Game review: Cranium Bloom

I’ve raved before about Cranium’s products. I think they make smart, fun toys that kids really like to play with, and adults can have fun playing along. We have Cranium’s Hullabaloo, Cariboo and Superfort, and Simon got Sounds of the Seashore for Christmas. So when MomCentral Consulting offered me the chance to participate in a blog tour by reviewing** a new Cranium game for preschoolers, I was all over it. Matter of fact, when I pulled the game out one afternoon, Simon took one look at the box and said, “Oh! That’s a Cranium game!” My little logo savant.

Although we were supposed to review two of Cranium’s new Bloom line of preschool games, the first one (Let’s Play Count & Cook Game) didn’t have the game board included in the box due to a packaging error, so that review will be posted later. But, we have truly enjoyed the Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle.

First, you assemble a 24 piece jigsaw puzzle. Have I mentioned we love jigsaw puzzles around here?

Then, you use a series of clues to find things in the puzzle. There are beginner and advanced clues, along the lines of “find something orange” or “find three penguins” or “find four things that begin with the letter T”. The clues come in little spiral-bound notebooks that Simon kept referring to as his “handy dandy notebook” with some delight. When you find the items, you circle them right on the puzzle board with the provided dry-erase marker.

I found this game just about perfect for my boys’ ages (almost 4 and 6), developmental stages and interests. (They love puzzles, and they love the I Spy type find-it books.) You could play this game with just one child, or in teams, or let each person find his or her own clues. I originally gave Tristan the advanced book of clues and Simon the beginner book, but the next time they played they had switched and both were still content. I started out playing with them, but they continued merrily on without me while I scrawled a few notes for this review, and in all they were occupied for the best part of an hour each time the game was pulled out.

My only caveat would be that after playing this one a few times in a relatively short period of time, the kids knew immediately where all the clues were, taking some of the challenge out of the game. But, you could easily improvise more things to do and find, and Cranium even gives you a few suggestions on how to do just that.

Another great game from Cranium!

**Disclosure: for participating in this blog tour, I received free copies of both the Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle and Let’s Play Count & Cook Game, and a $20 Amazon gift certificate. And, although I only realized after I started writing this review that these games are currently available exclusively at Target, you do seem to be able to order them directly from the Cranium Web site even if you live in Canada.

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