Mattel's Chameleon Crunch is bound to be on the wish list of many children this Christmas. The cute, blue chameleon whizzes around the floor in a circle, stopping to open his mouth or burp out bugs. Players have to feed him their coloured bugs and the one who has the most bugs in his mouth at the end is the winner. We were sent one to try out.
The walking, talking, chomping lizard is ready to gobble up the colourful bugs. The game comes with four kinds of bugs in four different colours so children can learn about colours and shape matching. The bugs themselves are the ideal size for little hands and are detailed in their design. Freddy didn't like feeding the butterflies to the chameleon as they were too cute to be food!
The game requires two AA batteries which are easy to insert. He then scuttles round in a circle in search of dinner. The bugs are placed in a circle and as the chameleon stops, players have to race to find their colour or type of bug and toss them into his mouth. Occasionally he will burp them out, so anyone can win keeping younger players in the game.
The chameleon worked well on our laminate but I don't know if he would work as well on shag pile! You also need a space with a 5 ft diameter turning circle or he will crash into the furniture.
The sound effects are really funny and the chameleon keeps the kids giggling as they attempt to feed him the bugs. The educational aspect of counting, colour and shape matching is great for pre-schoolers who will be learning through play and having fun. Thankfully, the chameleon seems quite robust and can withstand being held down and force fed his body weight in colourful bugs.
This will definitely be a big hit with young children and will result in a lot of laughter!