Of course, children do not stay in the terrible twos for long. Soon they will be three and needing meatier titles. You can see my recommendation for games for two-year-olds here, and of course some of those are more appropriate as they grow with age and understand the rules more. In this second blog on Orchard Toys, I will be exploring some other titles in the roster of the mighty publisher. The first update we will start with is counting games, which are now available for children.
Counting - Five Little Ducks
What makes a game more memorable than the theme, well, of course, basing it on a famous children’s rhyme? Over the hill and far away and so the ducks go one by one until they all return reunited! Five Little Ducks has a similar gameplay to Ludo but with flipping and quacking involved.
Instead of using a die to move round a board, you flip over the duckies one by one, trying to match the right ducks to your player colour. First, you must collect Mother Duck who sits atop the hill, then each duck can swim up the river into place. This game gets children learning the first five numbers as well as memory and colour recognition.
5 Little Ducks is speedy to set up and has bright and engaging colours, plus chunky cardboard pieces. Seating up to four players, it’s great for siblings and parents to play together but allows independence as children can play this game without an adult as well.
Colours – Colour Match Express
All aboard – come elephant, lion, and bird, you are welcome on the Colour Train Ride journey. Colour Match Express has players creating trains of carriages and matching the right animals to their correct colour carriage. Featuring a coloured-faced dice, you will make your train jigsaw complete.
Promoting motor skills to create that jigsaw and observational skills too. Adding the random element teaches children patience and frustration with Lady Luck. A great place to learn a necessary social skill. Each train wonderfully features different animals depending on the train your child uses, with more learning of the animal names alongside too!
This game also comes in a mini-Christmas version, great for travelling over the holiday season. It features the same gameplay and multiple ways to play. This game can be played by children as old as six years old simply because of the different ways of playing, adding slightly more complexity and turn taking as you go on.
Matching – Spotty Cows Mini Game
Orchard Toys’ little Mini Games are a big draw. They’re backpackable and offer great learning opportunities in a smaller, slimmer package. One popular title is the Spotty Cow game, a dice-rolling matching game. It helps with counting and provides a fun win condition.
Players roll the dice, matching the number to a cow with the same number of spots. For example, rolling a four means finding a four-spotted cow. Once collected, flip the card over to reveal flowers that act as your end-game scoring. You then add all your flowers together to get an overall score; most flowers is the winner!
For a slightly lower price, you can easily collect two or three of these mini games for the cost of one. Spotty cows not only develops number recognition but also simple addition, making it a valuable tool for a child’s growth. Furthermore, the matching elements help children recognise numbers in various forms.
Observational Skills – Crazy Chefs
Veggies and ovens are ready. Crazy Chefs is a fast-paced board game that’s more reminiscent of games children play as they grow older. Each player has a board representing a specific dish like pizzas or tacos. Beyond matching and recognising food items, the game also teaches players about different food groups and how dishes are made.
The theme in this one will make the children feel a little more grown up. It features a spinner too, adding a fun element of randomness. The spinner is used to determine when you are allowed to plate your dish up or must wait for it to cook first. A nice little spin (sorry!) to be added to the game for such a young audience.
You’ll be developing those ever-important skills of conversation and social skill alongside this game too. We all know how social board games and these simple games build a great playground for friendship and companionship between families and friends. Maybe you’ll be making some pizza in your home soon after this game!
Conclusion
Like all Orchard Games, they evolve and expand with additional skills such as memory, increasing difficulty as children grow. Most are suitable for children around six years old but some are even appropriate for younger children as young as two.
