Feed the Woozle Cooperative Game

I'm a mommy and a special education teacher, and so I was very excited to discover the Peaceable Kingdom games! (I teach social skills for children with autism.) There is value to playing competitive games, but there is also great value in learning how to work cooperatively towards a shared goal and there are far fewer toy options out there to develop those skills. Needless to say I am always on the lookout for games that foster collaboration, so when I discovered these I purchased some for my classroom and some for my daughters. This review is for Feed the Woozle, which I kept at home to play with my family. It has 3 stages of play, starting at the 3 year age range. My daughter is 2, but we have already started playing with it with a little help from Mommy and Daddy of course. The first level is basic- each player rolls a die to determine how many food items to "feed the woozle" on a large spoon. There is a token reward for each piece that makes it to the woozle's mouth, and the goal is for everyone to collaboratively feed the woozle 12 pieces. The "trick" to the game is placing the woozle a distance away, so the players have to cover the distance balancing the pieces on the spoon. This level helps foster collaborative play (working towards a shared goal), sportsmanship (encouraging others), turn-taking, counting with number recognition and 1-1 correspondence and gross motor skills. This is the level we are currently playing at, and my daughter loves it. After only a few times she is already rolling the die, saying, "Your turn Mommy" and covering the distance to the woozle with her food items in place. Her age obviously requires some assistance with identifying the numbers on the die and counting the food items, but it's a great way for us to practice together. At the moment we are not using the Yummy Cards or setting a specific goal for the number we get in the woozle's mouth, although we will build in complexity over time. The game also comes with a spinner for additional complexity that identifies ways to go across the space to the woozle, such as "March!" or "Hula Dance". There is also a suggestion for playing blindfolded. I can see these being fun options for expansion in the future. I would highly recommend this game and plan on using it as our "birthday party gift" for this year's round of birthdays. As an additional positive note: the pieces are made of a thick cardboard, rather than plastic (with the exception of the spoon and die) and all seem like they will hold up well over time. The colors are bright and engaging, so this game is visually appealing as well as fun to play.

"Hey Mommy, I have an idea. Let's play Feed the Woooooozle!" I hear this sentence from my 3-year-old at least once a day since he received this game for Christmas. Thankfully, it's a short game to play--initial set up and learning the game takes only a few minutes, so we were both able to start playing quickly right out of the box. The object of the game is to feed the Woozle snacks--circular chips with pictures of silly things like "cheesy slipper" and "lemon-flavored underwear" printed on both sides. The chips are sturdy and unless they get wet, will hold up for a long time. The player rolls the die (with results of 1, 2, or 3) and places the specified # of chips in a large spoon that comes with the game. Then, he or she walks across the room, balancing the chips in the spoon, and feeds the snacks into the Woozle's mouth. If this isn't a challenge for your child, there is a spinner to spin before making the short trek to the Woozle, with options like "hula dance" or "walk backward" that offer more excitement and harder game play. It's a cooperative game, where the object is for everyone to feed the Woozle 12 snacks. The Woozle won't eat food that has fallen on the floor, so snacks that do are set aside. The group keeps track of how many snacks the Woozle has eaten using "yummy cards"--one for each snack the Woozle has consumed. For the youngest kids, this is great as there are no hurt feelings or tears. Instead, expect a lot of laughing, kids cheering on other kids, and giggling at the names of the silly snacks. This game helps with learning to take turns, fostering a sense of cooperation, and developing motor skills--gross and fine. It can be a little repetitive for adults, especially if your child is an only child and wants to play as often as mine does, but thankfully it is a short game--usually 10 minutes of gameplay. Feed the Woozle is listed for ages 3-6, but I think that kids up to 9 would probably have a fun time playing it with their younger siblings, since it's so silly.

I got this for my niece and she loved it. A fun game for kids.

Fun game for whole family

my 2 and 4 year olds like to play it

This game is great as presented - plus you can feed the Woozle with other reading and math skills. I found a shallow box to tuck behind the 3-sided Woozle to make it stand up more securely and to make clean up of skill cards easier.

Fun to have a game that little ones-- 3 year olds can giggle with and charm older siblings into joining.

My 4 year old son received this for a Christmas gift, and a month later, he is as excited about it as he was when he first opened it. We have such fun laughing as we roll the die, (which is numbered with numerals, not dots)and "feed" the Woozle interesting and gross treats like: Feathery Tacos, Iced Garlic, Cheesy Slipper, Hairy Pickle, Soggy Sausage, Sand Pizza, Chocolate-covered Flies, Log Sundae, Fuzzy Donut, Muddy Meatball, Frog-Leg Ice Cream, Spider-Egg Pudding, Booger Chili, Fried Sock, Sugar-Coated Sardines, Toenail Toast, Liverwurst Popsicle, Worm Pie, Lemon Flavored Underwear, Baseball Sandwich, Bathwater Soda, and Broccoli Lollipop. The names and pictures of these treats delights him and makes him giggle as we read them aloud together. You count treats and place them on the spoon and feed the Woozle! He enjoys seeing the goodies being dropped into the big mouth. There is a spinner and tokens for more advanced play for ages a little older, we haven't tried that yet, we are having so much fun with the simple play. Its an educational game in that it uses counting, dexterity, cause and effect, and just plain fun keeps the game going. Customer service is great at Peaceable Kingdom, as well. We had to contact them because the dice in our game had some marks on it, and they responded promptly to my email and resolved the matter with a free replacement part. I would recommend Feed the Woozle.

Es un juego divertido, lástima que llegó todo aplastado, adentro de la caja todo está bien sin embargo.

Very good cooperative game.. I bought this when my 2 n half year started getting cranky on losing the her game .. this game helped the purpose as there is no winning and losing in this .. concept is very good that kids would love to play .. :)

This is a lovely cooperative game. It's so nice to be able to play something with a group of 5 year olds and know there will be no tantrums because no one person can lose - every wins or loses together as the objective has to be achieved (or not) as a team. A great idea and the silly "yucky" foods the woozle likes are also very funny when you're 5!

This is a fun game. My son really loved it. He's seven. His bi uses it a lot during their autism sessions and we play it a lot together

Toddler (2 and a half) loves playing this game - and this is an age where the whole concept of a 'game' is a bit of a struggle, so it's impressive that she likes it. For the older child there are more challenging modes, which give it longevity or use across a family of small childern - although for an adult playing just with one toddler, it's not that entertaining - beyond watching their joy of playing.