Peaceable Kingdom Cooperative Games and Preschool Skills Builder Games {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Danielle!}

You have to be careful when uttering the phrase, Anyone want to play a game? in our house, as it often results in a near-stampede.

Big Sister E has long reached the age where she enjoys the interaction and entertainment of playing board games and Little Sister B is much more likely to be able to play along after having actually listened to the concept and rules. The only problems that we tend to run into are attention spans that run out, waiting patiently to take turns and the big one: winning and losing.

Yes, learning to deal with the disappointment of losing is necessary in life, but the competitive side to playing games can often make it difficult to play with young children and not result in sadness. Who wants to lose?

Not wanting my children to grow up having been "let win" too often and yet not develop a jaded view of games if indeed they continue to lose, I love knowing that there are innovative companies like Peaceable Kingdom that not only create products and games that educate and inspire, but promote cooperative play.

An expert in juvenile product development, Peaceable Kingdom is a leader in juvenile stickers, greeting cards, and games. As their mission is to make good, do good, and be good, they continually focus on fresh, fun and award-winning products, donating to charitable organizations that support the well-being of children, and using sustainable, eco-friendly materials whenever possible.

Along with their past products, Peaceable Kingdom recently launched five new games in their Cooperative and Preschool Skills Builder categories that make playtime a time to share, play fair, and have fun. I love the idea that the Preschool Skills Builder games not only promote working together, but that they include everyday tasks such as cutting with safety scissors or recognizing left from right to help children master these necessary skills.

The new game titles in this category are Feed The Woozle, Willy’s Wiggly Web and Snug As A Bug In A Rug, all of which sound and look incredibly fun. And when Feed The Woozle arrived, we were able to see that it was just as silly, entertaining and educational as I had hoped.

The girls took one look at the box and were clamoring for me to open it... but then as soon as they saw the contents, their excitement increased tenfold or so.

Giggling over the bright colors and wide open mouth of the Woozle, it didn't take long before we had this game set up and ready to go. I appreciated that Peaceable Kingdom includes instructions for three different levels of play, as it makes it easy to customize Feed The Woozle to the age and ability of each child.

Because the girls don't want to leave out the colorful spinner...

...we typically end up playing level 2 of Feed The Woozle and find that it works well for everyone.

Although the instructions indicate that one person be the designated spin-master, instead we allow each player to flick the arrow around the circle...

...and then roll the die to see how many snack tokens are placed on the spoon.

No matter how many times we have played, the girls still get an immense kick out of the snacks and the humorous illustrations and descriptions. After all, what kid can resist laughing over booger chili, frog-leg ice cream or lemon-flavored underwear?

Placing the snack tokens on the spoon...

...the player then sets off to feed the Woozle without dropping any of the snacks. In level 1 of the game, the players are already working on their fine motor skills, dexterity, gross motor skills and counting, but in level 2, with the addition of the spinner, there is the added challenge of having to move in a particular way.

Instead of just walking to the Woozle with the spoon, players have to march, walk backward, bunny hop, and more. If we weren't already chuckling over having chocolate-covered flies on our spoon, then adding a hula dance along with them is sure to bring on the outright laughter!

While Little Sister B, at 3, has a more difficult time of doing some of the movements while focusing on keeping her snacks on the spoon, having the whole family cheer her on is always a big help. After all, once she gets her snack tokens into the Woozle's mouth...

...that means that we can add more yummy cards to our pile. As the game is over once all 12 of the yummy cards are collected by the team, that just means that we all want to encourage each other as much as possible.

Who knew that 12 small square cards could lead to such cooperation and talk of working together to overcome a common obstacle (and not each other)?

Although it might be a while before we attempt level 3 (blindfolds!), I have no doubt that Feed the Woozle will be pulled out many more times in the future. The way that it encourages helping, self-esteem, cooperative habits and that no one is left out continues to impress me each time we open the box and I couldn't be happier that my girls are practicing early childhood developmental skills at the same time.

Retailing for $20, Feed The Woozle is available on Amazon, along with the rest of the unique and fun Peaceable Kingdom collection. If you're looking for a captivating game that the children in your life are sure to enjoy, visit the Peaceable Kingdom website to see their expanding product line and the education and entertainment that they can bring to your home.

And, thanks to their generosity, one person will be able to do just that, because...

One lucky person will win their choice of any of the 5 new Preschool Skills Builder and Cooperative Games from Peaceable Kingdom!

To enter to win: Visit Peaceable Kingdom and tell me another of their innovative and fun products you would like to own.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry if you Like Peaceable Kingdom on Facebook.
1 Extra Entry (per giveaway entered) - Enter any (or all) of the giveaways running on Thanks, Mail Carrier for the duration of this giveaway.
1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN your choice of fun and educational children's board game from Peaceable Kingdom! http://bit.ly/yC9jEk @thxmailcarrier #giveaway #win

1 Extra Entry (per follow method) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to Thanks, Mail Carrier by email, become a fan on Facebook or add Thanks, Mail Carrier to your blogroll.
2 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to this post. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on March 20th at 11:59pm CST. By entering this sweepstakes, you are agreeing to these official rules. No purchase necessary, void where prohibited by law. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning and the giveaway sponsor is solely responsible for prize fulfillment. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and entrants must be 18 years of age or older.

A big thank you to Peaceable Kingdom for providing Feed the Woozle for me to review and the choice of the 5 new games for one lucky giveaway winner. The opinions shared are my own and honest and if you really need to see more, click here to see how I roll.