Bed Bugs Game

Catch All the Critters

• What: Bed Bugs Game
• When: 3 years and up
• Why: Fun, quick, easy
• Where: Amazon

Want to work on your child’s hand eye coordination or improve their small motor control? Let these Bed Bugs infest your house.

Bed Bugs offers bug catching fun for up to three players. It works great for young kids who need practice with small motor skills, as it requires zero literacy skills. Each player gets a set of tongs in either blue, yellow, or green. They dump the horde of bugs onto the cardboard bed surface, and turn the game on. The bugs jump, hop, and skip around while kids compete to catch the most. But each kid only wants to  catch the bugs that match the color of their tongs. Once the first player catches all their bugs, they yell out “bed bugs” and the bed gets turned off. Kids then count the number of bugs they caught.

You can play by those standard rules, or you can make the game cooperative or work for a single player. Join forces to see how long it takes to remove all the bugs working together. Or race against the clock to see how fast you can get all the bugs off the bed. This game works great to reinforce colors as well as counting skills, and the large tongs make it easier for smaller hands. Although my nine year old at first refused to participate, as soon as we turned it on, he got right in there with the other kids to try and remove all the insects.

This game makes some noise, in addition to the general excitement it generates, so if you prefer quieter games, you might want to try something else. But as long as you don’t mind the batteries or the sound, the game only takes a few minutes but can be enjoyed over and over again for a variety of ages.