Gearhead Mom

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Busy, Busy Bugs

Posted by Missy W. @ 8:55 AM

I had never heard of Discovery Toys before I became an illustrious aunt. My mom got my niece a couple of surprisingly enjoyable toys from them, toys which have either been passed down to us or purchased again for us. I always looked in stores for them and never saw them. I asked my mom and she said that she bought them from a friend who is a rep, sort of like an Avon lady. (I looked it up and you can buy them online, too.)

Anyway, we have a handful of games from Discovery Toys and they all get equal play. Sy’s favorite is definitely the Busy Bugs Learning Center.

The set comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a handle. I like this because right off the bat, Sy can cart it around and easily clean it up and put it back on the shelf. The set includes 36 pliable, textured crawly creatures and 23 activities on double-sided cards, and even an answer key if you are stumped. The set introduces sorting, sequencing, matching and counting. My kid could care less what the definition of “sequencing” is, she just likes to work on getting the right bugs in the right spots. The cards start out easily, putting all the red bugs on the red spots and then moves on up to games like fill in the blank patterns all the way up to beetle addition. It can be much more open-ended as well. Sometimes we get them out and play memory on the floor or take all of the beetles to the nearest tea party.

I think that if you have an incredibly physical child who doesn’t like to sit still, then this is not your game right now. Sy’s more exuberant friends like to fling the bugs to far corners of our home. I can see why. They feel very cool in your hands and who wouldn’t want to see if the dragonfly really can fly. Well, my kid for one. Sy likes to sit on the floor, pull all the bugs out, sort them by type (or whatever sorting order she feels important at the time) and pick a card to start. She’ll make it through many cards before her attention fades. This game sort of gives me a heart attack right now, all those tiny little chokable bugs, just waiting to be left on the floor for Baby G to grab and attempt to devour. All in all, it’s a nice quiet game that we play together. We just play with it after Baby G goes to bed.

It’s a great birthday party idea. I like that you can’t find it in stores, that way your gift is a little more exciting than the My Little Pony Princess Crystal you see at every mega-mart. Although my child finds Princess Crystal to be incredibly exciting, but that’s another review.

(Sorry about the horrible picture, it’s the best I could find!)

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