It’s great to be able to go into a classroom and watch, first-hand, children play with toys I’ve brought in. I recently stopped by a 3 year old preschool class at Timberlake Christian Preschool to see how they’d react to and engage with one of my toys.
Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game by Educational Insights
The game includes an innovative twist on tweezers in the shape of a squirrel that they call squeezers PLUS:
• 20 acorns in 5 different colors
• 4 logs
• 1 spinner and
• Game board made up from the box that’s in the shape of a tree–how creative is that?!
NOTE: Because the acorns are small this game isn’t appropriate for children younger than 3 years old.
The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game is broadly, a board game, and should, ostensibly, teach children:
● To wait patiently
● How to take turns
● How use a spinner; and
● To follow the rules of the game…
———————Well, 2.5 out 4’s not bad!!
One of the preschool kidlets actually had, and played, this game at their home…and therefore, knew the rules. I must give her all kinds of props for being easy-going and just going along with things. At my own preschool or with other young children, I often amend the rules of play so they either:
———–• Can understand how to play and/or
———–• Are more successful in playing—especially if playing board games is something new to them.
BUT amending went to fudge-factoring for one little gal…and though their teacher was right there, she didn’t intervene or try to guide or redirect. In my role of observer I witnessed her spin repeatedly until she landed on the spot wanted. She was also prone to taking more than one acorn at a time! The other children playing the game didn’t really protest so I don’t know if this little gal usually does her own thing and they’re used to it or if they were perplexed and didn’t know what to do or say….at least they didn’t end up in a brawl!
The game proceeded as designed in a lot of ways though:
●The children used the Squirrel tongs (squeezers) to select the correct color acorn to put on their log
——It’s a great way to work and develop children’s fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination
●The game gives kiddos a fun way to work on color matching skills
●Kidlets have to ‘strategize’ while playing as the object of the game is to fill the log with all 5 colored acorns
●When a child was finished, ‘clean up’ was simple:
—–Just turning the log over in the box top and punching out the acorns from the log
●Storage is really the game’s biggest asset…with minimal game pieces and/or accessories, makes just that much less to lose or misplace!
●I love that the box top IS the game board.
I think this game has a lot more potential so I am giving it a thumbs-up PLAY ON stamp of approval.
If there’d been more adult guidance and supervision, the game might have been played But when teachers have many children in a class, they are unable to always devote 100% to every group. As I mentioned earlier, I thought it was remarkable, the game didn’t devolve into squabbling and/or fighting! So in that respect, the game did give the kidlets an opportunity to practice tolerance and patience!
Let me know if playing Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game gave your child more opportunities to work on their social skills or other concepts like color matching!
Yours in Play!
Teacher Karen