Stone Soup (Cut and Tell Cutout)

We love this board game. Purchased and played with my first and fourth grader. We read the book first, and their school later performed the play. I even cooked some “stone soup.” The board game was a nice addition to all of these activities.

Another great game from Peaceable Kingdom. Our first was Lemonade Shake Up. My family still loves playing it but I thought we were ready to try something new. This doesn't disappoint. The box is not flimsy. Ours arrived in perfect condition. It does have a sticker on it though. I began trying to remove it but quickly realized it wouldn't be a clean pull off and would leave a residue so I left it alone. Instructions were printed on the inside of the box but I think I found a spelling error (stine soup???) which is odd. It also came with a little story about "stone soup" which was a fun read and good discussion opportunity. The board is sturdy and lays flat. However, there is barely enough room for all the game tiles. Tight flipping them over at the beginning of the game. That makes it a little difficult for small children. The game tiles are not the thickest but they're also not paper thin. I don't forsee an issue from them anytime soon though. It did contain an envelope to place the tiles in. Rules are easy to understand. My kids had it down pat by our first game. Even my three year old can play (although she seems to like finding the fire tiles better than matching the soup ingredients). We've played it every day since it arrived. The kids love it. And I'd say it's been about 50/50 in terms of beating the game or losing to it. Cooperative games have changed our family game time from a lot of squabbling and tears to everyone actually enjoying playing.

I use this game in my work as an elementary school counsellor, and I find that it's enjoyable for kids between K and grade 2. Many of them don't know the story of Stone Soup, so luckily there's a short version of it included on a leaflet inside the box. The story sometimes raises some young eyebrows: "He was tricking them into sharing!?"This game is essentially "Memory," but players work together to find pairs of soup ingredients to add to the pot, before they turn over all of the "fire out" cards that would end the game. Finding the Magic Stone card is protection against a "fire out" card. I've never seen a pair of students lose at this game, but there's certainly some built in frustration in terms of drawing "fire out" cards or not being able to find a match. I think it makes a good game for children with delicate self-esteem. Seeing little ones light up with pride every time they find a match is kind of lovely.Very good quality, colourful, cutely-illustrated game board and pieces, although the area where you lay out all the cards is a bit squishy for little hands to work within, and there doesn't feel like quite enough space for the pairs of 'ingredient cards' to all fit within the outline of the soup pot. Not a reason not to purchase but just an idea for future versions to address. Basically it's Memory with a twist, so it's kind of bland, but the quality of the game makes me bump it up from 3 to 4 stars.

This game exceeded my expectations. Growing up we only played games where there was 1 winner and the rest of the players were losers. After playing candyland and some other similar games my 4 year old was getting an attitude whenever she lost a game. I was curious what a cooperative game was, and I was happy to have purchased stone soup for her birthday. It is a great memory game, but one you work together to accomplish the final goal. My daughter went from "me, me, me" to "team, team, team". It is a lot more fun to play because of her better attitude. Also, because we play as a team, we don't get as frustrated when my 2 year old flips the matching card over when it is my turn instead of hers. While people say the game is good for 5+, you can modify it for little kids who have the patience to sit through a board game. I just hide the magic stone and one of the fire's out cards.

The kids in our K-2 autism class love this game - even though none of them would ever eat a real vegetable :) It is a simple game with rules that are quickly learned. It may be too simple for kids that don't have some of the issues ours do. For example, once someone turns over the "magic stone" card, winning the game is guaranteed so there is really no point in finishing. However, our kids haven't figured this out yet and after the stone is turned over, they are still excited with each pair of matching vegetables and still groan whenever a Fire-out card is turned. Our kids can be terrible sore losers but there is no sore loser nonsense with this game, since we either all win or all lose. I highly recommend this game and another by Peaceable Kingdom, Race to the Treasure. Peace reigns in our classroom when we play these games.

This is an age appropriate, cooperative game, meaning all players win or lose together. In this day and age where competition is stressed in every other aspect of our lives and our children's lives, this is a refreshing change. My husband and I needed to review that concept a couple times before the kids understood and then the game dynamics and he personal squabbles that occurred with other no cooperative games all went away. Family fun night really was fun for both kids and parents! This game is great for learning to recognize colors, foods, counting. The game teaches special recognition, memorization, sharing and cooperation, along with an opportunity to open up a discussion about healthy eating habits with my kids, disguised as a game. What more can a health conscious parent ask for? The game arrived without damage. There were no delays with delivery. The instructions were clear.