The koala family is off on a world tour and we get to dress them for the journey! Koala Capers Game, like last year’s Raccoon Rumpus, asks each player to “dress” his koala whose 3D head anchors the cut-out outfit cards. Roll the dice to find what card to collect, shirt or pants, zig zags, checks or flowers. Of course the funniest part of the game is when your die lands on the underwear and you have to dump all your outfits so your koala is down to–you guessed it–his underwear. That always gets kids giggling and engaged. Dressing your koala involves pattern recognition and memory but once the outfit is on, we can talk about where your koala has traveled, describing the background which can include snakes, pyramids, kangaroos, a magnifying glass and shovel or an iceberg and penguin. My kids looked at the surfer and said an island, saw the penguin and said North Pole while the bat and lantern elicited “cave.” My players got into the fun of making a little descriptive comment about their completed koala each turn. One child even recognized the game of shuffleboard as his bear was holding orange juice on the deck of a boat. Whether going to the baseball game, motor cycling over a bridge, exploring the jungle or riding a horse out west, our Koalas really get around. It was fun to see kids recognize and name patterns (one boy told me his grandma just gave him polka dot pajamas!) outside of the game. Language learning abounds and continues past the game which is just what we want!
Available at Educational Insights. Click here
