The Ladybug Game

Why it's in our library

The Ladybug Game gives the youngest players at a pop-up a whole game they can follow on their own, because the cards use colors, numbers and pictures instead of words. A grown-up reads the short story from the box aloud to set the scene, and then everyone at the table heads down the garden path together.

How to play

In the story, a strong wind has blown the ladybugs far from home, and each one has to travel along a garden path back to its rosebush. Everyone picks one of the four ladybug pawns. Each pawn is a different color and has its own character name.

The goal is simple: be the first ladybug to get home.

On your turn, draw a ladybug card and move your pawn along the path the way the card shows. A child who isn't reading yet can still take the turn by looking at the color, the number and the picture on the card. Then play moves on to the next person around the table.

Along the way, some spaces on the board bring garden events: tall grass, aphids, a praying mantis and a group of lazy ants. There are also special pass cards that let a ladybug get safely past the mantis. The rules in the box explain exactly what each card and each space does, so look them over together before the first turn.

Play keeps going around the table until one ladybug reaches the rosebush. That player wins, and the rest of the table can cheer them home.

Good for