Customer Reviews

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Game

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I was very exicted when my son got this game for Christmas, but my excitement was short-lived.

1. The game pieces are flimsy: four tiny cardboard boxes that fold together. Even before we played the first game, one of them was coming apart. There is no way that these pieces will last more than a couple weeks.

2. The instructions aren't clear. Are players supposed to stop at the "food" spaces no matter what, or only if they land on them? We played both ways.

3. Both ways were dull. It is just not very exciting or imaginitive.

The only good thing is that the game should fall apart quickly, so I'll have an excuse to get rid of it.

We bought this game for our son for Christmas. I thought it would be a fairly sturdy game for little ones, but I was wrong. In order to make the game pieces, you have to fold up these little boxes which could come apart very easily. We taped them which helps some. The directions on how to play the game are hard to understand, and I agree with the other reviewer who said you couldn't tell if everyone was supposed to stop at the places that said to stop there, or only if you actually landed on those spaces. Overall, the game just seemed kind of pointless. There are too many other fun games for small children available to waste money on this one. (Favorites here include Cranium Cariboo, Pretty, Pretty Princess and Hi, Ho, Cherry-O.)

This game is just not very good. My son loves the idea of a Very Hungry Caterpillar game, so we ignore the not-so-clear "rules" of the lame-o game and try to come up with alternative ways to play with the pieces - but all in all, it's just pretty uninspired. Unfortunate. We really want to like it.

My son got this game for his 3rd birthday. After playing it a few times, I wish we'd exchanged it for something else instead. It's not very entertaining, and it's downright confusing sometimes.

My biggest beef with it is that on almost every turn, if the spinner lands on the "moon" space, you lose your turn. BUT, if your caterpillar is on the moon spot on the board, you have to spin the moon space on the spinner to move on. My son's pretty good with playing games, but this sudden change of rules confuses him every time.

The game pieces are rather flimsy, and are starting to fall apart after just a few times playing. The game really isn't that exciting or fun, and I'm not even sure there's that much education value to it. It's cute, but there are much better games for this age group.

I have to agree with other reviewers. My 3-year-old loves to play games and I'm tired of what we have, so I picked this up on a whim at a local store.

I'm sad to see something with Eric Carle's name on it so unimaginative. Shame on University Games for dropping the ball with such a clever book as an inspiration. I also found the instructions confusing and the game play monotonous. I'm not sure what the learning emphasis is here - some counting involved, taking turns. But no real decision making or strategies. I'll return it if the store will take it back opened.

My daughter got this when she was not quite 3. She is now almost 5 and still loves this game. The board and pieces are fairly sturdy. Sure, the little caterpillar boxes aren't heavy duty, but they will last (ours have and they still look new!) and do the job.

The game teaches a number of valuable and useful lessons: counting, taking turns, sharing, fine motor skills (putting the food pieces into the caterpillar boxes), gross motor skills (moving the pieces on the board), nutrition (which picnic food should you eat more of?), number recognition (from the spinning wheel), patience, and conversation skills (whose turn is it? where do you think you'll end next?), as well as colors.

It really is a great game and she loves playing it with anyone who she can rope into it - grandparents, parents, or friends over for play-dates, as well as babysitters (who also enjoy it). I feel that the game has been given unfair poor reviews and want to recommend this game very highly as a first game for a child. This is not the most sophisticated or difficult game to play and you do need to figure out for yourself how you want to best play at certain points; but this invites thinking for oneself, which is a value my family prefers to promote.

When I saw the eric carle games, I thought they looked great and bought 3 for my daughter. I gave her the hungry caterpillar game first. The instructions were confusing. You have to stop at all the special areas on the board in order to collect food pieces, but when you spin to move around the board, it seems you never move the number you spin because you have to keep stopping to get your game pieces. It's confusing, and this game just wasn't much fun. I've offerred to play other times, with my four year old, but she has never wanted to play it again. I returned the other eric carle games just in case they were as bad as this one. DO NOT BUY.

I am a preschool teacher and I tried this game with my 5-yr-olds with disasterous results. Although the children love the story and know it by heart, they were bored by the game and kept asking what was going to happen next. Even when it was their turn to collect the food they were bored by this action. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone.

I was so pleased when I heard this game was being manufactured - we love Eric Carle's work! We were very disappointed - this game was designed for small children, yet does not meet any criteria as far as I can tell. It does not hold thier attention. It is not durable or sturdy - as other reviewers have mentioned, the game pieces are incredibly flimsy. The instructions are not specific. The educational valuable is debatable. If I could, I would give this game 0 stars. Hopefully the pieces can be recycled. I write this review in hope that other parents will be spared the expense.

After reading the info on the back of the box, I was really excited to play this game with my 3.5 year old. I was disappointed. It was boring! The player pieces are made of cardboard that you have to fold together. Not the most durable. Also, they are pretty large in comparison the the spots on the board so the board gets very crowded. I also didn't think the instructions were very clear. I would pass on this game!