Word on the Street Junior Game Details

Product: Word on the Street Junior
Company: Educational Insights
Website: https://www.educationalinsights.com/word-on-the-street-jr
Recommended Age Range: 6 and up, though kids as young as at least 4 can easily play as long as their is an older child or adult on their team
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

We borrowed this game from a friend and the first thing I realized as we are setting it up is how beneficial it was for my 4 year old who is still working on memorizing all his letters. As part of the setup, you have to match the letter tiles to the correct spot on the “street.” He would pick up a tile and I would say things like, “Do you remember what letter that is? That’s a K? Can you find it on the board?” Of course, my older kids rapidly had this task taken care of, so he only got to do a few letters, but I could see in the future doing this activity alone with him so he can receive the most benefit.

Next, this game stretches your thinking skills. First the players are divided into two teams. The category cards give a team a topic, you flip over the timer, and they have until the sand runs out to choose a word that fits the category card. For example, one of our categories was “an animal smaller than an ant” and my oldest came up with tardigrade.

Generally speaking, you want to find the longest word possible, because the more letters in the word, the more letters you get to “tug” on. However, sometimes there will be certain letters that you want to use to capture those letters. For example, one of our clues was “something you can see through” and the W letter was one pull away from being captured. In my frantic, muddled adult brain, I came up with words like glass, glasses, plexiglass. Then my four year old shouted out “window” which was perfect, because it let our team capture the W.

We have only played this game twice so far. Once we had an adult on each team which made things balanced. The time we played with four kids and an adult, I played both sides. This caused some minor problems as one team in particular was upset that I seemed to be giving better suggestions to one side than the other, which was coincidentally true. After that, I only helped the losing team.

I also help with a lot of the spelling once kids have decided on their word. Overall, I think this a fun, enjoyable way to practice spelling and creative thinking while getting kids working together. While we may not purchase our own version of this game, it is one that I would happily borrow periodically from my frend.

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Outfoxed Info

Product: Outfoxed
Company: Gamewright
Website: https://gamewright.com/product/Outfoxed
Recommended Age Range: 5 and up (though our newly 4 year old loves this game too)
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

I really love this game. Who doesn’t like a game in which you get to use a special decoder? It is seriously so fun. Whoever came up with the concept behind this game was extremely clever and inventive.

Outfoxed is reminiscent of Guess Who. You have to use yes or no questions (like is the thief wearing white gloves or carrying a briefcase) to eliminate suspects and ultimate figure out which fox stole the pie.

However, instead of asking questions, you move around the board collecting picture clues (like a briefcase) and then use the decoder to figure out whether the suspect has or does not have the clue included in their outfit. The concept behind this game is really pure genius.

I also appreciate that this game is a cooperative game. All the players are trying to catch the thief before he makes it to the end of the game board. Cooperative games are perfect for families with kids covering a wide age span. It is too bad that it is limited to four players, but really, there is no reason why you couldn’t add extra game pieces and have others play as well.

If you wanted to make the game easier to win, you could have the fox only move 1 or 2 spaces for unsuccessful rolls instead of 3. As is, I’d say we lose about a third of the time, which is a good amount, but for kids that are very sensitive to loss, you could make the game easier to win while you are learning the game.

This is currently my absolute favorite game to play with my preschooler and 1st grader. The fact that my third and fifth grader likes playing it as well demonstrates this game’s wide appeal.

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Dinosaur Escape Game Info

Product: Dinosaur Escape Game
Company: Peaceable Kingdom
Website: gamewright.com
Recommended Age Range: 3 and up
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review

In my ideal reality, our family would be a table top gaming family. I envision us sitting down for a family game or pairing off to play with each other on a daily basis. However, at the moment, I am lucky to squeeze in a family game once or twice per week. Part of the reason is that life is just so darn busy sometimes. The other reason is because it can be really difficult to include the younger kids in our play.

This game is a quick and easy solution to both problems. It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to play AND the 5 year old fully understands how to play on his own. Even the 3 year old can play with help. Another great feature of this game is that my 7 and 9 year olds WANT to play as well. It is not so easy that it is boring for them.

I love that it is cooperative. I want my kids to have practice playing competitive games and losing, but who has time for that kind of drama all the time? This way, we all win or we all lose together. The bigger kids are motivated to HELP their younger siblings so that they move their dinosaur in the right direction to maximize their chances of winning.

This game helps kids to work on their memory, concentration, focus, social skills, and even critical thinking. There is a little TINY bit of strategy involved since if you waste too much time exploring the same locations, the volcano might erupt and the game will be lost. I frequently don’t enjoy playing little kid games, but Dinosaur Escape is an exception to that rule. I am grateful for the painless family bonding it provides.

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Product: Ruckus Junior
Company: Imagination Games
Recommended Age Range: 3+
Price Range: ~$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Review: I homeschool my kindergartner and 2nd grader. We interact all day long. I have a 1 year old as well, so obviously he requires a fair bit of attention. Sometimes my 3 year old gets a little lost in the shuffle. Occasionally I make time to try to connect with him one on one, but a lot of the time I feel like my efforts fall flat.

Around Christmas, I was looking for games that we could play as a family without excluding the 3 year old. Ruckus Junior is absolutely perfect. It’s really fun, the rules are super easy to understand, and best of all, it is easily modified to make it based entirely on luck, so the 3 year old actually has a shot of beating his older siblings and parents.

We opened up the Ruckus Junior box and it took about 2 minutes for me to figure out how to play. Setup? Deal each person 7 cards and make a draw pile. Lay down any sets of 2 or more matching cards in front of you. Game play? If you have a card in your hand that matches a set an opponent has in front of them, you can steal their set. When no one can play, everyone gets a new card.

To make this easier for my 3 year old, we modified the game so that all the players take turns like a standard card game. On your turn, if you can steal, you do it. If you can’t, you begin your turn by drawing a card (and then seeing if you can steal or add to a set you already have). It’s not quite the same as the makers intended, but with this change, which removes the speed element, the 3 year old absolutely has a chance to win.

A couple week ago, my husband took the older kids skiing for the day. When the 1 year old went down for his nap, I really wanted to make an effort to do something fun with the 3 year old. I almost never have an opportunity to do something with him alone (especially not without constant interruptions).

The joy on my 3 year old’s face the first time he and I played this game was absolutely priceless. Each time he was able to take one of my sets, he would practically burst from happiness. In contrast, each time I stole one of his sets, he would get a sad, pouty look on his face, but he wouldn’t cry. All in all, I think it was good practice for being a good sport and learning the all important game playing concept of: “you win some, you lose some.”

Since that day, I’ve played with him alone one more time, which was just as fun, and we’ve played as a family 3 times. My family has gotten better at playing it each time. I will say that it’s one thing for a child to get their set taken by a parent, but it’s an entirely different level of agony to have a sibling steal their set. The first time we played, we had to stop so my biggest kids could have a lesson in sportsmanship. However, the more we play, the better they get at being gracious losers, and the more fun we have.

This is definitely a game I’ll keep in my game closet for a long, long time. I assume one day we’ll graduate to the non-junior version of Ruckus, but I may even still save this version with the friendly cartoon animals for my grandkids. It takes up barely any space and it’s so much fun!

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Product: Enchanted Forest
Company: Ravensburger
Website: www.ravensburger.com
Recommended Age Range: 4+
Price Range: ~$25
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Comments: My kids received this game for Christmas over a month ago. I’m a huge fan of board games, but our game closet is already pretty packed, so I have to be selective. We almost didn’t get this one, because the price is a little higher than I’m used to paying. However, I’m extremely glad that we did. It is a great game to play with all ages, because it’s fun for adults, but even the littlest kids can understand the concept. My 7 year old son loves it so much, he’s even played it on his own with his friends a few times. (I love when I don’t have to participate!) On his birthday recently, his dad was going to take him skiing, but he wanted to play Enchanted Forest instead.

The main concept behind this game is that all the players are on a search for a specific treasure (like Jack’s beans or Cinderella’s glass slipper). You move around the board looking under trees for that specific treasure. After a treasure is located and earned, another card is flipped over with a different treasure to search for. The first person to earn 3 treasures is the winner. Here’s the trick: If you remember what is underneath ALL the trees as you hunt for a treasure, you might already know where the next treasure is when the card is flipped over. Therefore, even if someone is losing, it’s possible for that person to earn 3 treasures in a row if they just remember where everything is. I think that makes this game fun.

I think one of the reasons why I most like this game is because after reading the book Moonwalking with Einstein a couple years ago, I like to practice memory tricks. One trick is that it’s easier to remember things in pairs. For example, you can remember that the trees with Little Red Riding Hood’s cape and Hansel and Gretel’s Lollipop are next to each other. It is even easier to remember when you make a mental image (like Little Red Riding Hood eating the lollipop). The crazier the image, the easier it is to remember. Another trick is to picture yourself going on a walk seeing these images in order. You can picture yourself walking through the Enchanted Forest and first you come across Little Red Riding Hood eating the lollipop, then the 3 Little Pigs climbing Rapunzel’s castle, etc.

Kids are pretty good at just remembering where stuff is. I need my memory tricks. All of us have fun. Well, except the 4 year old who doesn’t like to lose. However, sometimes we only play a quick game to see who can find the first treasure. She has just as good odds as everyone else when we play this way. When we play a full game for 3 treasures, I usually win. (I’m competitive like that.) As my kids get older, I’ll teach them my secrets. Ancient memory tricks or not, this game is definitely a keeper.

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Product: Set Junior
Company: SET Enterprises
Website: www.setgame.com
Recommended Age Range: 3+
Price Range: ~$10
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: You know how some games just seem “smart” (like chess)? To me, Set is one of those games. I first learned about Set when I saw my incredibly brilliant and amazing college roommate playing by herself in our dorm room freshman year. We played together for awhile (I lost badly) and I fell in love. I ended up buying my own set so I could practice on my own. While multiple people can play each other by racing to find sets, it’s also a fun game to play on your own, kind of like Solitaire, but more satisfying.

I loved Set so much that when my oldest was about 4, I bought him this Set Junior game that claims to be for kids 3 and up. The adult Set game is just a deck of Set cards. The junior version has a double-sided board. On one side, all kids have to do is match the Set cards to images on the board. Theoretically, it teaches kids HOW to make sets, but that understanding is not really necessary. On the other side of the board, the child can advance to a real Set game. The board is not really needed at all, but the fact that it shows the 12 blank spots to lay out your cards helps the players remember to turn over new cards.

When my son was 4, he had fun playing the beginner/matching side of the board a few times. However, it wasn’t very fun for me (unlike the real Set game) and he lost interest quickly. I was pretty disappointed. We ended up putting it in the closet for a couple years. Now that he’s almost 7, we just brought it out again a week ago. We played the beginner side of the board a couple times and it helped him really understand how to make sets. Then we flipped the board over and tried playing a few real games. He’s not super fast, but he gets it. Instead of racing, we’ve been playing by taking turns finding sets (as the junior version instructions suggest).

I still have the adult version which has more cards in it (80 vs. 27), but I think we’ll stick with the junior version for awhile longer. Why? 1) Having the board to help you lay out the cards really does help us remember to always have 12 cards showing. 2) Having less cards makes the game take less time, which is still a plus at his age. 3) If his 4 year old sister decides she wants to play with us, we can just flip over the board and play an easier game. I’m pretty sure even his 2 year old brother could match the cards to the board.

For all those reasons, Set Junior really is more family friendly for families with young kids. However, it’s never going to be my preschoolers’ top choice. If a family doesn’t have young kids, the adult version of Set would definitely be more than sufficient. There is absolutely no reason why my 6 year old couldn’t be playing the adult version if we made the same modifications (fewer cards and taking turns instead of racing). However, if you have 4 or 5 year olds in your family who might want to play with the bigger kids, this Set Junior game might be right for you.

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Product: The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game
Company: Educational Insights
Website: www.educationalinsights.com
Recommended Age Range: Ideal for 3 year olds
Price Range: $15-$20
Amazon Product Page (Affiliate Link)

Comments: My 3 year old thought this was absolutely the most perfect game. You get to use squirrel shaped tweezers to pick up acorns from a colorful tree inside the lid of the box and place them on appropriately matched colored spots on your log to save for winter. This game is reminiscent of Hi-Ho Cherry-o, but more fun.

The skills that this game promotes:

• taking turns
• remembering and following instructions – Each spot on the spinner represents a different action, all of which my 3 year old understands.
• color recognition – The acorns are each colored red, blue, green, purple, or orangey-yellow. It would be better if the yellow one were a little more distinct for the purpose of learning colors, but this is a small complaint.
• counting – The child learns to recognize the numbers 1 and 2 and the meaning of each.
• matching – Acorns are placed on the hole on the log with the matching color.
• fine motor control – The child uses the tweezers to pick up the acorns and place them on the log. This is the most difficult part of the game for my 3 year old, but she likes the challenge.

However, the most useful aspect of this game in my opinion is that it teaches young kids to handle disappointment without a meltdown and lets them practice being a good sport. There are numerous negative consequences in this game, which my 3 year old handles with varying degrees of dignity. Here they are in order of least offensive to most disappointing from the point of view of my 3 year old.

• You might not get the outcome you want when you spin and then have a grown-up tell you that there are no “do-overs”. This was pretty hard at first for my daughter, but she understood pretty quickly that I wasn’t going to change the rules for her and hasn’t had a problem since.
• You can spin a color you already have, meaning you don’t get to do anything on your turn.
• You can lose your turn.
• You might spin such that you have to put ALL your acorns back. I was actually expecting a big fuss with this outcome, but she was pretty nonchalant the one time it happened to her. Of course, she loves when it happens to someone else.
• You might lose.
• The biggest disappointment of all is when someone else spins the sneaky, snacky squirrel and decides to take your acorn. We basically had a category 5 meltdown the first time this happened. Putting all 4 of your acorns back into the box on your own is one thing, but having your brother take away one of yours is something completely different.

Thankfully, the more we play, the better my 3 year old gets at handling each of these disappointments. She still doesn’t like when someone “steals” her acorns, but she’s cute and vocal enough that it doesn’t actually happen very often and when it does, she pouts quietly instead of screams. The reason why she loves this game so much is that she lives for the moment when SHE spins the sneaky squirrel and gets to take away someone else’s acorn. She is in a constant state of hopeful anticipation when we play this game. It may not be the most fun or challenging game for older kids and adults, but watching the joy my 3 year old experiences when she plays this game definitely makes playing worth it (even if she does steal my acorns).

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Product: Three Little Piggies
Company: SmartGames
Website: www.smartgames.eu
Recommended Age Range: 3-4 years
Price Range: ~$25
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Comments: I bought this game for my daughter who is a couple months shy of 3 and a half. She also has Castle Logix made by the same company for the same age range and Bunny Peek-a-Boo, meant for kids 2 and up by the same company. She was not able to do Bunny Peek-a-Boo at all until she was over 3 and even now, she’s only able to do the starter puzzles. She’s beginning to be able to do Castle Logix, but even the easiest puzzles take her a while to figure out.

This Three Little Piggies game was appealing when I discovered it, because the other games she has feature no story or plotline. She loves the story of the three little pigs, so I thought this game might be easier for her to understand than the others. Maybe she doesn’t understand why I’m asking her to spend time replicating the picture in the other games she has, but she instinctually knows that those little piggies need protecting from that big bad wolf.

We just got the puzzle in the mail today and I think the age range of 3-6 is appropriate on the low end and too high on the upper end. My 3 year old understands what needs to be done and was able to do the first two puzzles by herself (her attention span doesn’t last longer than that). However, they were challenging for her. They each took her between 5 and 10 minutes. After she did two puzzles, we gave her 5 and a half year old brother a turn. This puzzle was way too easy for him. We eventually skipped to the hardest puzzle and he was still able to do it in under 2 minutes.

There are a few things I really liked about this game. First, it comes with a wordless picture book telling the story of the 3 little pigs. Both of my kids really liked the pictures and I was not expecting to find a book in the game, so that was a pleasant surprise. I “read” the book to them by describing what was happening in each picture and they loved it. One of the pictures in particular of the wolf yelling in pain after he kicks the brick house made my kids laugh out loud.

Another thing I like about this game is that after my 3 and 5 year olds were done with their challenges, they spent about 15 minutes playing together with the pieces, essentially acting out the story of the 3 pigs. That was super cute. Another happy surprise was that unlike the other games we have, there are actually 2 different types of challenges. Today we tried the challenge where you have to hide the pigs in their house from the wolf, but there are also puzzles where the goal is to fit the houses on the playing board with the pigs outside their houses. I’m not sure there is as much of a story behind that secondary goal, but it’s nice to have a whole other set of challenges.

I do have one complaint regarding this game. I think it would have been better if they had made the 3 pigs and the wolf just a tiny bit bigger so that they would fit more snugly in the board. They have a rubbery feel, so I think it would have been possible to make it so you had to shove them into their holes, but as it is, they are pretty easy to knock over. This is not a problem at all for my 5 year old. However, my 3 year old seems to solve these puzzles more by trial and error than envisioning where each piece should go. Since I was right next to her to help her, I could fix the pieces every time she knocked them over, but she would not be able to play this game entirely by herself as the pieces needs to be fixed every 20 seconds or so. As she gets older, this will be less of an issue.

Overall, I think this is a great puzzle game for a mid to late 3 or early 4 year old. It gets the child thinking critically and using their spatial reasoning skills. It’s also self-motivating since it’s based on a popular fairy tale so it’s great for encouraging the child to not give up in the face of difficulty. The story book and the little toy pieces which are fun for fantasy play are a nice added bonus.

Included on Lists:

1. Best Gifts for 3-Year-Olds
2. Independent Games for Preschool

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Product: Bunny Peek a Boo
Company: SmartGames
Website: www.smartgames.eu
Recommended Age Range: 3 to 5 years
Price Range: $23 to $27
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Comments: Bunny Peek a Boo is literally the only hands-on, visual, “challenge” game I could find supposedly suitable for 2 year olds (so if anyone knows of more, please let me know). However, in my experience, this game is not actually suitable for 2 year olds. I really think the box should say 3 and up, because while my 2 year old did enjoy playing with the bunny and his “house” while 2, she was not able to do even the first card until shortly after her third birthday. (A friend’s 2 year old also did not seem anywhere near ready for this game, so I don’t think my daughter is just abnormally slow.) I can understand why the makers of this game might think it would be suitable for a 2 year old, because the fact that my daughter struggled at all was a shock to me. (Like the time I tried to explain what a rhyme was to my first child when he was a preschooler and he just. didn’t. get it.) Basically, all the child needs to do is look at a picture (for example of the bunny sitting on a block) and try to replicate the picture using the actual wooden pieces. It should be straightforward, right? Except, for a 2 year old, it’s just not. (Or at least it wasn’t for my 2 year old).

Despite the fact that I was not able to use this game with my daughter for over a year after purchasing it, I still think it is a wonderful toy. I love logic puzzles and anything that will make my kids use their brains in new and unfamiliar ways. I frequently set up “challenges” for my oldest child, now 5, such as Rush Hour Jr. (my current favorite), so that when he’s bored or he and his 3 year old sister start bickering, I can distract him with something that he thinks is fun and that holds his attention. However, for over a year, I’ve been struggling to find an equivalent challenge for my 3 year old. While I have a wide variety of activities for my 5 year old, really the only successful independent challenging activity I found for my daughter while she was 2 was puzzles. I’m so excited that my daughter now understands the concept of Bunny Peek A Boo.

I should point out that even though she can now do the first several puzzles on her own, this game is still challenging for her. She frequently makes small mistakes and has to make a concentrated effort to find the detail she missed. It makes me so happy to watch her working so hard. As a female engineer in a male dominated field, I know how valuable this game will be to her spatial skills as she gets older. She still loves playing with dolls and other girlie toys, but if I can sneak in a few Legos and other spatial toys here and there, I definitely think she’ll benefit from the exposure.

Related Links

Independent Games for Preschool
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Comments: My 4.5 year old and I are seriously loving this game. When I started college 15 years ago, I knew I wanted to do something math or science-y, but I had trouble deciding exactly what. I dabbled in astronomy, physics, and computer science before eventually settling on mechanical engineering. However, even though I ended up switching majors, I really loved programming. As both an undergraduate and graduate student, I took several “intro to ” classes. The very first project in many of these classes was to take a very simple computer-based “turtle” or other pretend robot and learn how to program it to move around obstacles.

I can pretty much say that anyone who has taken a beginning computer science class will smile reminiscently when they realize the concept behind this game. Does the game teach kids to program? Absolutely not. (Come on, these are preschoolers we’re talking about!) However, I really do think it helps kids to think more analytically. My son is still struggling with perspective (I have a left turn card, and I know which way is my left, but the turtle is facing me, so which way will he turn if I play this card?), but this game has got him using his brain in new and unfamiliar ways. One really nice aspect is that there are essentially infinite do-overs (infinite opportunities to fix the “bugs” in your code), so he doesn’t get frustrated when he makes a mistake.

Another very interesting aspect of this game that I really like is that I am not playing against my preschooler. He is the turtle master (who “programs” the turtle by telling him which way to go) and I am the turtle mover who executes his instructions while making crazy robot sound effects. Occasionally, we have our 2 year old daughter play against him, which is hilarious, because she plays cards at random causing the turtle to frequently go around in circles and make no progress toward the goal at all, which my son loves. However, if she’s not interested in joining us, my son plays against no one and still has a ton of fun. He sets up the obstacles and navigates his turtle through them (with my turtle-moving help) and is still just as excited when he reaches the goal.

I also love that there are ways for this game to grow with my son. It’s hard to say how long this game will be fun for him, but there are ways to make it more challenging. He could play against someone who offers a little more competition than his toddling sister, which would make him think about reducing the number of necessary moves in order to beat the other player to the goal. There are also special cards for making “functions” which is more advanced than he’s ready for at the moment. I anticipate this game being in our frequent rotation for at least the next 2 or 3 years and will also be a good game to play with his sister when she is a little older.

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