How to enjoy the weekly grocery shop (Orchard Toys Shopping List)

Member Name: nickwock

Product:	Orchard Toys Shopping List
Date:	05/05/08 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational, fun, good quality, affordable

Disadvantages: None

I found this game last year in Boots while shopping for christmas presents. We have a lot of younger children, all under 5, to buy for, including our son, so I always try to make the most of the 3 for 2 offers in Boots, especially as they stock Early Learning toys. This way I know I've bought quality gifts for bargain prices and collected advantage points. Perfect!

It was whilst trying to find the third 'free' toy that I spotted this game, very easy to spot actually with it's bright yellow box and colourful pictures of a variety of groceries and two smiling people. (Obviously not designed on me when I'm grocery shopping!) There is a blue symbol on the bottom left of the box, telling you it is made by Orchard toys, who I had previously never heard of and it states the age range is for 3-7. The directions are on the back of the box, read on for those, along with an educational guide which states:

Orchard Toys Fun Learning Games encourage children to communicate, share and play together. This product has been designed to:
Encourage observation
Develop personal and social skills
Link with Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum English Key Stage 1

Well, that sold it for me and into the basket it went. It cost £5 which I thought was a good price, and even better when you consider the 3 for 2 offer.

Inside the box you will find four different shopping lists, four shopping trolleys with different coloured handle bars and 32 smaller, square cards, each with a picture of a grocery item. The four shopping lists each has eight items written on them with the corresponding picture to the right. All these cardboard items are bright & colourful on glossy, thick card.

The object of the game is to be the first to find all the items on your shopping list and place them in your trolley.

We begin by turning by turning the 32 small grocery cards up side down on a flat surface, then we also turn the shopping lists up side down and choose one of those each. It doesn't matter if there are only two or three of you playing, it just means the game will take a little longer. We then take it in turns to pick a grocery card and turn it over. If it matches an item on your list, you can put it in your trolley & have another go. If it doesn't, it is turned back over and placed in the same spot where it came from and we move on to the next person. With my little boy being so young we began by making quite a production of this so he realised he needed to remember where the items were if they were on his list. He used to get over excited and waiting the two or three goes for his turn was like torture to him! Which is a brilliant example of why this game is so good, it has encouraged his memory skills and taught him to wait and share.

This game often comes out when cousins and friends visit and because they are used to playing, they now need very limited help & supervision. They all know how to set the game up and it's great hearing them saying things like 'ooh, strawberries, now who's got this one? I'm putting it back here....' in very exagerated voices. Wonder where they learnt that from?! We also take it out when going out for family meals to save the children getting bored while waiting for their food. All the pieces can be wiped clean which is a helpful bonus.

There are many other Orchard games which I will be searching for this year, I think they make ideal presents, good quality, good fun, educational and affordable. I know they are avaliable in Boots and Tescos, and a quick search on the internet brought up many mail order sites which stock them. Have fun!

Summary: Bright & colourful game ideal for toddlers.