It's been a while since we reviewed for Orchard Toys, but their recycled card, UK made games and puzzles are still firm favourites in our house. Recently they have released a series of mini games, ideal for taking away with you on holiday. We've been sent Jungle Snakes And Ladders to review.


Everyone has played Snakes And Ladders, it's suitable from age 4+ and has been around since the 2nd century BC. A game of pure chance, so anyone has an equal opportunity to win.

It's been a long while since we reviewed any Orchard Toys, but we still play them all of the time, and our youngest received a couple of new ones for his 5th birthday. He's been a reluctant reader and writer, so we were sent Match And Spell so that we could see what he was really capable of!


Orchard Toys Match And Spell is suitable for 1-4 players aged 4+. Your child could possibly gain from it even younger, as no knowledge of letters is needed before you begin.

I've been aware of the Slow Toys movement for the last couple of years, and I'm a huge fan of companies such as Wonderworld, Pintoys, Haba, Hape, Le Toy Van and I've reviewed for Green Toys, Orchard Toys and The Toadstool for a long while now.

The Wonderworld Eco-House with Pintoy Firemen

Slow toys should allow a child to explore their world and play in any way that seems right to them, they stretch a child and develop a huge range of life skills.

Le Toy Van Wooden Fire Engine

Slow Toys are toys that aren't 'faddy', more classic and not based on a TV show or other character. They're traditionally wooden, although card is fine and plastic is included now as long as it meets the other criteria. Slow toys should not in the main take batteries or be powered other than by the user. They should ideally be produced in a sustainable way, with minimal impact on the Earth and it's inhabitants. 

It's been a long while since we played any games, but this weekend we did. We tried a couple of new games, and the first is Can You Guess? from Orchard Toys. The game is suitable for age 4+ and was a really fun game, a hit with all of us, whatever age.

Unlike Snakes and Ladders, each of the 2-4 players has their own board, and there are spaces at the end from where you can make an attempt at goal. When you reach the goal mouth, you 'shoot' by using a spinner. If the goalie is behind the ball, they save - if not, you score! 


During the game if you land on a Whistle Square then the whistle spinner comes into play. A yellow card sees you miss a turn, and a red card means back to the start. Landing on a free kick gives you another throw of the dice.


This is a game recommended for players aged 5+. My 5 year old is ill and sat this one out, so I decided to play with my 4 year old. As soon as his 16 year old brother saw the game, he offered to play instead.


Each game only takes around 5-10 minutes and it's really very fast-paced, especially with only 2 players. I think that's why the recommended age is so high. You can also feel quite demoralised if you get sent right back to the beginning, but my 4 year old was in a great mood, and in fact he won - shouting "Goal" and celebrating in true footballer style....



My 20 year old joined in at this point and they played about a bazillion more games over the next half hour, before realising that they could adapt the game really easily. I think this is one of the best things about Orchard Toys games, they're almost always ready and waiting to have new rules and adaptation depending on who plays.


By turning the boards end to end, the boys realised they have a large pitch with a goal at each end, and could expand the game and make it longer and harder to win. They decided to 'score' rather than have a winner after one goal, and their game became more and more complex. It ended up far beyond what my 4 year old could keep up with, but by this time he was enjoying the paper packaging that came in the box!


Orchard Toys Football Game is fantastically simple to grasp and great fun to play. It's quick and for the most part rewarding. It reinforces number skills and counting, but most of all it encourages the players to join in together with the excitement and pace of the game, and have a great time laughing and playing together.

Football Game entertained 3 of my boys for a good couple of hours and I'm sure it'll get plenty of play over the next few years. It's a perfect game for when you have 20 minutes and want something light and fun.

It's been a while since I last did a review for Orchard Toys, but that doesn't mean we haven't been playing with them, and the Pirate Race Game is one we've been enjoying now for the last few weeks. Pirates and treasure are always popular with youngsters.


Designed for children aged 3+ this is a really simple race for the treasure which my boys both love. The rules are very simple and a game with 4 people takes around 15 minutes, so no-one loses attention.


The game is played on a large jigsaw board with 4 pieces. Like all Orchard Toys games and puzzles Pirate Race Game is designed and manufactured in the UK from thick, high quality 100% recycled board with bright and colourful illustrations. It's built to be played with and will last to be passed on when your child has finished with it.




My boys love playing games and this is no exception. My youngest is 4 on Friday and he's really got the hang of playing games and turn-taking now. Using dice and moving around the board is brilliant for counting skills, and the coloured spots are reinforcing colours for him. My 5 year old is colour-blind and only had difficulty discerning the purple, but once shown which colour was which he was fine.


I think the age range is right, children under 3 need reward throughout a game and although you get to put together your pirate jigsaw, sometimes you can make a few moves without picking up the right piece and this frustrates younger children. The game is for 2-4 players and we do find, especially at the beginning, that we're jostling for space, but the boys quite like this and put on pirate voices 'talking' to each other.

I think younger children who attend school and nursery really benefit from being encouraged to carry on reading and writing during the holidays because they're at the age where a week off is a very long time and can put them a step back.

We've 4 boys, and we've 3 girls - when they were younger the girls would happily colour and write and draw, whereas the boys think of the whole thing as 'work' and none of them, however different they are, have ever really taken joy from sitting for long with workbooks. It's always a challenge to find things that they're happy to do to keep them on track through the holidays, so here are a few of my ideas.

Printables

Holiday Cottages have a 3 free printable games that you can use to keep the kids entertained whether at home or out and about - Roadside Bingo, a Countryside Treasure Hunt and a Beach Treasure Hunt. You can download them here.

Tiny Me, the people who made our lovely wall stickers, have a great range of free printable activities for any occasion, and can certainly give your children a few hours entertainment making masks and door hangers and all kinds of things. Their printables can be found here. 

Games and Puzzles

Spending time playing games with your children is an excellent way to bond and make memories as well as reinforce learning about numbers and counting, turn-taking, being a good loser and honing fine motor skills. I very well remember playing Monopoly with my Father when he was off work and hopefully my children will remember playing games with me. 


Some of our most favourite games for younger children are Orchard Toys games, with Round And Round (age 3+) and Counting Caterpillars (age 3+) being great examples. For older children we like Drumond Parks Wordsearch Junior (4+) and The Magic Tooth Fairy Game (5+).

Reading Books Together

There is no better way to get a child interested in reading than to read with them and it doesn't have to be a purely bedtime activity. When your children are driving you bats, fighting or tearing about the house like madmen, 10 minutes quiet reading time can make all the difference. We love the Early Readers from Orion Books because it really is a team effort to read along with my 5 year old, with my 3 year old watching, listening and learning.

Cooking And Baking

All children love baking with adults, and it can be a super simple no bake like our Rocky Road, or something more complex like making their own pizzas for tea. Of course cookies and cakes are always popular too. It's fantastic for learning about all kinds of things - nutrition, science, weights and measurements, colour mixing, different cultures and even history. There are loads of excellent ideas on the Pinterest UK Official Cooking With Kids board.

Museums And Libraries 

 Libraries and most museums are free to visit and they're absolutely crammed full of interesting stuff to stimulate children and adults. They go to huge effort to lay on extra activities during the school holidays. We recently visited the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, who have a week of activities around Spies, Disguise and Ways To Hide - with a special focus on animals role in war time.

Screen Time

Screen time doesn't have to be mindlessly beating up aliens or racing round a track, it can be a fantastic tool for learning and keeping your brain working, and it's a brilliant reward or a break for a child who has been a star.

Heroes Of The City

Books that have accompanying apps. like Heroes Of The City (age 2+) or Robotslayer (age 5+) encourage reading and puzzle solving. Heroes Of The City has free levels and films to watch and The Robotslayer app. is totally free for half term week on IOS - you can download it here.


Online educational products are fun as well as teaching tools and your child will be learning without even realising as they play games and solve puzzles. We're particularly fond of Reading Eggs and there is a code for a free 4 week trial on my review page.

Lego

Build something together. Start a project. Stretch your own and your child's imagination. Build on fine motor skills and design ideas, problem-solving and logic skills. Create something you can be proud of. Playing isn't just for kids, adults need a break too....


Enjoy your break, and enjoy spending quality time with your children....

We love Orchard Toys and when they asked if we had a specific game or puzzle we'd like to review for Christmas it was quite tricky to choose. My 5 year old already asked for Shopping List in his lovely letter to Santa, so I thought maybe Pop To The Shops would be a great idea.


Pop To The Shops is a game for 2-4 slightly older children, with a recommended age range of  5-9. It includes actual play money, which is a new thing for my children and they were very excited when they saw it in the box.


Gameplay is, as usual with Orchard Toys, relatively simple and easy to get to grips with. Each character has a home base which is their family shop, where you return after every purchase. You pick a card from the upturned cards on the table and have to go out to one of the other shops and buy the item you picked and put it in your basket.





My 3 year old is too young for this game, so he helped me and looked after my money. Even so, both boys really enjoyed it and loved the 'money' aspect. My 5 year old has always been encouraged to handle cash and understand how paying works, and this game is fantastic for that. It teaches real life skills that are really quite tricky concepts to grasp.

Within around 3 turns each my boys both understood they had to pay for their item and wait for change. My 5 year old was beginning to get to grips with adding in tens and both boys now know what a 10p, 20p and 50p look like.


This is a great game for developing number and counting skills and learning about dealing with money and shopping. It's ideal for encouraging social interaction and giving a child confidence.

Pop To The Shops has an RRP of £9.50 and you still have time to buy before Christmas. Orchard Toys have free delivery on all orders over £20 and there is a free gift with every order.

The aim of the game is to travel around the board collecting a selection of elements which appear in the song - windscreen wipers, wheels, babies etc. When you land on the bus stop then you can take a corresponding card and then everyone sings that bit of the song. The winner is the first person to fill all 5 slots on their bus and get back to the Bus Station!


Round and Round is a fantastic first game for a child who is just learning to play. It teaches all of the very basics of gameplay including rolling dice and moving the right number of spaces, taking turns, collecting specific cards and following instructions for specific squares.

The game is great for promoting colour recognition and is very much about counting and early  maths. There is only one dice, so children can focus on numbers to 6, but it really promotes strategic thinking because they are trying to reach specific squares, so as they progress they will be able to look and work out what they need to roll in total to get to the right place, and what the best route will be!


There are 10 different elements of the bus available to collect in 5 different colours, and you only need one of each colour, so there is a degree of anticipation and surprise when you pick up your card and see what you've taken.


This is a lovely game. My 5 year old was delighted when he saw the little buses and my 3 1/2 year old loves that he knows the song that goes with the game.The addition of actions and singing makes it quite lively at times, and the 3D buses are brilliant for the children to push around the roadway.

Personally I love that the buses don't need to be let down to fit in the box, it all goes in very neatly although the box isn't any bigger than it needs to be. As with all Orchard Toys games and puzzles Round And Round is made from 100% sturdy recycled board in the UK and the paint is non-toxic.

Round And Round is available direct from Orchard Toys for £15.95 with postage free for orders over £20 and a free gift for every order before Christmas. Orchard Toys games and puzzles are also available in toy shops, Tesco, John Lewis and other stores.

Orchard Toys offer a free replacement parts service, and if you have any questions their Social Media and Customer Service team will be happy to help you. They also currently have an advent competition running daily on their Facebook page.

 Our favourite Orchard Toys puzzle was Who's In Space, and our game of the year is an easy choice, which is surprising because we play them a lot, but it's the newest one and it just grabbed everyone's enthusiasm. Christmas Surprises delights even our 15 year olds! Currently £9.50 and exclusive to Tesco.