Discovery Channel Store: Bamboo Collection Games - Here’s What They’re Saying So Far

Ask any parent: We’d much rather play a rousing game with our kids than crash toy cars together (where we inevitably retrieve them from under the sofa) or re-enact fairy tales (where we inevitably play the role of Prince Charming). But as one mother put it, “The games that jump out at me are those that teach or train some area of the mind or body.” In other words, they’ve got to be engaging for both kids and adults.

Two of the games from the Discovery Channel Store’s Bamboo Collection - Rapelli and Rapido - definitely fit the bill. The feedback from the bloggers so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

One mother described Rapido as follows: “Each player gets one colored tube and one bamboo strip. The strips each have colored dots on them in a particular pattern. You take all the balls, put them in the cylinder, and dump them out. (The rope keeps them from rolling everywhere). Then as fast as you can, you pick up the balls with your cylinder in the order that they appear on the bamboo strips.”

Another added: “With Rapido you think fast, and move even faster, as you collect colored bamboo marbles to match a special pattern. My kiddos have not only had so much fun picking up the marbles with their bamboo tubes, but they’re building color and pattern recognition skills, too!” The first mother agreed with the assessment that Rapido is good for color recognition, and she also noted: “It also helps build hand eye coordination and to be honest, I had just as much fun playing it as the kids. It is also the kind of game that you can make as long or as short as you want to.”

As for Rapelli, “Basically it consists of two half cylinders that you press together to form a tree. It takes about two seconds to assemble it. The pieces consist of 18 caterpillars in 6 different colors…There are also two dice made out of bamboo. One is a colored die, and the other is an action die…The object of the game is to be the first person to have all your caterpillars removed from the tree.” This blogger went on to comment: “I think it teaches great concepts like playing with multiple dice and how to distinguish between forward and backwards. When you have many players, the child has to strategically decide which caterpillar they should take, so as to optimize their chances of winning.”

There was some disagreement among the bloggers as to how well the game was explained in the directions. One blogger felt the directions “could use some fine tuning in order to make the game a bit clearer to the adults so the adults can more clearly explain the game before the little people get too impatient and start throwing the little caterpillars around the room.” But others found the directions “pretty straight forward” and “easy to read and a piece of cake to explain to my four and seven year olds.” Another mother admitted: “The official rules are a bit vague on some of the details of playing the game, but that didn’t bother us since we just make up our own rules to fit what we’re doing and [our daughter's] age.”

Even so, both parents and kids enjoyed Rapelli. One blogger enthused: “I love that they love the game and that it was easy to learn but isn’t so childish that adults don’t want to play with it.” Another found that it was a fun way for her daughter to “work on vision exercises. She has to look at small parts, manipulate smallish pieces, and coordinate all those things together. She never feels like it’s a chore to play the game (and since the game only take about 15 minutes to play, it doesn’t feel like a chore to us either), and right now that’s key to getting her transitioned into wearing her bifocals more often.”

Both games are geared toward kids that are at least four years old. A mother who reviewed Rapido agreed: “It is recommended for ages 4 and up, and due to the rope and the small balls, I would say this is correct.” But a mother who reviewed Rapelli noted that the kids “found the game to be too long” and suggested “I would change the age of this game to five and up.”

But all of the bloggers were thrilled that the games were “made of eco-friendly bamboo that was preserved to keep its economical and ecological values to the world.” And, as one blogger concluded, “It will definitely end up on my list of go-to birthday gifts!”

More reviews coming up!

TODAY - Mother May I
Thurs 5/15 - Not That I Don’t Love My Kids
Fri 5/16 - One Chic Mama
Mon 5/19 - A Gaggle of Girls
Tues 5/20 - My Family Loves It
Wed 5/21 - Lawyer Mama
Thurs 5/22 - Toddler Planet
Fri 5/23 - SusieJ
Tues 5/27 - Round-Up Review on PBN

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Elementary School, Games, Green/Organic, Kids, Pre-school. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Discovery Channel Store: Bamboo Collection Games - Here’s What They’re Saying So Far

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