“Eric Carle’s ABC game is bright and beautifully illustrated, although the cards and counters aren’t going to stand much manhandling from a 3 year old”.

Buy it online at JoJo Maman Bebe

Price: £14

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Initial thoughts: We are a family weaned on board games, so we were really keen to see how Eric Carle’s ABC Game measured up. We pulled it out one Sunday afternoon for a test run and, despite it being aimed at ages 3 and above to introduce them to the alphabet, my 6 year old was keen to dive right in too, so bonus points there!

It’s bright and beautifully illustrated although the deck of alphabet cards are a bit flimsy and aren’t going to stand much manhandling from a 3 year old.

We liked: The rules are really simple and you’re off and playing almost immediately. The illustrations are lovely and we had great fun guessing what animal would be matched to which letter (nobody guessed the xolo. Or the narwhal for that matter!)

Weren’t keen on: The spinner was a bit rubbish and didn’t spin very well, which led to several unfortunate bouts of cheating. And as mentioned, the cards are a bit on the flimsy side which when you consider it’s for young children is just inviting destruction. Also the ‘counters’ could have been a bit better than squares of card slotted into a plastic stand.

Overall: Eric Carle’s ABC Game is a nice visual way to have fun with the alphabet (and some strange animals). However at £14 I would have expected the pieces to have been a bit more substantial and robust. The whole thing looks so lovely it’s a shame it’s been let down somewhat by ‘cheap’ counters and a spinner than only just spins.

[By Tara]