Match the robot or the colour in this addictive card game that families with 2 – 5 year olds will love. Be the first to play all your cards and win. Use the paintbrush card strategically at any time in the game to switch colours to your advantage (a little like UNO but a very basic version). Card games for children teach the social skills of turn taking, winning and losing.

If you don’t want to play a card game, you can get your child to sort all the cards into colour groups or types of robots (the latter requires looking for differences in detail). Sorting, matching and categorising are vital early reading and writing skills your child needs to acquire. Being able to tell the difference between things, and matching similar things is called visual discrimination. This skill will help a child when they have to tell the difference between letters such as a ‘p’ or ‘b’, and ‘e’ or a ‘c’ for example. They acquire the skill of colour matching progressing to being able to spot the differences between the actual robots that may be the same colour.

How to play

1. Everyone has five cards spread out face up on the table so everyone can see them. The remaining cards are placed face down in the a pile on the table. The top card is turned over and placed face up next to the pile.
2. On a player’s turn, if they have a card in their hand that matches the colour or type of robot of the face up card in the centre of the table, they put it on top. If they don’t have a match then they pick up the top card from the face down pile, adding it to their cards.
3. Players may play the paintbrush card at any time during the game, calling out the colour they wish to change to when putting it face up on the pile in the middle of the table.

The quality of Orchard Toys is amazing – thick, unbendable cards for little hands that are beautifully illustrated and have a glossy finish. They come in a sturdy box with very well written instructions. The artwork on the box just says, “Play me!.”

What you can teach your child

• Sorting, matching and categorising the robots into colour groups or type of robots
• Sequencing – lay out a sequence of different types of robots or colours of robots and get your child to copy your sequence with another set of cards
• Following rules and instructions
• Turn-taking
• Winning and losing – start this early and in a light-hearted way so that they become good sports
• Concentrating – when children are having fun playing games with you they loose track of time and get into the zone. Keep stretching that concentration little by little. By the time they reach grade one children must be able to focus and concentrate for 20 – 30 minutes at a time

Robot Run was reviewed by Nikki Bush for www.toytalk.co.za. It was selected for Nikki’s hot list of highly recommended games and toys for Toy Talk 2016.

Age category: 2 – 4 years

Price: Approx. R215.00

Brand: Orchard Toys

Distributor: Time Out Toys

Retail outlets: Independent toy stores and Toy Kingdom