LITTLE ACTION
Publisher: Djeco | Ages: 2.5 to 5
The Djeco “Little” Series
Little Action is unique in that it is designed particularly for ages 2.5 and up. It’s rare to find a game that is aimed at that age but Djeco is no stranger to understanding toddlers. Djeco is well known for producing top quality toys and puzzles for kids that stimulate imagination and social development. Their “Little” series of games are aimed to introduce basic game concepts to 2.5 year olds and up.
You may think a 2 year old is too young to play board games and I wouldn’t fully disagree with you. Games require a certain level of attention and focus which can be a challenge at that age (as well as ages 3-4). But that is why this series of games are so great; they provide an opportunity to practice the development of a toddler’s focus and direction. Games at this stage isn’t about competition or deep critical thinking. It’s about growing accustomed to gaming basics such as rules (understanding there is a certain way to play), taking turns (social cooperation), and winning/losing. It’s a stepping stone for future games that will be one step higher in complexity.
The “Little” series of games by Djeco each focus on a typical mechanism found in many games. Little Cooperation introduces everyone to working together to win. Little Circuit introduces a race game or “roll and move”. Little Memo introduces memory games (a mechanism that we always say is great for kids). Today we are looking at Little Action, a dexterity game for toddlers.
How to Play
In Little Action you draw one card which depicts action you must complete with the included animal toy figures to gain a ribbon award (1 point). Whomever collected the most ribbons wins. Some examples of the actions include:
- Balance a figure on your head
- Balance one figure on top of another figure
- Throw a figure into the box lid
- Throw and knock off a figure perched on top of an upright box lid.
- Pass a figure around your body (behind your back and in front of your tummy) 3 times
- Throw a figure into the air and catch it
Components :: Huge Toy Factor
The components from Djeco are always amazing. We particularly love their jigsaw puzzles because the pieces of cardboard are so thick they are incredibly hard to warp or damage. You can even see our infant, N, putting a few into his mouth and they look perfectly fine. The figures are wonderful rubbery toys that the kids often play with away from the actual game. They definitely make the kids interested in playing the game over and over again.
Our Thoughts: Wonderful for ages 2.5 to 5
The dexterity aspect of Little Action makes it more widely accessible than other games in the series. At the lower age range we would remove some of the throwing tile cards because they are the hardest for toddlers. Possibly only 2 of the 6 types of actions would be achievable. But over time we can slowly reintroduce them back in the game. Even at age 4, our middle child, Z, would have trouble with some of the balancing tasks. And our eldest who just turned 6, E, could do all tasks easily but had some difficulty with tossing an object in the air and catching it. What was refreshing was that it was a rare game that all the kids could play simultaneously.
If you have kids that are anything like ours, they are always stumbling and running into walls and dropping things. Dexterity is definitely not their forte. I love how Little Action encourages them to practice simple tasks to improve their hand-eye coordination. The components are sturdy and stimulate their imagination. Little Action is a keeper for our family.