Toys On The Brain

What could be better for a 3 year old than being given permission, even encouraged to whack away at a toy while simultaneously competing on an equal footing with all-to-often smug older siblings? It turns out, very little.

Hungry Hungry Hippos is a classic children’s game that you may remember from your youth. In our day, the marbles were probably denser (now they’re very lightweight plastic) and the hippos were probably a little more substantial (of course, they probably also had lead in them in some way), but it’s still a good toy. Perfect for little ones who are old enough not to stick everything in their mouths, it’s a family game that doesn’t involve reading but which is great for teaching everyday mathematical concepts.

Basically, each player (up to 4) releases one marble from their chute (this may involve a little re-instruction once your little person figures out how to launch the marbles across the room) into the middle of the playing field. Then all players whack on their hippos’ tails, causing the heads to dart forward and compete for the marble. Whoever gets the most marbles in the end wins. Or, you can start out with all marbles on the board and see who gets the most from the entire group at once. Once you’re done whacking, it’s time to sneak in some mathematical lessons - who had the most? How many did you have? How many more would you need to have as many as your brother? Before you know it, they’ll be doing algebra!

The only issue we’ve had with the game so far has been finding a few of the marbles stuck on the undersides of the hippos. A small screwdriver and a little lever action rectified the situation pretty quickly, but it’s something to watch out for. Also, this is definitely one of those parental supervision games - if you’re not careful, you’ll be finding little white marbles all over your house, especially in the middle of the night when you’re walking down the hallway to go to the bathroom.

The recommended age is 4 and up, but as long as you feel confident your little person isn’t going to try and taste the marbles, it probably won’t be a problem if you start a little younger. Small Person #2 is only 3 and loves the game. Oh, and it comes in a nice, sturdy box you can store the game in… if you want to disassemble the whole thing every time. If you actually have a life and don’t feel like doing that, the box has absolutely no point. Get a Ziploc for the marbles and you’re good to go.

Buy Hungry Hungry Hippos Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at WalMart
• at eToys
• at KB Toys

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