Both of my children love to play games together from board games to computer games. As they are only 18 months apart, we are fortunate that it is quite easy to find a game they can both play and enjoy. BrainBox has kindly given us My First Pictures to do a review. It is suitable for four years and above which is just the right age group for both of my children. Ms C just turned four last week. It is for one or more players.
BrainBox My First Pictures is the youngest of the range helping children recognise objects and names of items from household, holiday and everyday scenes. The object of the game is to study a card for 10 seconds and then answer a question based on the roll of a dice. If the question is answered correctly, the card is kept and the person with the most number of cards after 5 or 10 minutes is the winner. This simple concept can be played by all ages and in large groups as well as a 1 person game.
Inside the magnetic cube box, it contains:
- 55 playing cards
- 1 rules card
- 1 sand timer
- 1 dice
I love the flexibility of this game. As Ms C is not able to read most of the words and Mr K is still learning to read and write, we didn’t exactly followed the rules to play. Instead of passing your card to other players to read, I read for both of them. I also allowed both children to take their time to remember the picture before asking them the questions. I had to take the sand timer away as it made them both very nervous.
Ease of Use – 5 stars out of 5
The structure of the questions are very simple and easy to understand by a young four years old. The pictures are simple yet beautifully illustrated. The dice is in numbers instead of the usual dice with the number of dots. This help younger children recognise the number they roll easily.
Durability – 4 stars out of 5
The playing cards are made from a minimum of 70% recycled material. They seem to be acceptably durable and it should last for a long time. The magnetic cube box is sturdy and great for storage.
Value for money – 5 stars out of 5
This game is excellent value for money especially given the broad way it encourages family play, independent play, mental challenge/memory training. It is a perfect early year’s educational game.
Fun Factor – 5 stars out of 5
Both of them enjoy playing with it. Ms C tried very hard to remember all the pictures on the card and she managed to answer most of the questions. I did make this game less competitive and more enjoyable by giving them the playing card even if they didn’t answer all the questions correctly. When they are both older, I could adjust the game to be more challenging.
Overall, we all love this game. It is very educational, fun and engaging. It comes in a very neat box for storage. It can also be taken out to play on a long road trip. This is what I intend to do when I go back to Singapore which is a 13 hour flight. Just pop all the playing cards and dice inside a zip lock bag for extra convenience!
This is the video Mr K trying to answer the questions:
Please read the BrainBox ABC level 2 review here.
Disclosure: We received the sample for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.