“Mom, I am bored! Can I play video games?” This is a common phrase in our house, and I love finding other options rather than the video games. But when you have an 8-year-old who is overly sensitive to rules and the need to follow them to a T and a 5-year-old who has not yet mastered the concept of reading, you need to find games that are simple to teach and fun to play!

I grew up on a farm and had the privilege of playing a really fun game with my brother as we were growing up, Life on the Farm. We had firsthand knowledge of a lot of what the game had to talk about, and the battles were real. It was our go to game!

Fast forward 20 years and I am not on the farm anymore, and instead of playing board games with my brother, I am looking for things for the kids to play. Along came the game Life on the Farm (Preschool Edition). I jumped up and down and was thoroughly pleased to see this fun version of the game.

The Preschool Edition is the same concept as the original game, but the layout and design has the preschooler in mind. The game itself requires absolutely no reading! In fact, the game cards remind me of the old Candyland ones and only have the colors and number of squares you are to move on them. On some of the cards, you will have a picture of one of seven animals, and you are able to go directly to that space.

During the original version of this game, my brother and I had to plan and manage our farm, including all the money and cows. Using the Preschool Edition, you are going around the barn yard trying to gather your seven missing animals. Once you collect one of the animals, you put them into the correct shape in your barn. The player who collects all seven animals first is the winner.

This game has been a hit in our house! While it is recommended for ages 3-7, my 5 and 8 year old children enjoyed pulling this out when they were bored and playing it together. There was minimal setup, other than unfolding the board and putting the cards in place and there are no small pieces, so if my 2-year-old grabbed one of the playing pieces and ran off with it, I would have no need to worry.

Our game shelf has many games on it, childish games and older games. When you have one reader and one nonreader who want to play together, it gets hard. Life on the Farm (Preschool Edition) has been the game that we have needed to add to our shelf. The kids give it two thumbs up and are seen playing it at least once a week when they get bored and I won’t allow video games.

If you have kids who love to play board games, but are not reading yet, you will want to check out this fun game. This is not an ordinary game, this is a fun new game that draws the kids in and keeps them captive for hours on end. This is a great alternative to the video games, and to be compared to that, means it is a fun game for this age!

-Product review by Amanda Hopkins, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, May, 2017