Orchard Toys Shopping List Game

It's weird the things you remember, isn't it? When I was younger my Mam used to babysit a girl about the same age as me a few days a week and she would always take over a game or two for us to all play together. This was a great way for me to discover new toys and games that I'd not seen before, and one of these is the 'Shopping List' game.

Now the Shopping List game is kind of a cross between Bingo and Snap, swaying more towards Bingo. You get four little boards with it, making it suitable for two to four players (you probably could play on your own but it wouldn't be too fun!). Each board has a shopping trolley on the front of it which is split into eight little squares. It also comes with a handful of shopping lists, which have eight items on them. Next to the little picture is the name of the product i.e. next to the picture of the banana it says 'banana'. There are also lots of squares which are blank on one side, but on the other they have a picture of the food item. Just like cards used for playing Snap!

Now the aim of the game is to be the first person to fill your trolley. You have your one shopping list with the eight items, and then you take your turn to turn over one of the cards. If the picture you get matches one of the items on your shopping list you get to place it on your trolley. And so this goes on until the first person fills their trolley.

Now this is not the longest of games, not like say Monopoly which takes hours! This can be over in five minutes but if you are playing with younger children then it may take a little while longer if they need to pay more attention to the pictures. Once you've played one game you can switch shopping lists and play best out of three! The average person will tire of it reasonably quickly - I think the longest we ever played it for was for fifteen minutes. The game is quite fun for children, and it is also educational. With the words written on the shopping list it allows them to see how they are written, and the pictures also allow them to think about the list more rather than just turning cards over.

Not only is this good fun for children but it is also quite cheap too. You can find it online in stores such as Amazon.co.uk for around £5, which is a bargain of a price for a game that they will want to go back to again and again. It is not one that I have seen in stores often but buying it online is definitely worth it.

This is not the most complicated of games and is great for children from quite a young age as it is both educational and enjoyable. I know a few youngsters who have played and loved this and it is definitely one that I would recommend. Whether you need to find the banana or the carton of milk this game is great fun and definitely worth buying!

Amy 2010