Many children enjoy playing games. They do afterall, learn through play! I recently had the opportunity to review the Don’t Let the Bugs Fall! Game for children ages 3+. It’s similar to Jenga, but appropriate for younger children.

The box is colorful and all game pieces were packaged nicely. I noticed that the directions were printed on the outside of the box. At first, I thought this was a downfall, but then realized you’d want to keep the box for all the pieces anyway and having the directions on the box means never losing them (hopefully).

The block pieces are just the right size for small hands (3 3/4″ long). They’re sturdy and solid, yet not too heavy. The edges are round (no sharp edges) and the flat surface is slightly textured for a bit of extra stimulation. The blocks are bright colors of red, blue, and green. There is also one game die included. It is a larger sized die, but yet fits nicely in a small hand. Each side of the die has a face, matching the colors of the blocks.

The directions state to roll the die and the color facing up is the color to move throughout the game. My son (8) and I played using these directions for our first game. It was enjoyable and somewhat tricky. The game was over after a couple minutes. My son then suggested that we each roll the dice  before our turns. We both enjoyed this method better. The game seemed to last longer and was constantly changing. We were looking for a new color with each turn. He played for quite a while until I reminded him that he had school and needed to get ready. His review- “It’s a good game and gives kids something fun to do so they are not bored.”

I also played this game with a 4.5 year old. He wanted to build the tower on his own so I showed him how and off he went! I noticed that he sorted the blocks into color piles. This demonstrated his understanding of color differentiation and seemed to assist him in remembering to choose one of each color, per row while setting up the tower. He stacked them in a certain order. “I made a pattern!” He also made sure that all the eyes were facing the same direction in each row (not required).

“I did it!” He said with a smile. He also wanted to roll the die before each turn, dictating a new color to move. “That’s the easy part,” he said in reference to rolling the die. With great concentration and one finger, he cautiosly located the loose block of the required color. “Let’s see if I can do this one.” Oh-so-gently he slid it out of place and placed it on top of the tower. “Yes!” He seemed very proud of his accomplishment. His review- “I like this game!”

Although neither children wanted the tower to fall (because they knew that meant the game was over) both seemed to wait in eager anticipation for that very moment. Crash!

Final thoughts- This fun game reiterates following directions, enhances fine motor development and patience. It can build self-esteem while also promoting independence. As mentioned, the pieces could also be used for sorting, counting, patterning, and other cognitive games.

Want to win this game? There’s a giveaway for it right now! *Local pick up only*

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