Orchard Toys Child Development
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Orchard Toys Child Development Reviews
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Orchard Toys Fruit Frenzy Card Game
by pootlegirl If you have read my previous reviews you will know that I am a huge fan of Orchard Toys. I thought I would never come across an Orchard Toys game that didn't tick every box. However, my heart sinks every time my daughter brings this one over and asks me to play it! Fruit Frenzy consists of 42 fruit cards, 2 wild cards (which ... show all the fruits and can be used to represent whichever fruit you want) and one spinner. The spinner has 3 sections, one for 'Take a face up card', one for 'Take a face down card' and a 'Fruit Frenzy' one. To play the game you spread all the cards out face down (the 'pool') and take 5 cards each. The aim of the game is to get 5 matching cards. A card that is rejected by a player is placed face up in the pool which is how you end up with some face up and some face down cards. All this is ok. The thing I really struggle with is the Fruit Frenzy bit! In fact I had to read the rules for this bit several times when we first played it as I could not get my head round it! If the spinner lands on Fruit Frenzy then the player who spun the dial takes a face down card and puts it on one side (creating a small 'pool'), then each player puts one of their cards face down with it. On the count of 3 each player grabs a new card. Now, I have only ever played this game with my 4 year old. Just me and her. And, at the moment we still play games like this with all our cards laid in front of us face up. So we both know which cards we have added to the Fruit Frenzy, meaning the only surprise card is the one taken from the table. My only hope (as I am struggling to deal with the fact that Orchard Toys are capable of making a game that is not brilliant) is that once she is old enough for us to play this game 'blind', and maybe once we are playing it as a family (at 2 little brother is too young to join in yet) that this part of the game will be the best bit and not the worst bit! This is Orchard Toys game is aimed at children aged 4 - 9. She got this for her 4th birthday and was totally capable of understanding the rules (once I had got my head around them!), however I think that to really appreciate this game you probably need to be a little older. I am not prepared to give up hope for this one yet! You can currently pick this up at Amazon for around £6.50 which is a very reasonable. Like all Orchard Toys the quality of the cards and spinner is excellent. The spinner is designed so that you can hold it still at the edge and spin it without your fingers getting in the way which is a bonus as I don't have to keep reminding her to keep her fingers out of the way. It comes in my favourite sort of box - one box with a top opening flap, much preferable to the box and lid option which inevitably ends up with all the pieces ending up on the floor when carried by a child AND need storing one on top of the other, so that when said child want the bottom jigsaw/game and pulls it out, all the jigsaws/games above it end up on the floor. These amazing new top flap boxes can be put on a shelf like books! Genius! So, although at the moment this is one of my least favourite games to play, I suspect that in time we will enjoy it more. Let's just say I still have faith in Orchard Toys! Read the complete review |
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Orchard Toys Flashcards
by claireylulu When my youngest son turned two it came to our attention not only had he not started speaking but he struggled when you would ask him to point out an object in a book. This concerned me a little as my eldest son was able to that before two and so could many of his peers. I came across these large flashcards by Orchard toys in a local ... toys shop and even though they are recommended for age three plus I liked the style of them and thought they would be helpful. *****Contents***** We bought ours last year and the box has changed since the picture above was added it looks a bit more modern and fun. But the contents are the same. It contains fifty extra large cards which measure roughly 17cms by 12cms and are made from thin card. So it is an idea to keep them away safe when they are not in use as they will bend easily if small hands get hold of them alone. There are ten number cards which I have begun using with my eldest son who is four years old but not yet with my youngest. They are one to ten and consist of a picture and then the number written in word form underneath. For example on the three card there are three teddy bears so you child can count the items in the picture to help them. On the back of the card is just the word written in the middle in big black bold writing. The rest of the forty cards are of familiar objects and this is why I bought them. The picture on the card is very large and simple and takes up two thirds of the card. Underneath is the name of the object again like the numbers it is written in black bold lettering, in lowercase. There are a lovely range of different objects which your child will come across in everyday life. Too name a few there is apple, cat, dress, toothbrush, tree, milk, teddy, bed, hat, car, cup, hand and the list goes on! On the back of each card is again just the word written in the middle of the card. *****Using the cards with my two and a half year old***** I have been using these cards with my youngest son for a good six months now and they have really helped him on. He has also being having extra help from portage the last two months and they are impressed with the effort I put in. The lady who comes once a week loves the cards and has even started using them in his hour session rather than her own she brings. I lay a few of them out at a time and ask my son to listen and then bring me a particular card back. To begin with I would only lay two cards out at a time but now we can managed a large selection. He is able to retrieve all forty cards and now we are moving onto him trying to say what the picture is. It is a very slow process but he loves these cards. The pictures are fantastic for him. They are quite simple and lovely and bright to attract small eyes. I love the fact they are very up to date with a plastic carton of milk like most of us buy from the supermarket rather than a glass bottle or cardboard carton. As the cards are on the large size my son has no problems picking them up off the floor and holds them well in his hands. The size of them makes it ideal to be laid out on the floor and as they are large the picture is a great size too. These are going to move on with my child for a good length of time yet. *****Using these cards with my four year old***** I haven't tended to use these cards as much with my eldest as he already has some alphabet flash cards which he uses but recently we have started using them. But now he is getting to grips with his letters we are slowly moving onto breaking down single words. I am trying to get him familiar with some basic everyday words and I am hoping the more he sees them the easier he will find it. I love the fact the word is also written on its own on the back so you can break the word down with your child without them seeing the picture to help them. On the back of the box the flash cards come in there are some helpful pointers in how to use these cards. I have found them useful and I also like the little note they have written at the bottom. 'Remember that this should be an enjoyable activity for everyone.' I always try to make it fun for both my boys but there comes a point when you know they have had enough. *****Overall opinion***** I really do love these cards and as a fan of many orchard toys products I would give these a big thumbs up as well. I love the size of the cards, the pictures and the text they make a great package. And better than that my sons love them too. They are both eager to use them. They can be used to help develop early reading and counting. I have found them extremely useful with my youngest son. *****Availability***** As I have mentioned I came across these cards in a local toy shop which has a large selection of orchard toys products. They can also be found on Amazon and are currently priced at (March 2012) £7.50. The quality of this product is fantastic and I feel the price is very fair. Especially as I have started using these cards with my youngest at two years old and will be using them for a few years yet. This review may be posted on other sites under the same user name Read the complete review |
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Orchard Toys Flashcards
by tashmart I love the idea of giving children a head start before they get to school and when my son was young I bought these flashcards. They were a bit more pricey than I have paid for previous flashcards at over £5. I picked the Orchard Toys ones because they were so well illustrated and colourful. They show everyday obects like sun, ... moon, cat, car and because these objects are all identifiable to kids it helps to hold their attention. The flashcards are about 6 inches in length and have a picture on two thirds of the card and at the bottom is the word. The cards are very thin, not as durable as I would have liked, ideally they would be made out of thick card or laminated but this is not the case, they just feel like slightly thicker paper. For this reason they aren't very practical for little ones as they get bent very easily. The age range is for 3 years and up but I started my son with these as he was learning to talk. They are ideal for picture recognition and for getting the child to widen their vocabulary. As the child gets older you can use the cards to develop their reading but I found the pictures were a hindrance for this as the child already knows what the word will be! You can cover the image but it can be a bit awkward. The cards are also good for developing number skills as some of the pictures show lots of one item so you can count along with the child. These cards are ok but I wouldn't recommend them. Children like to touch and hold things and because of the quality of the card they can get ruined easily. Read the complete review |
Orchard Toys Child Development |
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Manufacturer: Orchard Toys / Child Development / Type: Problem Solving |
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2 reviews Brand: Orchard Toys / Child Development / Age: 4 Years+ / Type: Memory / Players: 2-4 |
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2 reviews Brand: Orchard Toys / Child Development / Age: 3 Years+ / Type: Reading / Writing - Use these 50 word and picture flashcards to help young children develop early reading and number skills through shared parent-child activity. |
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| Orchard Toys Child Development Recommendations 1 | ||
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