Put The Animals In The Barn

Time for another hand-me-down game. (I love hand-me-downs!)

This one is to strengthen both reading and numeracy skills.

It has a very simple game board with some spaces blank, some have a picture of an animal, and some have written instructions like, "go to the cow space" or "lose a turn." Also included in the game are small cut out pictures of farm animals. The players take turns rolling the dice, counting the spaces, and move forwards, (or backwards if they choose) to try to land on all the animals.

When you land on a space with a picture of an animal, you get to pick up one of the cut outs, and put it on your barn card, reading to find the appropriate 'stall.'

The first player to fill their barn wins.

I was a little surprised by how big of a hit this one was. He loved it. Just plain old loved it. We played it several times, one right after the other, and we only stopped because it was time to get the bigger kids from school. And even then I had to reassure him we'd play it again another day.

If you wanted to make your own version of this, it wouldn't be too hard. You could even change it up a bit and instead of a barnyard, maybe you'd have to collect different kinds of flowers, or butterflies, or dinosaur bones, and then assemble a bouquet, or a collection frame, or a fossil exhibit.