Dotty Dinosaurs is a game from Orchard Toys. Orchard toys are well known for making fun yet educational games.
This is one of my 3 year old son's favourite games, and it is played regularly in my house. In fact he actually has two lots of this game, as he got two at christmas. However instead of exchanging we kept both so we could play both sets together and get a larger group of the family involved.

Packaging- The box is rectangular in shape, which is made of sturdy carboard, it is able to take being bashed around or dropped down the stairs no problem. It is bright yellow in colour, so is very eyecatching. The front of the box has large blue writing at the top that says Dotty Dinosaurs, with the aim of the game written underneath. "Match shapes and colours with these friendly dinosaurs". There is a large picture of two cartoon style dinosaurs, a red dinosaur with shapes on its body and a green one with coloured circles on its body. The front of the box also states the intened age range 3-6 and the number of players 2-4. The orchard toys logo features on the front along with a star that states there is a educational guide on the reverse.
Both the left and right hand sides of the box feature most of the same information as the front, including the name and aim of the game, age range and number of players, and the logo. There is a small picture of one of the dinosaurs on each side, one with shapes and one with coloured circles.
The back of the box has the orchard toys logo, a picture of the box and of all its contents. There is also a written contents list which is as follows,
4 dinosaur boards
24 shapes
24 colour dots
1 shape dice
1 colour dice
dice shaker
1 instruction leaflet.
There is a more detailed aim of the game on the back of the box,
"Can you help the dotty dinosaurs to find their missing spots? Throw the dice to match shapes or colours and be the first to cover your dinosaur board in this fun game for young players. Two games in one"
The eductional guide on the back states
Orchard toys fun learning games encourage children to communicate, share and play together. This game was designed to
Encourage social skills and observation
Improve manual dexterity
Link with early learning goals
The box opens from the top with a fold in flap, so there is little chance of losing pieces.

Inside the box-
There are 4 different coloured dinosaur boards, one red, one yellow, one blue and one green. On each dinosaur, one side has 6 coloured spots and on the other side there are 6 shapes.
There are 24 coloured dots, 4 of each colour, the colours included are Red, Yellow, Purple, Blue, Green and Orange. There are 24 shape pieces again 4 of each, the shapes included are Circle, Square, Rectangle, Triangle, Semi Circle, and Diamond.
One dice with the 6 different colours on it and one dice with the 6 different shapes on it. There is a red dice shaker and one instruction leaflet, which has many different languages on it.
The dinosaur boards and the playing pieces are made of sturdy carboard that has a wipe clean surface, they are all of a good size so are perfect for little and big hands alike. The shapes and coloures come on sheets of cardboard and need to be popped out, which is really easy to do. Once these have been popped out the rest of the cardboard can be discarded. Although the box has a fold in flap at the top and there is little chance of pieces falling out, we keep the coloured dots and dice in one zip locked sandwich bag and the shapes and shape dice in another. This keeps them safe and is also easier when getting the game out as you don't have to divide them up everytime. The shape pieces have blue on the back and the coloured dots have white on the back, this is helpful as the circle shapes and coloured dots can get mixed up when looking at them face up, and if you don't choose to seperate the pieces into shapes and colours this is a quick way to seperate them each time.

How to play-
Firstly you have to choose if you are playing a shape game or a colour game. Once you have decided you turn your dinosaur board to match your decision.
The playing pieces, shapes or colours are placed face up on the playing surface. If you are playing the shape game the colours are left unused or the other way round.
The youngest player begins by shaking then rolling the dice, then looks to see either the shape or colour on the dice. In the shape game the player looks for the shape that matches that of the shape on the dice but also the colour of there dinosaur board, if playing the colour game they just simply look for the coloured dot that matches that of the colour on the dice. The playing piece is then placed on their dinosaur board. Play is then passed onto the next player. If you happen to roll a colour or shape you already have, play moves onto the next player. The winner is the first player to have all shapes or all colours on their dinosaur board.

Verdict-
Like other Orchard toys games aimed at this age, the game is over quite quickly, unless everyone is unlucky with their throw of the dice. This is great for when you only have a short amount of time to play, or a child who struggles to stay focussed on one thing for a lenght of time. However it is also a good game for when you have a longer amount of time to play, as you can play both versions of the game on repeat. This game is ideal for on a one to one basis, or for the whole family to join in,like I said before my son has two lots of this game and we get all the grandparents joining in too. Although dinosaurs so tend to be a more little boy thing, the game is gender neutral, just may have son little ones doing their best dinosaur impressions. The game is a great introduction to the more typical style board game, i.e rolling a dice, but it is also a great way to help teach your child colours and shapes. My son found it hard to begin with when he rolled the dice and got a colour or shape he already had , but has since managed to get the hang of it, especially once he saw it happened to everyone. There was one time daddy kept rolling an orange over and over and he found this really funny. The child can also get involved and learn even when its not their turn "can you find mummy her red traingle, or can you find daddy's blue square?". My son loves this game and we do play it alot, however as it has two games in one it is alot less repetitive than some of his other games. The game is straight forward and easy for both adult and child to pick up. I feel the age range recommmended is correct for this game as it is a good introduction and learning tool for the younger ones, but also quite a fun little game to play with the family for the slightly older kids, even once they know their colours and shapes well.
I have seen this game in Waterstones, Dobbies,John Lewis, large toy stores and online, all for under £10.
I would highly recommend this game. We have other Orchard Toys games (see my shopping list game review) all of which come with the same high standard and durability. I also noticed while picking my son up from nursery the other day, this game was laying out on the table, so not only am I highly recommending it but it is also used in a educational nursery.