Ring-a-thing

My two year old daughter is in love with the many games my four year old has and plays with. Problem is, many of them have small pieces, and my two year old isn't past the mouthing stage, so we either have to really carefully supervise, or put them away. The latter greatly offends her sensibilities.

I was hesitant to purchase this game because it looked... well boring. But I found it intriguing all the same the idea of a game that is made for toddlers. Specifically, a game that is simple in its rules, and has large enough pieces to not pose a risk. I took a chance, having read so many glowing reviews. In hindsight, I might have just stuck with my intuition.

The pieces to this game are quite nice. They all have that fantastic silky-smooth Haba finish, are brightly-colored, and they're much larger than most of the teeny tiny wooden Haba toys we own. The rings measure, from smallest to largest: 1.8", 2.25", 2.5" diameter. The people are 2.7" tall and .8" diameter, and the dice is a 1.25" cube much larger than a standard die.

The downside is that the gameplay options (there are 3) included in the instructions are boring, boring, boring. Not for me, mind you; I might well have expected that, but for my two-year old. We've tried all three at various times and only end up with her walking away, baffled at how so much die-rolling can result in so little action.

Allow me to pare them down to their essentials for the purposes of demonstration.

Game 1: Place all people and rings in the center of the table. Each player rolls the die and places a corresponding ring on the people. If all rings of that color are used up, roll again. Game is over when all the rings have been distributed. The game suggests you can then offer a reward of dancing in a circle, but my toddler recommends, instead, running away and refusing to have any more of this nonsense.

Game 2: Select a person. Roll the die to try to get the same color as the person you have chosen. Didn't get the right color? Pity! You cannot take a ring! (Yes, I'm quoting there). Pity, indeed says my toddler. After 5 rounds where neither of us rolled our correct color, she said, "Pity! This game is over, mom!" (I'm paraphrasing there.)

Game 3: Choose a person, stack five rings of various colors on the person. Each player rolls the dice until the color on the die matches the top ring, remove the ring, and so on. Of course, we didn't even get to die-rolling on this one, because the idea of rings of various colors stacked on a person with a different color hat was (hello!) one of those things that offends a rigid, rule-driven, tantrum-prone toddler's sensibilities. "No! No! No!" she howled, and quickly removed and reassembled the rings in their correct size and color order with the correct people.

Now, I'm not necessarily precluding the idea that a game could, with a little thought, be conjured, effectively using these cool game pieces in a way which might allow a faster-paced, fun game. After a failed attempt on each of the prescribed games, I began brainstorming, and have come up with a few alternative methods where participation would be virtually guaranteed on each roll of the die, foregoing the whole, "Pity! All you got to do this turn was roll the die!" structure that annoyingly pervades all playing options which came with the game.

However, I feel it's only fair to base the rating of the game on the merit of what it provides pre-improvisation, and not on its possible potential beyond what presented in the immediate sense. And so, while the individual pieces of the game have provided some mild amusement in a roleplay/imagination form, I feel the game playing end is sorely lacking, and not well thought out for the age group for which its intended. Also, it's really quite expensive and I say that having gotten it at 20% off. I understand the whole German wooden safe toy correlation, but I was hoping more for a game, and less for a few pricey, aesthetically pleasing wooden pieces.

A better game, in my opinion, is Haba's Zitternix, which my two year old is surprising capable of joining in on and enjoying, and which allows for a guaranteed corresponding action for each roll of the die, keeping things a bit more exciting. I think continual active participation in a game is key for maintaining interest at this age.

HABA toys tend to be on the smaller side, but I was actually pleasantly surprised when this toy arrived. The pieces are large and chunky, making it so the men don't easily topple over as my toddler plays the game. This provides a just-right challenge for my 23-month-old. From playing this game, he readily understands the concepts of turn-taking, following the direction of the dice, and size/color differences. This has been a valuable addition to our toy collection, and my son always asks to play again and again.

Buy Ring-a-thing Now

We bought this for a two-year old. Though he had many presents, this was definately his favorite. He just found endless things to do with the various elements.

Read Best Reviews of Ring-a-thing Here

We bought this for our 2 year old and he has immediately took to it. Almost every morning he is pointing for it to come down from the shelf.

Nice to find toys that aren't Made in China!

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