Cranium Cariboo
Shopping for toys is a daunting task. My previous toy shopping experiences without my son has not gone down well with him. While I leaned more towards educational toys or games, his choices were completely different.
It was decided that for his birthday he would choose his own gift. We took our son for toy shopping few days before his birthday and he really surprised us with his choice. Since our focus was buying something educational, we veered towards the educational games section for preschoolers.
After browsing through all the available games, he finally settled for Cranium Cariboo with the treasure hunt theme, treasure chest and key to unlock the chest. When we asked him the reason for this game, he said it’s colorful and has many different objects, letters and shapes. I feel he was bowled over by those six colorful balls.
The game board has pop open windows that may or may not hide a colorful ball. The hiding places of each of the six balls are a mystery every time when the game is played.
Combining matching colors, numbers to sets of objects, letters and shapes, the ball, pop open windows and the treasure chest hold enormous appeal for kids.
The game is simple to play. The players send six balls through secret tunnels; waits till they settle down and then take turns in playing the game. The first player draws a card that could be a number, letter, a color or a shape. He/She then has to match the card to the tile on the board. If matched, then with the help of special purple key, unlock the tile to reveal a colorful ball or nothing. If ball is present under the tile, it has to be placed into the tumbling tide pool. The last ball when placed in the pool opens a treasure chest to reveal a shiny jewel and determines the winner.
This game is built on the popular treasure hunt theme. To make it more appealing to kids, the makers have also included a treasure map.
While playing this game, my son learned to use his matching skills to match the card to the tile, he also learned color, shapes and counting.
I am really happy with my son’s choice of game. Just the other he was telling me that if he has to attend any of his friend’s birthday party, he would like to buy them something educational games as gift. So sweet…
