I have a serious love affair with the Discovery Channel Store. I cannot walk past one without going in. I freak if my husband throws out their catalog. They have the best toys. My kids love them. In fact I've written about Discovery Store toys before. So when PBN offered me the chance to review one of their new games, Rapido, I jumped at the chance.
The game itself is pretty simple. Everyone picks a colored cylinder and takes a tile with the colored dots on it. You put the rope on the floor or table in a circle (I recommend the floor); place all of the colored marbles inside the big wooden cylinder; lift the cylinder so the marbles go everywhere; and then see who can fill their cylinder with the marbles the fastest. The only trick is that you have to pick them up in the order they are on the tiles with the colored dots.
The age on the game says 4 and up but my 3 1/2 year old understands how it works. We hadn't yet tried to play any board games with Hollis yet, so I was skeptical about whether or not he could remember and follow all of the directions. Admittedly, his favorite part is packing the big cylinder and then letting the marbles go everywhere, but he can play this game! (That's assuming that Holden doesn't interfere by picking up the marbles and stashing them all over the house.)
I admit that I wanted to review this game for the educational potential. Hollis has struggled with his colors. His pre-school teacher has noticed it and we've noticed it for quite some time. For awhile we were wondering if there was some color blindness hiding in my side of the family! This game has helped. I have him tell me the color names as he picks up the marbles. Granted, it makes it much slower and less of a game, but it works. He's definitely shown improvement in his color recognition and his teacher agrees. I'm sure we'll be playing this game for some time to come!
Rapido is also made from bamboo. So how can you go wrong? It's educational, fun, and made from sustainable materials. You can pick it up at the Discovery Channel Store for $19.95.
