Our Penguin Pairs Mini Game Review

Dear mummy, we were over the moon when a new Orchard Toys game came through the post for us to review. Intrigued by the size of the package, it was much smaller than the previously games we’ve reviewed, I was eager to get my little fingers on it!

It’s called Penguin Pairs and as you can guess is a matching pair game based on some of my favourite creatures….penguins!! Orchard Toys are a British brand and manufacture a range of fun, educational games and jigsaws, that we love. You’ll often find their range of toys in pre-school, nursery and school settings as they work alongside they National Curriculum and EYFS guidelines.

The box was colourful and compact with instructions and examples of the cards on the back. The mini games are Orchard Toys’ smallest games in a compact and portable size, perfect for at home and away. We actually took this game on our staycation to Devon and it made a great rainy day activity in our caravan with friends and family!

The aim is to match the 32 quirky penguin characters to collect the most penguin pairs before the other players! Suitable as a single player activity or a multi-player game. I even had fun popping the little card board penguin figures out of their packaging. The game can be played like ‘Snap’ too. In fact it’s so simple that as soon as my mummy got it out of the box I immediately started to play with it and picked up the jist of the game straight away…I’m 3 years old.

This game is suitable for 1-4 players aged 3-6yrs with the aim being to turn over the penguins and match the characters together. It helps develop colour recognition, matching and memory skills and observational skills. The game features a range of cute penguins in dresses, work gear, football strips and dressing gowns. Being a mini game it’s perfectly compact, lightweight and easy to take on the road, pop into a backpack and fits snuggly in a glove compartment or a seat pocket in a car. The penguin cards are made out of durable 100% recycled cardboard with a bright laminate finish and rounded corners so are safe and relativity waterproof.

The game can be simplified by removing several pairs of penguins should you wish to make the game easier for younger players and I love finding and matching the pairs and shout ‘snap’ and get very excited playing. The game helps with my social skills too, helping me to share and learn to take turns, win and lose gracefully.

My mummy loves playing it with me too and there has been a couple of occasions where I’ve asked her to play Penguin Pairs with me, unprompted. That’s a sign of a good game!

How to play

• Spread the cards face down.
• Take it in turns to try to find a penguin pair by turning over two cards, leaving them face up on the table.
• If the cards are identical, place the matching pair in front of you.
• If the cards do not match, turn them back over.
• Your turn continues until you are unable to find a matching pair. Play then passes to the next player.
• The game ends when there are no cards left to pick up.
• The winner is the player with the most penguin pairs at the end of the game.
• For single players place the cards, face up or face down, on the table and find the matching pairs of penguins.

There are plenty of Mini Games to choose from in the Orchard Toys range from Build a Beetle, Dinosaur Dominoes to Jungle Snakes and Ladders to keep your children amused. The games are available now for £4.99 each which is a bargain for hours of entertainment.

Love Bella x

Disclosure: We received the product in order to write an honest review.