Itsy Bitsy Spider Game

At a charity shop last week, the kids spotted a colorful game on the kid's shelf. They were so excited that I could hardly turn down a learning game based on one of their favorite songs, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (of coarse, here in the UK its "Insey Winsey Spider").

The kids love this game, especially when they can convince an adult to play with them.

The game consists of four colorful spiders (red, blue, green and yellow), with matching "water spout" game boards, a die and a weather spinner (rain and sun).

Each player gets a spider and a game board. At the start of your turn, you roll the die to see how many squares you get to move up the water spout. After you move your spider, you have to check the weather with a spin. Sunny, you get to say in your spout; rainy, your spider is washed out. Try again next time.

Joshua loves the weather spinner. He laughs so hard when spiders are washed out of the spouts. He also enjoys using it in all sorts of pretend play, allowing it to determine what kind of weather his other toys (cars, trains, construction vehicles, animals) get to face in their adventures.

Abigail, on the other hand, loves these little spiders. Her spider never really stays on the spout; instead he likes to run all over the place throughout the game. Eventually the spider finds his way back to the web at the top.

This is a great game for little kids. It has elements that both of my kids enjoy and learn from - counting, sequence of events, and taking turns. It also encourages they to repeat the song, teaching rhyming and rhythm.