Peaceable Kingdom ~ Count Your Chickens! Cooperative Board Game for Kids Review & Giveaway

As I think about my childhood, I have so many great memories of the times we spent together as a family. Whether it was eating dinner together, taking fun vacations, or even a family game night...these are the types of things I remember and those I want to be sure and do with my own kids. That's why I am always looking for fun things we can do together as a family and was excited when introduced to Peaceable Kingdom.

What began in 1983 as a company with a single product (a poster featuring art from the classic children's book Goodnight Moon) has since grown to include more than 5,000 items. Peaceable Kingdom is now a leader in juvenile stickers, greeting cards and games. With a mission to "make good, do good, and be good"... they are dedicated to the following:

• we create fresh, fun, award-winning products that educate, inspire, and tickle funny bones
• we donate frequently to charitable organizations that support the well-being of children
• we are committed to working only with socially-conscious manufacturers
• we use sustainable and eco-friendly materials like FSC and recycled papers, soy-based inks, and corn-based plastics whenever we can
• we maintain integrity in all business relationships
• we have fun while we work!

After learning more about this company and what they're all about, I couldn't help but want to learn more about their fantastic children's products. That's why I was excited to learn that we were going to have the opportunity to review one of their Cooperative Games.

We were sent the Count Your Chickens! board game to review.
Features/Benefits:

• Recommended for ages 3+
• 2-4 players
• Plays in 10-15 minutes
• No reading required
• Teaches important skills like taking turns, cooperation, etc.
• Non-competitive
  

At 3 1/2 years old, Kaelyn has begun to show much more of an interest in playing games. She likes to challenge herself, and thoroughly enjoys when we are able to all sit down as a family and play together. With a game that's appropriate for her age and skill level, I had a feeling the Count Your Chickens! game would be a big hit. I was right!

When the game arrived, the colorful box already peaked Kaelyn's interest. She was very excited to check it out!

I was also impressed right away. I love the durable box the game comes in, as well as the size. It makes keeping everything together very simple and measuring just 12 1/4" x 8 7/8" x 1 1/2", is also easy to store on the shelf when not being played.

Of course, we couldn't wait to play it! Upon opening the box, I appreciated that there were not only very clear and easy to follow instructions, but that they were actually printed right on the underside of the box. We always know where to find them and that they won't get lost which I love!

The object of the game is to help Mother Hen collect her Baby Chicks who are running loose on the farm and get them back in the coop safely by the time she reaches the last space on the board. When Kaelyn learned this, she was even more excited to play and help out Mother Hen (she loves animals!).

After reading through the instructions we were ready to get started! We laid out the board and placed Mother Hen on the Start space. We then scattered the Baby Chicks around the farm (off the path) and were ready to play. My only question now, was would it really be easy enough for Kaelyn to understand and enjoy playing. The answer is YES! She absolutely loves it and although simple to play, it encourages very important skills and a lot of learning.


How to Play: On each of our turns, we spinned the spinner and moved Mother Hen on the path to the next space that matches the picture on the spinner. We counted aloud the number of spaces she moved and collected that number of Baby Chicks from anywhere on the game board and put them back in the coop. The goal is to get them all back into the coop before Mother Hen gets to the last space. If you do, you win.

Having played this game several times, there are many things I love about it! First of all, it's cooperative, not competitive! It teaches children to work together as a team to accomplish a common goal which I think is great. It brings kids together - they experience shared decision-making, build self-esteem, learn to share and more! As the game goes along, players can actually see their progress making them want to help Mother Hen even more. As Kaelyn sees the coop begin to fill up, she always gets more and more excited!

This game also helps with important skills such as following directions, social development and taking turns. Not only that, but allows young children to work on their counting skills which is fantastic! Kaelyn has been working on counting and one to one correspondence, so having a game that has her counting the whole time (while having FUN!) is perfect! I've seen her counting abilities and love for learning increase even more thanks to this game. It's been wonderful! It also allows her to work on matching, recognizing the different farm items and even teaches the importance of helping others.

The Count Your Chickens! board game has been a big hit around our house. We all enjoy sitting down to play it almost daily. I love the skills it teaches, the fun it brings and best of all...the smile on Kaelyn's face from beginning to end. I would highly recommend it to families with young children. I am now looking at getting a couple more of Peaceable Kingdom's cooperative games for Kaelyn at some point.
Buy It: You can purchase the Count Your Chickens! game for $14.99. And, for every review of the cooperative games on Amazon.com, Peaceable Kingdom is donating that game to a school of the reviewer’s choice. Once the reviewer posts their review on Amazon, they just have to email info@peaceablekingdom.com with the shipping details of the school!

Win It: One very lucky reader is going to win a Count Your Chickens! Board Game from Peaceable Kingdom!

Mandatory Entry - Visit Peaceable Kingdom and let me know another item you'd love to have.

Extra Entries: (Only valid after the mandatory entry has been completed. Leave 1 comment for each extra entry)

1. 1 extra entry- Like Peaceable Kingdom on Facebook

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3. 3 extra entries- Blog about this giveaway (linking to this post and Peaceable Kingdom) and leave THREE comments with the URL to that post.

4. 1 extra entry- Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (You can tweet once a day for one extra entry every day)! You can copy and paste:

#WIN a Count Your Chickens Cooperative Board Game for Kids from Peaceable Kingdom! #momsbalancingact http://bit.ly/ikBEFt Ends 6/10

5. 3 extra entries- Post my blog button or blog URL to your blog and leave a comment with the URL to your blog. (If it already is, leave me a comment letting me know)

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8. 2 extra entries- Follow my blog publicly on Google Friend Connect

9. Enter any of my other current giveaways. Leave me a comment on which one(s)....ONE entry for EACH giveaway you enter!!

10. 1 extra entry- Share about this giveaway on your Facebook status by including a link back to this giveaway (you can do this once a day, for an extra entry every day).

Leave one comment for each entry you complete above including with each, your e-mail address (or make sure it's visible in your profile) so that I can easily contact the winner!!

This giveaway will end June 10th and is open to US Only (no PO Boxes)!

**The products for this review and giveaway were provided by Peaceable Kingdom. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.**