New in our house is the game Guess Who?
The kids weren’t the only ones excited about this gift at Christmas, because I had this as a child and loved it!
After only a few challenges with my 4 year old (we had to have some rematches because I wasn’t reigning champion), I realized how educational it really is.
Objective of the game – To be the first person to correctly identify the name of your opponent’s mystery face.
Number of players – Two.
How to play
- Each player has a game tray with 24 mystery faces. Each player chooses one mystery face card.
- Players take turns to ask ‘yes or no’ questions about the other player’s mystery face to eliminate the incorrect faces on your game tray.
For example, “Does your person wear glasses?” or “Is your person a boy?”.Other versions/variations: Travel-friendly Guess Who? game, Disney Guess Who?, Disney Jr themed Guess Who?, Who’s Who?. -
Educational Benefits of Guess Who?
As well as the basic benefits of games like learning to following rules, take turns and how to be a ‘good sport’ – winning or losing, the Guess Who? game also helps to:
- Teach color – Mystery faces have different color for hair, eye, hat, glasses and lips that can be used to eliminate options.
- Teach opposites – Players need to distiguish and identify features such as big-mouth/small-mouth, red-lipped/pink-lipped, up-turned/down-turned mouths, happy/sad faces.
- Develop descriptive skills – Players need to identify differences in the mystery faces and describe particular features. For example – noses are big or small, faces that do or do not have glasses or hats, eyes that are blue, brown or black and so on.
- Improve articulation: Asking yes/no questions can be a hard concept for young kids to grasp. Having an idea in mind and then finding a way to ask this to get a yes or no answer might take some practice. My four year old’s first instinct was to ask “What color is your hair?”. Now she asks “Is your hair black?” or “Is your hair curly?”.
- Develop logical thinking – Determining which faces to put down and which ones to keep up can be difficult for children to understand as the language used may confuse young minds. For example, if it is determined that the mystery face doesn’t have a hat, your child has to put down the faces that do have hats.
- Practice strategy skills – Players need to assess the remaining faces on their game tray to determine which yes/no question will eliminate adequate amount of faces.
In her first few games, my four year old would ask “Is your person a girl?” and then ask “Is your person a boy?”. Now she asks questions that eliminate at least half of her remaining faces at at time! - Practice reading and sounding out -At the end of the game when it’s time to guess the identity of your opponent’s mystery face, your child can try and sound out the name, or if they are not ready for reading could describe the face again (extra opportunity to practice describing accurately!). Many of the names are simple and easy to sound out!
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Final Word
There are a few Guess Who? game options on the market but only you can determine which is appropriate for your child’s age. If you end up with the game and think that your child isn’t quite ready for it, I’m sure it won’t be too long before they are!
Educational Toys and Games Resources
Connect Four – Fun for the whole family, Connect Four teaches children to identify patterns, plan ahead and think strategically.
Snap – A simple, yet classic card game that your child will enjoy. Snap teaches your child to match pairs and, depending on the deck, can help your child recognize numbers or other objects featured on the cards
Go Fish – A simpler card game also suitable for children, Go Fish is ideal for first timers to the card game world. The game teaches your child to match and count pairs, and describe objects.
UNO – An all-time favorite card game, UNO is suitable for the whole family.
Snakes and Ladders – A Snakes and Ladders board game is the perfect addition for any household with young children. Not only is the game fun but also highly educational.
Abacus – Everyone knows the abacus is an amazing mathematical tool. It’s even claimed the abacus is instrumental in giving kids a head start.
Tupperware Shape Sorter – There are very few educational toys out there like the Tupperware Shape Sorter. Your child can play with this toy from newborn through to pre-schooler and not only will it entertain your child throughout, but also teach them many things along the way.