Elefun Snackin' Safari by Hasbro {Review}

One of the activities that I remember from my own childhood is playing games. Whether one that required concentration and skill or one that was simply based on laughter and luck, playing games gives kids the ability to think critically, practice patience and taking turns, and have fun.

So of course I want to give my own children fond memories of games, which is why when I heard that Hasbro, one of the top game and toy-makers around, had come out with the Elefun Snackin' Safari game, I was interested in adding it to our collection.

Based on the premise that Elefun is sniffing out snacks with his bouncing trunk, this game is designed for preschoolers to race around the room with their Elefun friends as they try to find the silliest snacks. Whoever finds the most snacks wins!

A game that contains funny animals, silly snacks and running around? I had no doubt that my girls would be excited to give this one a try!

Preparation for Elefun Snackin' Safari takes only moments, as the game comes with two Elephant Heads, two handles, two Elephant Trunks, 13 Snack Cards and two Home Base Cards.

After a very easy assembly process (we simply had to connect the colored handles to the back of the Elephant Heads and the Elephant Trunks onto the front), we were ready to play.

There are three ways to play Elefun Snackin' Safari, so we took a look over each one before trying them out:

Golden Tutti Frutti Cake – Find the golden Tutti Frutti Cake to win instantly!

This method is played by placing all of the cards on the ground with the elephant image facing up. Each child stands by their Home Base Card and, at the same time, run to the cards and try to pick them up using their Elephant Head.

Once a card is secured to the Elephant Trunk, the child brings it back to their Home Base to remove it and see what is on the bottom. The first one to find the Golden Tutti Frutti Cake Card wins!

Matching Snacks – This method is played the same as Golden Tutti Frutti Cake, but instead of checking each card at Home Base for a particular one, the children simply remove the card from their Elephant Trunk and immediately head back to get another one. At the end the players match up their pairs and the person with the most wins!

Matching Colors – This method is played the same as Matching Snacks, however, the cards are laid with the snack side up and instead of counting up pairs, the object is to collect all of the cards of your particular color to win.

While the premise of each of the three methods of play for this game is easy, it didn't take long before we realized that the small suction cups on the end of the Elephant Trunks don't easily pick up the cards. It seemed that no matter how directly the girls managed to aim, only once in a long while did a card come back up for them.

After a minute or two of trying, Little Sister B adapted her own way of playing and began pushing the suction cup directly onto the cards in order to get them to stick... and, after attempting the original way for a little while longer, Big Sister E soon followed. They found that using this method allowed them to actually collect the cards and play the game!

While this method did still provide for a good time and the ability to play from start to finish, it did take away much of the challenge and instead made each round end much more quickly.

I do think that the concept of this game and the way that it incorporates skills such as color recognition, matching, and hand-eye-coordination is a lot of fun... and my girls have had a good time playing with it in their own way!

At the same time, without the ability to pick up the cards with the Elephant Trunks, it does take away from the high energy and fundamental intention of the game. If a future version was created wherein Hasbro altered the suction cups so that they would stick easier, I can see this being pretty entertaining!

Elefun Snackin' Safari is intended for 1 to 2 players that are ages 3 and up and retails for $14.99 - $17.99. Look for it this fall at mass merchandise retailers nationwide (or available now on Amazon.com) and find out more on Hasbro's website as well as connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter.

(Other than the Elefun Snackin' Safari game that I was sent by Hasbro, I was not provided with anything or enticed to do this review in any way. This review is solely my opinion of this game.)