Hop, Waddle, Stomp!, Rainy Ranch, and Big City Builders Review

Hop, Waddle, Stomp, gets toddlers moving around the room. There are different ways to play the game, depending on the age of the child. In one version, players throw the soft bean bag ball. Whatever color is face up is the color of the card the child chooses. Flip over the card to find out which animal is on the back. Then act like that animal to bring the card to its matching animal board. Everyone wins when all the animals are back with their families. For older players, divide the animal boards evenly among the players. Take turns throwing the ball and choosing any animal card that matches the color shown. If the animal fits on one of your boards, you keep it. If not, you put it back face-down in the play area. The first player to complete their animal boards wins. The animal boards and cards can also be played with as regular puzzles. The game can be played with up to four players ages 2 and up.

Rainy Ranch is a cooperative game where players must put all the animals back in the barn before the cloud fills with raindrops. If you roll an animal, put that animal into the barn. If you roll the barn, choose any animal to bring into the barn. And if you roll a raindrop, add one raindrop to the cloud. You can also play the game using the color die, matching the colors shown to the colors of the animals or raindrop. The game pieces can also be played with as a regular puzzle. You can play this game with up to four players ages 2 and up.

Big City Builders is a puzzle and play construction game, and it has two ways to play, depending on the age of the players. For younger kids, both players work together to get the mixed-up materials to the right construction sites. Choose a truck playing piece and load it with a material tile from one construction site, then drive it to the correct construction site. Everyone wins when all the materials are at the right construction sites. For older players, you’ll use the die. As before, load a material tile into your truck, but then roll the die. The color you rolled determines how far your truck can go. If you arrive at the correct construction site, collect the material tile and flip it so that its star side shows. When all the tiles are gone from their sites, the player with the most stars wins. The game pieces can also be played with for building, delivering, and imaginative play. You can play this game with up to two players ages 3 and up.