Honey Bee Tree & the 6 Things Your Preschooler Can Learn by Playing

My 3 year old daughter recently received the International Playthings game Honey Bee Tree for her birthday. Quick to become a family favorite, this game is one of the first that she has been able to play and understand. Not only is the game enjoyable, but every time we play were are able to focus on a different educational skill, sometimes multiple skills. If you are looking for an educational first game for your preschool age child, Honey Bee Tree by International Playthings is the game you are looking for.

Setting up the game Honey Bee Tree consists of placing long leaves through various holes in the tree. While some parents may view this as tedious and time consuming, they should really look at this as an opportunity to focus on their preschoolers fine motor skills and hand/eye coordination. Have your preschooler help you place the leaves into the tree. Though it may take 10-15 minutes the first few times you play the game, children will quickly learn to do it with ease.

Once in place, you place thirty plastic bees on top of the leaves. Then, the object of the game is to remove leaves one at a time without waking any bees and having them fall down. The winner is the person who has the least amount of bees after the last leaf has been pulled. While playing the game, parents are able to reinforce skills such as taking turns and following directions.

After game play is over, parents have a variety of options and possibilities for focusing on educational skills. To begin with, count the bees that each player has accumulated. If your child has only learned to count by rote memorization and not learned to count objects one by one, this is a perfect opportunity to focus on this skill. Once you have counted the bees, you can discuss the concept of more than, less than, and equal to in order to determine the winner of the game.