Callapidder Days

I love to play boardgames. And in my ongoing quest to play more boardgames, I’ve found that one effective strategy is to force invite my children to play games with me. With C(11), it’s pretty easy — he’ll play any number of fun games with me as long as he’s in the right mood. But it’s a little harder with L(3). Not because he doesn’t want to play games, but because there are very few fun games that are targeted at the preschool crowd. (Please don’t mention Candyland to me. I have banished that game from my home after one too many endless episodes of it.)

However, with persistence, we’ve managed to find a few gems suitable for preschoolers, the most recent one being Can You See What I See? Finders Keepers Game, a Gamewright game based on the popular Can You See What I See? (and the similar I Spy) book series.

Read on to learn more about it.

Can You See What I See?

Can You See What I See? Finders Keepers Game is a quick, fun little game that takes the concept of the I Spy books and turns it into an engaging card game accessible to even the youngest of gamers. The box says it’s for ages 4 and up, but L. was playing this game at just over 3 years old (and I think that even 2-year-olds could have fun trying to find and match objects in lieu of playing the full game). One game lasts about ten minutes, and the game accommodates 2-6 players.

At the start of the game, each player receives 12 Keep Me cards (fewer if you’re playing with 5 or 6 people). Keep Me cards are rectangular tiles containing an I-Spy-esque collage of cute and colorful objects. Players arrange their cards in front of them so they can easily see them all.

A face-down draw pile of Find Me cards is placed in the middle of the table. Find Me cards are square tiles, each containing one object.

During each round, one Find Me card is flipped and placed face-up on the table. Players examine their Keep Me cards to see if any of them contain the object on the Find Me card. If a player finds that object on any of his or her cards, they flip over those Keep Me cards and keep them face-down on the table for the rest of the game. Once everyone has flipped over their matching cards for that round, a new Find Me card is turned over and play continues with players searching their Keep Me cards for matches with the new Find Me card.

The first player to find matches for, and flip over all of his or her Keep Me cards wins the game.

Simple, right? Right. Perfect for the little ones.

The rules also include a more advanced game for older kids that involves score-keeping and requires a little more thinking, so it’s definitely a game that can grow with your kids for several years.

Why do I like this game?

• Well first of all, I have to admit that I’ve always been a fan of the I Spy and Can You See What I See? books, so any game based on them is going to score some points with me. I love how they encourage kids to concentrate and really examine a picture. And watching a child get that feeling of accomplishment when they find all the objects on a page (all by themselves) is priceless. The Finders Keepers Game does all of that, just in game form.
• The games are short. Ten minutes? I can handle that. In fact, when L. and I play Can You See What I See?, I find that I’m happy to play multiple games in one sitting. I’d rather play 3 or 4 games of Can You See What I See? Finders Keepers than one game of Cand– the game that must not be named.
• It teaches little ones some of the basic principles of gameplay, which will come in handy in many areas. Though the game involves simultaneous play (so there’s no real “taking turns”), kids still learn about order of play, structure, organization, observation, and winning & losing.
• It’s a game the little kids like. Just as in the I Spy books, the pictures in Can You See What I See? Finders Keepers are engaging, bright, interesting, and fun. A variety of objects keep the kids intrigued and also lead to conversations about the objects and their uses/features.

In summary: