Hoot Owl Hoot! Peaceable Kingdom Game Review (& Giveaway Ends 7/1)

ABOUT:

Peaceable Kingdom is a place where dinosaurs roam and a mermaid princess swims, where a child can host a fairy tea party or sail the open seas on a pirate ship.  A place of imagination and exploration and fun.

Hoot Owl Hoot! (Cooperative Board Game)

A color-coded matching game that can be played at different levels.

(Won a 2011 Parents’ Choice Silver Honor and a Major Fun Award)

Includes:

• 1 game board
• 6 owl tokens
• 1 sun token
• 14 sun cards
• 36 color cards
• Instructions
• Box measures 12 1/4″ x 8 7/8″ x 1 1/2″

Learning Skills:

• Color matching
• Simple strategy
• Following directions
• Social development
• Cooperation

This hoot-larious game gets kids to move all the owls from start to the nest before the sun rises. Players take turns, but work together. Children are given cards, kept face-up in front of them, so

they can work together to strategize how to move. If an owl “flies” over an owl on a space of that color on its way to the next open space, all players make a hooting sound! The game can be made more challenging. Because Hoot Owl Hoot! is a cooperative game, kids play any of the owls – no one player has a single owl s/he is trying to get back to the nest. Color recognition, simple strategy and problem solving are among skills honed. No reading required. Ideal for 2 to 4 players. Game play runs 15 minutes.

MY THOUGHTS:

I really like the idea of a “Cooperative Game,” especially at young ages.  I am not big into competition and while some is healthy, it is also healthy to learn to work together.  A Cooperative Game allows families (and kids) to share in decision-making, learn to share, build confidence and work as a team.  It is also nice if you have a sensitive child who doesn’t cope well with losing.

In “Hoot Owl Hoot!” I couldn’t help but notice how bright and colorful the game is.  The board game is also smaller (think half a Monopoly board size) so it is not too overwhelming for kids.  The game can also be played in less than 20 minutes, which is  great for young kids who have short attention spans!

I tried to play this game with my 2 and 4 year old and they are just not good at board games.  While this game is for ages 4 and up, I think a 5 year old would be better at it and understand it more, and I think it would be fun for kids up to 12!  The game does have a few things you need to watch and which pieces to use, which is why I felt it was a little hard to play with my 4 year old, not to mention my 2 year old kept jumping in.

Hoot Owl Hoot! reminds me of Candyland as you have cards with colors on them and that’s how you know where to move, but there are also owl tokens and a sun token to use in gameplay.  We played this basically by drawing cards and moving together to the right colored spot to start off and will slowly work our way up to playing with the extra cards and sun token.  It is great though because once you start playing and get the hang of it you can make it more challenging by using the extra owl tokens and spaces.  There is also a time in the game where it encourages everyone to hoot like an owl, which is fun and cute!  There is no reading required, no spinner or money, just some cards and a board game.  Oh and there is a nice paper envelope included to store all the gameplay pieces in so they are not just thrown in to the box.  Can’t find the instructions?  That’s because they are actually printed on the inside of the box so you can’t lose them and can easily reference them!

Overall, I think Hoot Owl Hoot! is a great game for younger kids to work on their colors and playing together, it is a nice change of pace from trying to beat one another!

BUY IT: Check out Peaceable Kingdom to Start Shopping!  Hoot Owl Hoot! retails for $14.99.

WIN IT: (1) US winner will receive their choice of game:  Lost Puppies, Mermaid Island, Count Your Chickens, Hoot Owl Hoot! or Stone Soup.

TO ENTER: Check out the Peaceable Kingdom Cooperative Games and leave a comment which one you’d like!

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Mom and More Disclosure: I was sent a game to review in exchange for my honest opinion. Please see my Disclosure Policy.