The Rainbow Fish Lotto, A Toddler and Preschooler Game

I recently found The Rainbow Fish Lotto at a used bookstore near our home (Half Price Books). It was a low-enough price that I decided to risk buying it to see if it was a good gateway game for our two-year-old.

The game consists of four cards with several images from The Rainbow Fish story printed on them. There are smaller cards with one image each from the story. A basic way to play is to give each player a large card and place the stack of smaller cards in front of everyone. Someone (maybe Mom or Dad) picks up a card from the pile and each player looks to see if it matches one of the images on their larger card.

The box says the game is for ages 3-6. We found good ways to use it with a just-turned-two-year-old who could match the pictures.

For other skill levels, the game can be simplified or made more complex. There are two different versions specified in the game instructions and when playing the game it is easy to think of different ways you might want to use the cards. One way, which a toddler will quickly discover, is to take out all the cards, look at them, and then put them back in again. And repeat.

Speaking of toddler play, one of my favorite things about the game is the sturdiness of the cards and the game box and lid. This type of game could easily be made at home by printing out pictures from a storybook and cutting and arranging them. However, the game we bought will live through toddler play for quite a while.

And of course, this would be a great activity after reading The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.

(I don't get any compensation from this review of the game; I just liked playing it with our toddler. :)

Monopoly Junior Lessons

Recently, my five-year-old was given Monopoly Junior. The age range on the box is 5-8 years old. He has just turned five, so I was interested to see how he did with this game. While he and his father and I played the game, I noted the lessons for my son.

1. Addition and Subtraction

Using money and paying in different denominations gave him practice adding and subtracting to make the right dollar amount. He could use more practice, but this is a fun way to get practice in. The denominations are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 dollar bills, so it is an easy way to start.

2. Game Playing Basics

My son is used to taking turns in games. This game also gave him more practice counting game board squares to move ahead, following directions, "reading" dice, and using his own colored game pieces (marker to move around the board and ticket booths to set up on the spaces he paid for). I was actually surprised to see him happily end the game with Dad as the winner. He usually wants to be the winner at everything. (I don't think he's the only four- to five-year-old with this tendency.)

3. Reading

He can sound out words and read many words from context, but he also has some way to go before he can read many books on his own. The Chance cards and game spaces gave him lots of opportunity to read with very specific context clues. He did great!

4. Finance

Okay, not high finance, but this game gives a $2 "allowance" for passing Go, so it reinforces the idea of an allowance. It also shows the properties of ownership. Whichever person paid at a space to put up their ticket booth had the right to collect admission every time someone landed at their ticket booth. Our son got used to paying other people at their ticket booths and asking for money when people landed on his own booths. Another basic idea it reinforced was the accumulation of money. The person with the most money at the end of the game wins. This game is completely based on chance, so it's not due to skill, but nonetheless, if you have the most money, you win.