Board Games are enjoying a surge in popularity. At my conference the other weekend,someone brought a stack of about 30 for people to try out. When a strategy game like"'Carcassonne" will set you back about thirty quid, you want to be sure you like it before you shell out you hard earned dosh. The trad games,like Scrabble, Monopoly etc retain their popularity. In the summer, we enjoyed Cluedo with Julian one evening.
But I want to flag up a excellent company which produces games for children - and it's based just a few miles away from here, in the Norfolk town of Wymondham [pronounced Windham by the way]
And a while back, I picked up Greedy Gorilla in a CS. You often see these boxed games going for a pound or two and they are worth getting.
Greedy Gorilla does need a battery though. Because as you turn over the cards, healthy foods go onto your playing board, but unhealthy stuff is fed to the gorilla, who then burps loudly! This makes the game very popular with small children.Rosie's set has a flat battery - so on Saturday we all had to make our own burps [even more laughter]
When Liz and Steph were small, I tried to get them Ravensburger games, which were good quality, and designed to be enjoyable and educational. Orchard Toys are similar.
There are other benefits too
- an excellent website, easy to find what you want, sorted by age and subject
- a blog with news and ideas
- lots of free downloadable printables
- a replacement service if parts do go missing, or you lose your instructions
This is a quite unsolicited recommendation - but in the run up to Christmas, if you have little ones to buy gifts for, please do take a look at this company. Their prices range from £3 stockingfillers to complex jigsaws for £16 [designed for older children, these come with posters and fact books included in the box] Personally I'd rather buy something produced in Norfolk than shipped across the world. And I would rather sit round the dining table as a family playing a game than have everyone sitting playing on their own screens.
I miss our games weekends when our adult children would come and stay, and we'd play carcassonne, settlers, ank m'pork, ticket to ride.... in the evenings. Ah well. We've played them in the summer at picnic spots instead, weighting down any flyaway bits with stones!
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DeleteLove the idea of burping for the gorilla, much more fun than a battery. Can vouch for the other two games though as we bought them for the grand children. Coloured dominoes also proved a favourite.
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DeleteI bought Orchard Toys for my children when they were small. They really are excellent - good fun, educational and with lovely thick cardboard pieces, ideal for little hands. I passed quite a few onto the nursery at our local school when my children had outgrown them. I have held onto a couple for my own grandchildren, should I ever have any!
ReplyDeleteWise move Tracy!
DeleteGreat company and puzzles, lovely to find a UK company. When our boys were young we loved board games. My great niece loved Hungry Hippos and used to laugh so much, she would have loved a burping gorilla. Hope you enjoy your weekend. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue H. Loving my grandma duties
DeleteI love playing board games and we used to play in the evenings when our daughter was young and we were in the caravan. We liked games like Uno and Yahtzee but sometimes played Monopoly too if it was a rainy day and we were stuck indoors. Thanks for the link-I will pass on to friends who are looking for grandchildren’s gifts. Catriona
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DeleteWhen our granddaughter was a preschooler, a friend in Austria showed me a game which involved a crow stealing cherries, "The Little Orchard", that she played with her grandchildren and I took one over to Ottawa with me and it was a great hit. She still enjoys games and we have played Catan as a family and enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThe crow game sounds fun
DeleteBoard games are fun, aren't they? I've kept a minimum number of board games and decluttered all the rest.
ReplyDeleteYou are being very diligent about decluttering Bless. Well Done!
DeleteQuirkle is a new to me and brilliant game (no board just 108 wooden pieces and a flat surface to play on) that is very popular at our weekly well-being cafe sessions organised by the Baptist church at the village hall. I think it’s great that board games are having a revival - they bring all ages and abilities together and we need more togetherness I think. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteGood that these community activities available. I will check out Quirkle
DeleteI, like Sarah, was about to sing the praises of Qwirkle. Super easy but also strategic. The travel version is tiny and has been out on every day trip or holiday I have made this year. I .managed to get CBC to play it with me 3 times in Belgium this week AND played my own variation which my sister and I formulated this Summer. It's really hard to get him off his phone so this is a great thing!
DeleteI've now bought it as a present for 3 people. I always buy it from my favourite independent toy/game shop in Hexham- Mr Wolf- as the owner, "Mrs Wolf" is the one who recommended it to me!
Thanks for the recommendation for this company- worth knowing! Kx
I really must check Quirkle now, if it is popular with you two blog friends and the Baptist and Mrs Wolf. Strong recommendations indeed
DeleteOrchard are a really good company for childrens games. When I worked in an infant school there were several of these games in constant use. You can tell they really think about what goes into the games they produce and even better to be a home country business.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent company
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