Hip-O's Menu Match

Hip-O’s Menu Match (Hooked on Phonics, $8.00, ages 3-6, 1-4 players. Typical playing time: 15 minutes depending upon which level you choose.)

This delicious game is great for teaching first letter spelling and letter sound recognition. The goal of the game is to match the picture with the first letter of its word, i.e. a picture of an apple would be matched with the letter “a”. Children can flip or spin cardboard pieces featuring pictures of food with a spatula. Just like grown-ups do in the kitchen! The game also uses lower case letters instead of capitals, which preschoolers need to start recognizing for reading preparation. And let’s face it, there's a big difference between a three-year-old and a six-year-old, so it's especially great that the manufacturer offers three alternative levels of play: beginners flip only pancakes, French toast can be added for a more challenging game, and eggs thrown in for the highest degree of difficulty.

The only criticism is that there's a chance your child may not flip over any letters at all during his turn, which is a missed learning opportunity. It would have been better if the letters were laid out face up.

Criticisms aside, this is a great game to bring on trips because it's a breeze to set up and clean up, and could easily fit into a small freezer bag.

Overall, the combination of favorite breakfast foods with the physical acts of spinning and flipping the game pieces make this a blast to play. Let’s get cookin’!