Next week, my 4-year-old heads back to preschool. That means it’s time to brush up on sharing, taking turns and all those social skills that have become a bit rusty since June. (Sure, she’s had plenty of practice with big sister this summer, but sibling rivalry eventually takes its toll.) On a rather humid, late-summer afternoon, we decided to stay indoors and put those character-building skills to the test with a brand-new board game. Perfect for ages 3 and up, Animal Soup is a wacky mix-and-match game that rewards astute players with entertaining results. The premise of this no-reading-required game is simple: Be the first person to correctly pair different animal tops and bottoms with similar colored backgrounds, and you win. If your child is already familiar with Candyland and the like, she’ll be comfortable moving around the board and finding the correct colored space to land on–the only difference is spotting the animal card that corresponds with your spot. During our first game, my daughter had a little difficulty remembering to roll the die, move her guy and then pick up her animal card. But by the second go-around, she got the hang of it–and even won a round! Perhaps the biggest motivator was the laugh-out-loud animal combinations she got to make, like a croctopus (crocodile + octopus) and a squale (that’s part squirrel, part whale). Animal Soup is one meal this preschooler was happy to devour!
In a Nutshell: Laughter and learning go hand in hand with this preschool-level board game that’s worth dishing up.
