Count Your Chickens

Why it's in our library

Everyone at the table plays as one team, so a win or a loss belongs to the whole group, and a loss just means trying again together. Each turn asks for a little counting out loud and a little picture matching, so it's a gentle first game for children who are just learning to count and take turns.

How to play

The team is trying to bring every loose baby chick home to the coop before Mother Hen finishes her walk along a winding path that ends there.

To set up, lay out the board and stand Mother Hen at the start of the path. Scatter the chicks near the board and keep the empty coop close by.

On your turn, flick the spinner. It usually stops on a picture of a farm animal. Move Mother Hen ahead to the next space on the path that shows that same picture. Then count out loud how many spaces she moved, and put that many chicks into the coop. Some spaces on the path give one extra chick when she stops there. The box shows which ones. If the spinner lands on the fox, one chick leaves the coop and goes back out into the yard. Then the spinner passes to the next player around the table.

The game ends when Mother Hen reaches the coop. If every chick is already home, the team wins. If some are still out in the yard, the team loses and can set up for another try.

One game is short, so a table can keep playing round after round until the team brings every chick home.

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