When my little niece comes over to visit it is important to us that we have a selection of toys and games that can keep her mind occupied whilst the adults have a natter. Now my niece being only two and a half is an avid fan of Peppa Pig and has watched a number of the TV programmes; hence when we spotted a box of these Jumbo Peppa Pig playing cards in Debenhams before Christmas we were determined to buy them to add to our ever expanding toy box.

==Peppa Pig==

To those who have not heard of Peppa Pig, or simply have not had the pleasure of watching an episode, Peppa Pig is a children's pre-school character that has a number of shows which are shown throughout the week on children's television. The characters in the show are all very simply drawn with the large heads and small bodies that you would expect to see in a children's drawing and each character is named after an animal with the names corresponding with the first letter of the animal, For example, Peppa Pig, Suzy Sheep and Candy Cat. Each character is also very brightly coloured with the programme often providing educational content as well as fun viewing.

There is a huge amount of merchandise associated with Peppa Pig and this includes toys, games and even children's bedding and cushions.

==The Game==

This game is packaged inside a cardboard box which opens to reveal a set of cards neatly stacked inside. The game includes a set of 36 cards which are each illustrated with the picture of a character form the show with their name written underneath the picture. Each illustration is highly bright and colourful to look at making it appeal to even the youngest of ages and the cards are large in size, roughly the size of two playing cards so that they can be picked up easily by small hands.

This game is aimed at children of an age of 3+ however; being that our niece loves the show and is a very bright little girl at two and a half we knew she wouldn't have any problems with this game.

==Price and Availability==

This game can be bought for around £4 - £6 from most good toy stores and department stores. Indeed we picked ours up from Debenhams for around £4.99. However, it can also be bought online from such stores as Amazon for £4 making it a bargain in my opinion.

==The Game Strategy==

As well as playing traditional snap these cards can also be used to play three other games, a brief description of each being as follows:-

* Giant Snap - In this game the cards are split between the numbers of players. Each player lays one of their cards over the previously laid card and when two of the cards match the players shout out 'snap'. The quickest player to shout is then allowed to collect the pile of cards in the middle and thus increase their chances of winning. This is a very effective game with our niece who finds the concept of snap very easy and yells it at the top of her lungs much to the delight of our neighbours.

* Giant Pairs - This is our nieces' favourite of the four games and it is good in my opinion as it tests her memory. The cards are laid face down on the floor and each player takes it in turns to turn two cards over. If the characters match then the player gets to collect the matching cards and the player with the most cards at the ends wins.

* Giant Happy Families - This game involves selecting a family of characters that you want to collect at the beginning of the game, for example four Peppa Pigs. You then simply go round the group in turn asking each other for the characters you need to complete your set. The first person to get four of the same wins. This version of the game works better in my opinion when you have a few people playing and we therefore try and rope in the adults to make this game more fun for our niece.

* Giant Dinosaur - within the pack of cards there are four 'George and his dinosaur' cards. To do this game three of the dinosaur cards are removed from the pack and the players try and match their pairs until the player left with the dinosaur card at the end of the game is the loser.

A number of the game options can be played with only two people however, there are times when it is best to have four players at which point in our house the adults put down their coffee mugs much to the amusement of our niece and join in.

Although these cards are great when used as a game and are very interactive my niece also loves picking up the cards and looking at the colourful characters underneath. They are therefore a great distraction as they can keep her happy for a good hour at a time plus their small size means that they can be taken in the car for longer trips. I must admit that I did think she would tire of the cards as we wheel them out during each visit however she still loves them and we are often referred to as the 'Peppa Game' house as a result.

==My Opinion and Summary==

In my experience this is a highly practical and fun game for young children and the colourful cards and characters keep their mind focussed which is great in contrast to sticking them in front of the television. My cards, although quite sturdy, are beginning to look a little frayed around the edges after hours of use and I will therefore probably replace mine in a few weeks or so. However the reasonable price of the cards means that the cost of replacement will not set you back a lot of money.

This is a game that my niece loves, it has taught her the basics of group games and has provided hours of fun. I would therefore highly recommend these cards to all like minded Peppa Pig addicts.

This game scores a very good five stars out of five from me.

Thanks for reading! x

This review is also posted on Ciao under the same user name.