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We love the Orchard Toys games in our house so when we were offered the chance to review one of their products we couldn't pass it up! It all started for us with the Shopping List game, probably the most loved game in our house, closely followed by Crazy Chefs!
The bright and cheerful games from Orchard Toys clearly appeal to children and the relative simplicity of many of the games means that they are easy enough for young children to grasp the concept of. The other big plus point for me is that I enjoy playing these games with my children. Lets be honest, sometimes it can be quite dull playing with young children (what? I'm being honest...!), however I really enjoy using these games as an opportunity to sit and give my children my full attention because I enjoy them too! So long as it doesn't get too competitive. Which it does. There are quite often tears and they're not always mine.
Lucky Ducky is a game aimed at children 4+ and is for 2-4 players. The game is designed to encourage colour and pattern matching, develop early addition and subtraction skills and develop speaking and listening skills. The idea behind Lucky Ducky is that you have to collect as many numbered ducks as you can by guessing whether the number on the duck that you turn over will be higher or lower than the number that has been pointed to on Mother Ducks spinner. You keep going until all the ducks have been taken and the winner is the person with the most ducks.
It's a simple concept that helps with maths and number skills and I have found it perfect for introducing the concept of "higher than" and "lower than" to my pre-school boy. The number guide also helps him to remember the other of numbers. One of the suggestions for another way to use this game is to use the cards to do simple sums and I think this is a fantastic idea and will certainly be trying that with my son. The duck cards are also good for a quick game of snap too so it's a rather versatile product and would clearly be a great way of introducing numbers to even younger children. My daughter also enjoys playing this game and after completing her first year in Reception she doesn't struggle understanding the rules of play at all, so its good that for older children there is a slightly different way of playing the game to keep her on her toes! I like the fact that the game is educational but fun - the children really don't notice they are learning!
As with all of the Orchard Toys products we've bought in the past, the games are well made and durable (obviously very important!), Made in England on recycled board. You can buy Lucky Ducky direct from the Orchard Toys website.
We give Lucky Ducky a big thumbs up!
