Does your preschooler have gift cards from the holidays?
Duplicate presents that need to be returned?
Too many video games?
Is s/he climbing the walls this winter?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, listen up! You have GOT to check out a new line of games and activities by Cranium Bloom. Thanks to Mom Central, we received both the Let's Go to the Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle and the Let's Play Count & Cook Game.
In a word...fantastic!
Let's Go the the Zoo starts with a puzzle building activity. The pieces are the perfect size for preschool fingers and just the right degree of difficulty. Once the puzzle is done, the players choose one of the sets of cards (either beginner or more difficult) and begin a hunt for different items, numbers, or colors in the puzzle. Once they are found, the preschoolers can circle them with the enclosed erasable marker.
I love how this game works on so many different emerging skills at once. The fact that they even found a way to include fine motor skills (a big challenge for Little J) with the use of the marker is brilliant.
The Let's Play Count & Cook Game is equally as fun. The game consists of collecting the ingredients to different recipes. Each pages also offers tips and lessons on everything from kitchen safety to table manners (yeah!) to cool food trivia. Each recipe is one that can easily be made with your preschooler. Little J especially loved discovering peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
Both games include a booklet that includes many ways to add variation to the game and to extend it to the world around you. We have played both games over and over and have yet to tire of them. The teacher in me was VERY impressed with the thought and planning that went into the production of these games! Bravo Cranium!!
All 14 Cranium Bloom games were released exclusively at Target this January.
