Sally the Sunflower Game

...to assembling the sunflower. Sally the Sunflower comes in eight pieces and slots together fairly easily. Our two daughters can just about manage it themselves.

There is a cardboard disc with central hole into which a green plastic cone slots. Three green plastic leaves slot into the cone in a tripod-like manner; they are numbered so it is reasonably idiot-proof (once you spot the numbers on the reverse - doh!) and also educational ...
...The bees are magnetic and Sally the Sunflower has magnets on her face; some attract, some repel. Get your bees to stick on Sally's face and put your final bee on her nose and you win!

Share out the bees between those playing. There are ten bees in total but if there are three players just use nine of them. The youngest player starts. Take it in turns to try to place one of your bees on Sally's face. If you pick a spot that attracts ... more

Sally the Sunflower Game

This gift was given to one of our twin daughters as a third birthday present.

What Is It?

It's an MB Games game and is aimed at children aged 3 years +. It is suitable for playing with either 2 or three people (so the two girls and me!) with game play lasting approximately 5 - 10 minutes.

The tagline for the game reads "The magical, magnetic, moving bumblebee game!" If that sounds like your sort of thing - read on!

What is in the Box?

Your game comes packed in a cardboard box with a bright and very eye-catching picture of a smiling sunflower and two friendly looking bumble bees on the front. There is also the compulsory picture of two children looking like they are just having the best time ever!!

Before playing the game for the first time, you need to affix the bee stickers to the individual magnetic bees. It may be an idea to do this in advance. I had no idea that stickers were involved; stickers are very popular in our house and there ensued a wrestling match as both girls tried to gain control of the sticker sheet. The subsequent sticking of the stickers was not may be as accurate as it would have been had I done it myself without "help" and this has meant that some of our bees became sticker-less fairly quickly.

So, with all your bees "stickered" up, now on to assembling the sunflower. Sally the Sunflower comes in eight pieces and slots together fairly easily. Our two daughters can just about manage it themselves.

There is a cardboard disc with central hole into which a green plastic cone slots. Three green plastic leaves slot into the cone in a tripod-like manner; they are numbered so it is reasonably idiot-proof (once you spot the numbers on the reverse - doh!) and also educational as your children start to read numbers. The two-part green plastic stem then slots into the leaves and the smiley yellow sunflower head tops the whole thing off. Once assembled the sunflower measures 93cm or just over three feet in old money.

How Do We Play?

The concept of the game is simple. The bees are magnetic and Sally the Sunflower has magnets on her face; some attract, some repel. Get your bees to stick on Sally's face and put your final bee on her nose and you win!

Share out the bees between those playing. There are ten bees in total but if there are three players just use nine of them. The youngest player starts. Take it in turns to try to place one of your bees on Sally's face. If you pick a spot that attracts - bingo! If you pick a spot that repels your particular bee, Sally's face will spin away from you and your turn is over. Once you only have one bee left you have to try to stick your last bee to Sally's nose. If the correct attraction is there you win, otherwise the nose will flip over and you need to wait until it is your turn again.

What Do We Think of It?

The good points first - it's relatively easy to assemble, there aren't too many pieces to lose (although we are currently one bee down - probably down the side of a sofa!), the games don't last too long and the rules are simple enough for younger children.

It has educational benefits - number recognition while assembling the game (as mentioned previously), counting while sharing out the pieces, learning to take turns, and learning about magnets.

The downside - the bees lose their stickers easily and it is almost impossible to get the pieces back into the box that they came in. (Seriously, it is like some kind of Krypton Factor Challenge (for anyone who can remember that programme), I have tried all sorts of permutations and I still can't get them to fit properly.) The sunflower will also be a bit unstable if you have deep pile carpets; it is a bit wobbly on our rug but seems better on hard flooring. And, of course, knocking the sunflower over can become a bit of a game itself!

I think the age range is just about right. Our two are coming up to three and a half and they will happily play a few games before losing interest. Because it is quick to set up, you don't really mind if they only play with it for 20 minutes. There are small pieces so it is a choking hazard for very small children. Children a lot older would probably find that the game passes too quickly and is not involved enough. Our nephew (aged 9) is happy helping our girls to play but only for a couple of games before HE gets bored.

How Much is It?

Our game was a gift so I have no idea what it cost. They are currently for sale on Amazon for £8.64. I have seen it on sale for £11.99 elsewhere, but I feel that is over-priced for what this game is. This is not a classic children's game that they will play for years and years, it will have a limited shelf life.

To Sum Up

Sally the Sunflower - an easy to assemble magnetic game with some educational benefits for children three years and over. Magical it isn't.

Three stars from me.

(This review has been posted on Dooyoo previously, by me under the same username carcraig) 

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