I am still relatively new to the Orchard Toys range, and after buying my daughter a couple of the games I soon realised how fabulous they are and decided that I wanted more of them.

About the company
For those of you who aren't aware of Orchard Toys, they are a leading manufacturer of educational games and puzzles. Established in 1971 by Keith Harvey, the company was bought out on 2004 by the Export Sales Director. The company was initially based in Nottingham and are now located in Wymondham, Norfolk.

When manufacturing their games and puzzles, Orchard Toys use 100% recycled products for both the games and their packaging. All products are designed with their motto "learning made fun" and they ensure that all games and puzzles "combine bright innovative design, durability and quality with sound educational principles"

The Packaging

After looking through the Orchard Toys website, one game was leaping out at me and that game was Old MacDonald Lotto. The box is immediately eye-catching with its bright colours and cute picture on the front. The title of the game is at the top of the box in bold white lettering with smaller text underneath stating "with a moo moo here, and a moo moo there". The majority of the front of the box is covered with pictures of animals and farmyard items surrounding Old MacDonald himself. the familiar Orchard Toys logo stands out against the background so it is immediately clear who manufactures this game.

On the reverse of the box you will find an educational guide which you will find on all Orchard Toys products and this particular game has been designed to:

* reinforce object matching skills
* encourage observation and memory skills
* develop social communication
* link with Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum Literacy Key Stage 1

Tha back of the box is just as bright and colourful as the front, and shows you the contents of the game along with some larger bright pictures of some of the animals.

Inside the box you will find:

* 4 farm boards
* 24 farm cards
* 4 farmer cards
* 1 instruction booket

The Game

The idea of the game is to be the first person to fill their farm board with all the pictures. To play the game each player needs a farm card which shows seven pictures in total - six farm pictures and one farmer. To begin the game all the farm and farmer cards must be placed on a flat surface face down and the players take it in turns to pick a card and if it matches a picture on your board you can place it on top. (If it doesn't match the card is placed back down). The instructions state that when you match a card to your board you can make the animal sound as you place it on your board but of course this isn't compulsory! The game continues until a player has matched all the cards to their pictures on the farm board.

My Opinion

I personally think Orchard Toys have yet again excelled themselves with this game, it is a really fun game with the added educational aspect which is helping the children learn through play. My daughter loves playing this game, and sometimes she will want to do the noises of the animals but other times she just likes the simple lotto game. One thing I really like about the game is that the farm boards not only show the pictures required but at the top of the board all the animals and items are included in a scene from a farm so tthe child can see them where they would appear on a farm. This game does help enhance a child's memory as they are required to remember where cards are that other players have put back down, but it also teaches them about farm animals and items that they maybe haven't come across regularly, such as:
Scarecrow
Milk churns
Woodpecker
Tractor

The price of Old MacDonald Lotto is currently £9.25 on the Orchard Toys website though you may find it slightly cheaper elsewhere on line, but I think that the price is about right for such a good game. The age range of this game is two to six and to play the game you need two to four players.

I cannot recommend this game enough, I think it is fantastic and my daughter really enjoys playing it, though she still hasn't grasped the concept of winning and she likes to give me the card she picks up if it is on my card!