OranguTwang

OranguTwang - Hang the monkey then pile on the pieces.

How long can the orangutan hang before he goes twang? You will find out by carefully hanging and balancing jungle friends and fruits until OranguTwang is overloaded and everything goes flying.

There will be easy assembly to set up the base and trees (6 pieces), which are hard plastic. The two tree trunks are tethered by an elastic cord (you can't remove it) which is where you will hang the orangutan. The orangutan is one piece, hard plastic, but has areas on it that you can hang things from (outstretched arm and foot, looped vine, etc.). There is a toucan on the side of one of the trees. It is a lever and you will push it up before the game starts. Randomly, I think triggered by weight, it will slide down as you play and that makes the orangutan fly off, plus all other items hanging from him.

The custom die has one item on each of five sides (coconut, pineapple, banana bunch, gecko, bat, star).

Object:

Be the last person to hang something on the orangutan before the person that sets everything off and flying.

Set up:

Assemble the game base and trees as shown on the box (easy). Pull the toucan lever up until it clicks. Hand the orangutan on the string. Place all the game pieces in the base and place the die nearby.

Play:

Players take turns. Roll the die to see which piece you will hang on the orangutan. If you get a star, you can pick any piece you want. Hang it anywhere on him, but not on the elastic cord or tree. If you are out of the piece that the dice tells you to hang, either skip a turn, throw again or hang any piece. Play however you want. When things do go flying, the person who placed the piece BEFORE it happened is the winner.

Try this:

• Skip the game. Just try hanging pieces and see if you can balance them all on without setting it off. (I tried several times and I don't think it will take all the weight of all the pieces).
• Let the player follow the diagram to assemble the game.
• Place the piece in the player's hand after they throw the die and let them orient it in-hand before hanging.
• Cup the hand and keep it in that position for several seconds while shaking the die.
• Work on visual discrimination, manual dexterity, spatial relations, graded release, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 2 piece base, 2 palm trees with toucan lever and vine string, orangutan, 14 hanging game pieces (2 pineapples, 6 banana bunches, 2 geckos, 2 coconuts), custom die

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

Press & Spin Birthday Bear Game

Press and Spin Game - Help Birthday Bear get ready for the big party.

I'm not really a fan of Melissa & Doug's Press & Spin Games because they are so... well, flimsy. It looks like there are five other games in this line and they all contain this spinner and paper pieces. Birthday Bear is different in that we will be tracing and coloring.

The spinner is a lightweight plastic and different from most other spinners you'll see. You push down the whole top of the unit to get it to go. The spinner shows number 1-6 and behind each number is a different color. 

The pencils are small, like the ones you get when you play miniature golf, and they are colored - Red, green, blue and orange. There are four drawing pads, each measuring 3 5/8" x 5 1/8"  and containing about 15 sheets. The picture on all sheets is the same - Birthday Bear. Most of the bear is made up of lightly printed, dashed shapes which are numbered 1-6. There are two sections for each number. For example, the two areas with a number 1 are the balloon and the party hat. You can see the bear in the image above.

The instructions outline four simple versions for playing this game. They are:

• Birthday Bear - Be the first to complete your picture. Give each person a tablet and pencil. Players take turns pressing the spinner. The player checks the number on the spinner and looks for an uncolored space with that number on their picture. If they find one, they will trace and color it in. If they have already colored in those spaces, their turn ends. Keep playing until someone has finished their picture and wins the game.
• Spin-a-Color - This version will not result in a winner, so just have fun coloring. Player presses the spinner, checks the color the arrow stops on, and traces and colors in any space with that color. Since there are six colors and only four pencils, two colors, purple and yellow, don't have matching colored pencils. These two colors are "wild", meaning that you get to pick any color to use. Keep spinning until you have colored in the whole picture.
• Coloring Pages - Similar to Spin-a-Color, instead of coloring in each section as you spin, only outline it with the colored pencils. When you are done, then go back and fill in the sections with any colors that you want. You can even go get your crayons and have more color choices if you want.
• Switcheroo - Follow the instructions for Birthday Bear (above) with the exception that if the same number comes up twice in a row, everybody switches their picture with another player. Continue filling in their picture.

Try this:

• Use crayons instead of the pencils. Some of the spaces are kind of small, but if your crayons are still fairly pointed, it should work. Not sure how you will sharpen the colored pencils as they wear down.
• Call out a body/clothing part for the player to outline. For instance pants or head. If appropriate add in a particular piece such as right pant leg or left ear.
• Make a banner after you have finished playing, using the bear pictures for a birthday party decoration. 
• Try making copies of the bear before you run out of tablets. You will be able to get four on a page. The dashes are very light, so not sure how they will copy.
• Work on visual discrimination, recognizing numbers 1-6 and four colors, spatial relations, tracing, using a pencil, efficient grasp on a writing tool, manual dexterity, fine motor precision, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 

In the box: Spinner, 4 drawing pads, 4 pencils

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