Red dog, blue dog

Last November I had one of those moments where you want the ground to swallow you up as you feel your face burning and you know that your cheeks will be resembling the shade of a London Bus. We were in our local pharmacy waiting to collect all of the boys feeds and medication (I usually have it delivered but decided I'd take both boys to collect it for once - never again!) and as more and more people came through the door the pharmacy got noisier and more crowded.  I could tell Billy was starting to struggle and his urge to line up and re-order things set in. To my dismay the items he had decided needed the most attention happened to be  the very brightly coloured packets on the condom shelf.  I was trying to discreatly distract him and pull him away before too many people noticed when I heard an "Uh-oh" behind me and turned around to see Jo weeing in what seemed to be all directions, narrowly missing the display of Christmas teddies.

A few days after this eventful trip I received a text message from the boys' Godmother to say that she had heard about the incident in the pharmacy and had decided to buy Billy a colour matching game for his impending 4th birthday. 'Perfect' I thought, but I had no idea how perfect it would be.

'Red dog, Blue dog' is a colour matching lotto game by Orchard Toys. The game is aimed at children aged 2-5, is for 2-4 players and comes with 4 game boards and 24  cards (all appropriately sized for little hands).  The aim of the game is for the players to match all of the pictures on their board with the playing cards by taking it in turns to pick a card from the pile.  This game is great at teaching colours and words. Jo, being 2, loves the sense of achievement that he gets when he correctly announces  the colour and object that is pictured on the card he has picked. The game also encourages turn taking and is great for children with autistic traits who feel the need to order and organize.

Like most parents I love watching my boys play together but it doesn't usually last long before Billy's need for structure conflicts with Jo's desire to just explore and play, and I end up encouraging them to play separately.  Red Dog, Blue Dog has was an immediate hit in our house and facilitated peaceful playing between the boys from the start which was wonderful to see and be part of.  What I hadn't expected was for this game to become something that was still being played with every day, often several times a day, three months down the line. Whenever Jo wants to play with his older brother he knows exactly which game to get out, and I am so pleased that it has enabled them to find some common ground. Thank you Orchard Toys.

You can purchase this fantastic game here Here.