follow the leader card game" can immediately be followed by your own get-up-and-move follow the leader action game. So I checked it out.

Box contents.

This is a cooperative game - you will all win or lose together. Frosty and the kids will be lined up in a parade, as you see in the image above. Frosty, the leader, is a little thick, little bigger cardboard card and will lead the parade (Frosty tile). There are six thicker cardboard tiles, one for each kid in the game. The strip you see above (parade tile), numbered 1-6, shows the six different kids marching in the parade and this is the order you will be lining up your playing cards. The back of each parade tile shows the policeman blowing his whistle. There are 5 parade tiles, each with the kids in a different order. There are 40 playing card (Frosty cards). Each of 36 cards picture one of the kids on the front and a picture of frosty and the number one or two on the back. There are 18 Frosty cards with a number one (deck one) and 18 Frosty cards with a number two (deck two). Four of the cards each picture one rabbit. The rabbit cards are wild cards and can be played for any of the kids. Let's play.

Object: 

Complete your goal without running out of Frosty cards. Establish your goal before you start the game. Choose one from the following:

• Easy game - Complete three parade tiles.
  
• Medium game - Complete four parade tiles.
  
• Hard game - Complete five parade tiles.
  

Set up:

• Arrange the kid tiles face-up in a straight line to the right of the Frosty tile, starting with 1 and ending with 6.
• Separately shuffle the number 1 deck and the number 2 deck of Frosty cards. 
• Place the number 1 deck on top of the number 2 deck and place this on top of the big Frosty tile.
• Mix up the parade tiles and place them in a face-down pile, then flip the top tile face-up.
• Each player draws Frosty cards based on the number of players.
• Each player places their Frosty cards face-up in front of them so all players can see them.
  

Play:

Players take turns. On each turn a player can do any one of the following:

• Move a kid - Play a Frosty card to move that kid tile forward one spot or backward one spot in the parade. The cards that are played will be the cards already showing.
  
• Swap - You and another player each play a Frosty card to swap the spots of both kid tiles in the parade. Each player draw a new cards from the deck.
  
• Discard -  Discard your Frosty cards and draw two new cards (or three if it is a 2-player game.)
  

At the end of a turn, if the kid tiles in the parade match the order of the parade tile, put the cards and tile to the side. Place a new parade tile at the top and keep playing. Keep playing until you complete your goal number of parade tiles (you won : ), or you run out of Frosty cards (you lose : 0).

Try this:

• Play your own version where everyone gets up and follows Frosty (the leader). Incorporate all kinds of moves that you want the kids to do, then make someone else Frosty and play again. Each time a new leader takes over, sing a round of the Frosty song to establish a time limit for each leader.
  
• Follow up with a "snowball" fight or toss. Scrunch paper (newspaper would work) and either throw at a stationary target or a moving target (the kids).
• Shuffle the cards by holding the deck in the non-dominant hand and lifting and dropping cards back into the deck with the dominant hand. Then switch hands. A little harder, right?
• Deal the cards by holding them in the non-dominant hand and push the card off with the thumb, one a at time, for the dominant hard to pick up and deal. 
• Deal the cards by putting the stack on in the table in front of you and lift the cards, one at a time, without toppling the deck, to deal.
  

 

Stacktopus

 

Stacktopus - Slip on Silly Sea Fingers

 Yes, it's one of the odder games I've blogged about, but it also quite different. What other game gives you the chance to use something as an extension of your own fingers to perform a task?

The game is for up to 3 players. There are 18 nice plastic cups, 3 each of dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, pink and orange. The cups are solid and stack nicely. 

There are 9 octopus sea fingers. They are a rubbery plastic and, as you can see in the image above, they slip onto your fingers. I was able to use them, but after about a minute I had to push them back up a bit. I think they were meant for smaller fingers as it fit finer on my little finger without adjustment. It was fun to try using them and see how poor I did with them at first. Like learning anything new, you keep practicing and find what works and what doesn't. Let the kids practice a bit before playing a game, to get the feel for it. The game says use three, but I was also able to use only two. The cups are easier to pick up when they are sitting right-side-up.

There are 24 cards, number 1-24, but not in any particular order for difficulty. There is one challenge printed on each side of each card, so 48 challenges total. Half of the cards have a green border and the other half have a red border. The green borders are the easier challenges. Some challenges are built vertical, some are built horizontal. There is a blue oval on the cards and that indicates the bottom. There are also six cards that are shown from a birds-eye view, from the top.

Object:

Have the most cards at the end of the game.

Set up:

Give each player 3 sea fingers and 6 cups, one of each color. Stack your cups in a row in front of you. The sea fingers go on your thumb, index and middle fingers. Put them on. Shuffle the cards and place them in a stack. When you play you will flip the card, so no one is able to see the card that will be played ahead of time.

Play:

All players play simultaneously. Flip over the top card and everyone races to be the first to build the model. The first player done yells Stacktopus!. The game stops and the players check for accuracy. If he is correct, he gets the card. If he is wrong and there is only one other player, the other player gets the card. If he is wrong and there are two other players, the game starts again and the next correct player gets the card. Play until all the cards have been claimed. Player with the most cards is the winner.

Try this:

• Skip the game. For a beginner, rank the green borders for difficulty and play one card after another. Then do the same for the red cards.
  
• Stand the card upright to show you will be building vertically.
• Cover the cups above the one(s) you are stacking if the individual has trouble keeping track of where they are building.
• Use the work stack if the individual wants to always start building from the top. This has worked for me.
  
• Practice with the sea fingers until the individual is able to use them to lift the cups, before building or competing.
  
• Play next to the player if it will help them to watch you build the same model.
• Put five sea fingers on. Can you build that way?
• Skip the sea fingers. Just stack the cups from the cards.