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:

We are a game-playing family. And while my husband and I often choose to play games that involve lots of strategy and deep thinking, I have to admit that sometimes, a crazy, quick, no-thinking-involved game is the one that really hits the spot. Especially if there are kids involved.

And it seems that our son, C. (10), particularly enjoys dexterity games (games involving balancing, flicking, stacking, or some other physical skill).  So recently, I took the opportunity to pull a relatively new game, called Hula Hippos, off our shelf. C. and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to give away a copy this week…to one of you!

But first, let me tell you a little about the game, so you can decide if it’s one that your family will enjoy. Hula Hippos is a game published in 2008 by Gamewright (my favorite maker of short, fun, family games). The game is made for 2-4 players, age 5 and up, though younger children can definitely have fun playing along. One game takes about 10-20 minutes.

The components of Hula Hippos are very simple: inside the box you’ll find 1 wooden hoop and 24 hippo-shaped wooden disks (6 hippos in each of 4 colors).

Gameplay is also simple.  Just give each player all six hippos in his or her color of choice, and have players line the hippos up in front of them on the table. Then, to begin a round, start the wooden hoop spinning in the center of the table.

Immediately, all players should begin flicking their hippos across the table, toward the spinning hoop. Each hippo may only be flicked once, and players must flick all their hippos before the hoop stops spinning and falls to the table.

Once the hoop has hit the table, take score:  If one of your hippos ends up inside the hoop, or under the edge of the hoop, that hippo is out of the game and you score 1 point. Continue playing rounds until one player has earned four points (in other words, four of their hippos have been trapped in or under the hoop). That person is the winner!

Hula Hippos does not present players with the opportunity to think deeply about every move. Instead, it provides wacky, and sometimes wild, hippo-flicking fun.

Though younger children will have a difficult time perfecting their flicks in order to get their hippos near the spinning hoop, it often doesn’t matter — they’ll be just as happy watching the hippos zip across the table, crash into each other, and occasionally go flying across the room. Older kids will take on the challenge of learning to flick their hippos just right — with just enough oomph — while trying to predict where the spinning hoop will finally land.

And what about the grown-ups? If grown-ups enjoy a light, zany game, they’ll have fun with this one too. I certainly did.  But even if it’s not exactly your cup of tea, remember: it plays quickly, so you can get in a quick game of Hula Hippos with your kids and then move on to another activity. (I have played games of Candyland that have gone on Forever, so I certainly appreciate a kids’ game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.)

Does Hula Hippos sound like a game your family would enjoy? If so, just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of Hula Hippos. I’ll randomly draw a winner on Saturday, January 31, and announce that winner here. And I’m sorry to my international visitors, but this giveaway will be for U.S. mailing addresses only, please.

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This giveaway is part of the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival being hosted over at Bloggy Giveaways. Be sure to visit the carnival headquarters so you can check out the tons and tons of great giveaways going on this week. Just click the graphic below!