Ringo Flamingo from Ravensburger

If you are looking for a fast paced game that all the family can enjoy this Christmas, then how about Ringo Flamingo?  We were sent one to try out from Ravensburger.

The idea of the game is to flip the coloured lifebuoys to save the flamingos from the crocodiles.  The player with the most lifebuoys around the flamingos' necks wins.  The game consists of 1 game board, 7 flamingos, 2 crocodiles, 4 boats, 48 lifebuoys (in 4 different colours) 12 tokens, 1 instruction leaflet and the colourful box.

The flamingos and crocodiles fit into the holes in the game board, which then fits into the box ready to play.  Players have to fire the plastic hoops from their boat in an attempt to get them over the flamingos' necks, saving them from the crocodiles lurking in their pond.  It's a bit like a mixture of tiddly winks and hoopla!

The launching mechanism for the lifebuoys is really effective and Freddy was able to fire the 12 hoops from the boat easily, although not always accurately!  But he enjoyed launching them across the room nevertheless.

Players all play at once in a frenzy of lifebuoy shooting action, until all 12 of their lifebuoys have been used up.  Then you need to count how many of the hoops landed around the necks of the birds. If you hoop a crocodile, you lose a winning ring.  The player with the most winning rings receives a token and the player with the most tokens over three rounds wins the game.  If it's a draw, everyone is a winner!

Freddy found it easier to get his lifebuoys around the flamingos' necks if the board was laid flat on the table, rather than being raised on the box.  He happily played on his own, as well as enjoying playing with his sisters.

I liked the game play as it helps develop a child's dexterity and co-ordination.  It is very nicely made, with a beautifully designed box.  The board is made of very thick card which is sturdy and the characters are detailed. The game play is fun and the enjoyment of the game is more important than the winning so it doesn't get too competitive.

Another good feature of the game is the fact that it all packs very neatly back into the box when play time is over, keeping all the coloured rings grouped together.

The game sells for around £16.99, which is good value as it will appeal to all ages, recommended from 5 - 99, resulting in lots of fun over the years.

Bigjigs Wooden Construction Set Review

The Wooden Construction Set from Bigjigs Toys gives kids aged 3 and over the tools to unleash their imagination and create whatever they can think of using the 51 pieces of beautifully made, colourful wooden nuts, bolts, wheels and panels.  Freddy's latest mission as a Bigjigs Play Patrol Agent was to review this set and unleash the fun!

He was very excited to test out his new toy and make some fantastic model vehicles using his tub of wooden bits!  It was lovely to talk to him about what he wanted to create.  He chatted about cars, trucks, helicopters and aeroplanes animatedly.  His imagination was fired up!

At first Freddy made 2D models from the pieces but quickly progressed to creating 3D vehicles with a little bit of help.  He was soon using the bolts to attach the pieces together.  This improved his dexterity and honed his fine motor skills.

There are enough pieces in the set to make some quite elaborate vehicles, but you can only do one project at a time as you run out of bolts and wheels quite quickly.

Here is a video of Freddy and the journey of imagination he enjoyed when playing with the Bigjigs Wooden Construction Set!


                           

The construction set costs £21.99 and is for children aged 3+.

  Find out more on the Bigjigs website.