Curious Dragons Maths Games – REVIEW

AD – Now the gremlin is in school I am keen to push her a little with her reading and maths. It has to be fun though for her and she is always really up for learning, as long as there isn’t too much pressure. I was offered the chance to review The Curious Dragons Maths Games and I was really keen.

 

More About the Curious Dragons Games

The Curious Dragons are designed for pre-schoolers, aged 3-5 years with the aim to develop their numerical and reasoning abilities. The games have been designed to be fun and help children begin an enjoyable journey when learning maths.

The Curious Dragons Counting with Understanding box set of games retails at £29.99.

There are 5 structured games, based on Singapore teaching methods. The games are designed to be progressive so you build on skills learnt from the previous one.

What’s Included

• 40 dragon eggs
• 6 game boards
• 58 counting cards
• 1 spinner

The Games and What we Thought

My gremlin was really keen to have have a game, so we waited for her sister to go to sleep and sat down for a play.

We played 4 out of the 5 games, before stopping for a break. The gremlin is 4 years old now and is in reception.

Game 1 – Collect the Eggs

This game is quite straight forward and the gremlin found this one pretty easy. Bear in mind she is over 4 now. Rewind a year and she would have needed more help.

There are two players and each player has a dragon’s nest board, with egg counters in the middle of each player. Each player spins the spinner and places the number of eggs the spinner points too on their eggs on the board. Aim of the game is to have all the nests on a player’s board filled. It involves basic counting.

This was her favourite of the games but I think it was because it was the simplest. My gremlin does like to learn but she likes to be good at what she does!! She picked this up immediately and was very confident.

Game 2 – Fill The Nests

This game is just as it sounds. Each player has either pink or green eggs and the aim of the game is to fill each nest. The player with the least eggs at the end wins.

There are counting cards that are placed face down. Each player takes it in turns to pick a card and the number of eggs shown, e.g. 4 eggs, is the number that needs to be placed on the board.

The gremlin enjoyed this one too and she had no problem counting the eggs on the card and knowing how many she needed to put on the board. I think she won this game!

Game 3 – Number Match

This game was slightly more tricky and teaches your children to recognise the numbers 1-10. I know if we went back a year, the gremlin would have been a bit wobbly here.

This game is a one player game and the adult helps. The child can either place the correct card on the correct number square or you can put the cards on the squares incorrectly and ask the child to tell you what is wrong.

The gremlin enjoyed this and could complete. She would count the objects on each card, know the number and could find it on the board. I made it a little harder by adding two cards together and getting her to place both on the total number. She enjoyed it and I felt good, knowing she recognised her numbers.

Game 4 – Matching Pairs

You have 20 cards which are all spread out. This game is good for counting, number recognition and memory. The gremlin found the memory part the hardest.

Each player takes it in turns picking 2 cards up, aiming the match two cards with matching number symbol and card with the same number of eggs of dragons.  If they don’t match you turn them back over and keep playing. The winner has the most matching cards in the end.

I enjoyed this as it used to be one of my favourite games as a child. The gremlin was a little frustrated and kept turning more over. I liked that she got a little more of a challenge here and this will be one to play again, to practice.

Game 5 – Three in a Row

This game was another fun one. There is one board with boxes of dots and a set of green and pink number cards. Two people play and you take it in turns taking a card from your pile and matching the number with a box with the same number of dots. You are aiming to get three cards in a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

The gremlin picked this one up quite quickly and we had a few fun games….until she started cheating!

Overall

Overall, I was impressed with these games. I think they are perfect for a 3 year old to start out with and I like the way each game gets a little harder, as you progress. The gremlin enjoyed herself and I felt was practising her numbers and counting. Learning being fun is so important with little ones, as they see it as a chore and may be less inclined to join in.

We gave it a big thumbs up!

Discount

The Curious Dragons have 50 x 10% off discount codes for you Run, Jump, Scrap readers – first come first served.

Disclosure – we were provided with this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.