My Very First Games: Rhino Hero Junior
My Very First Games: Rhino Hero Junior Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 6 floors, each with 2 walls
- 8 roof cards
- 1 flowery meadow game board
- 1 building site game board
- Rhino Hero Junior (figure)
- Baby Spider Monkey (figure)
Free Play and Exploring the Details
In free play, your child can become familiar with the game components and how they work. First, spread the materials out on the floor where your child will have enough space to familiarize themselves with it all. Take a close look at the game materials together. What is there to see?
First, look at the walls, each of which has two colors. Two walls with the same color combination can be slotted together to form a new level of the tower. Help your child to fit the matching parts together. You will see that, in time, they will get better at doing this on their own. Whenever you move the floors about, it is best to hold them by the external fire escapes. The walls won't come apart so easily this way.
Before playing the individual games, slot the matching walls of the building together as shown. Now the game can begin.
Help your child to work out the system behind stacking the floors. Each color can be found on only two floors. On one floor, it is on the upper area of the wall, and on the next floor up, it is on the lower area. If the floors are stacked on top of each other so that the colors meet up, they will automatically form the correct sequence in terms of numbers and size.
Each floor shows a number and a matching number of blue birds. Count them out loud together with the children. Then point to and name the matching number. This helps the children to playfully pair up quantities with the correct numeral.
Game 1: One, Two, Three... Here Come the Heroes!
A colorful matching game.
Before the Game Begins
Sit with the children in a circle around the board. Place it with the flowery meadow side up.
Distribute the floors (already slotted together) around the game board and the roof cards so that the numbers are visible. Place Rhino Hero Junior and Baby Spider Monkey on the board. The two roof cards showing Baby Spider Monkey are not needed for this version of the game and can be returned to the box.
Now We Can Begin!
Explain to the children that they will be laying out the roof cards next to each other in such a way that the bricks of one color are next to the bricks of the same color. A roof card will be placed so that it is touching the flower meadow. Play goes in a clockwise direction. The youngest child goes first.
Ask the child: Which of the roof cards should be played?
For the first turn, the child takes any roof card and places it touching the flower meadow, then later on, next to the roof card that Rhino Hero Junior is standing on. At the beginning of the game, this is the game board; later it is the last correctly placed roof card. Baby Spider Monkey always storms into an early lead – the supervising adult should always place Baby Spider Monkey onto the roof card that the child has just placed.
Now everyone checks to see if the correct roof card has been played.
Ask the child: Does the card that Rhino Hero Junior is standing on have a matching color with the card Baby Spider Monkey is standing on? Are the matching colors touching?
- Yes! Great, the roof card stays where it is. Rhino Hero Junior is now ready to set off. The child whose turn it is places him onto the roof card they placed, next to Baby Spider Monkey. The players now all call out together the number shown on the new roof card.
- No? What a shame, but don't worry. The overeager Baby Spider Monkey moves back to join Rhino Hero Junior, and the incorrectly placed roof card is returned to where it was found.
Each time Rhino Hero Junior arrives on a new roof card, call out the number shown on it and ask the children to repeat it. By actively naming the numbers while looking at their symbols and the appropriate order, the children intuitively come to understand the numbering system. As the game progresses, the children also learn the sequence of the numbers displayed and also practice basic counting in a playful way.
Now it is the turn of the next child to choose a roof card to lay down. Gradually, the sequence of numbers from 1 to 6 is placed in an ascending order.
As soon as all of the roof cards are in a row, it is now a matter of matching them up with the correct floors. Start with the roof card that Rhino Hero Junior and Baby Spider Monkey are standing on (i.e. the one with the number 6).
Ask the child: Which floor goes with this roof card?
The child whose turn it is takes one of the already assembled floors and places it next to the roof card. Again, Baby Spider Monkey is in a hurry and moves one roof card further towards the game board. All the players now check together whether the correct floor has been chosen.
Ask the child: Do the colors of the floor match up with this roof card?
- Yes! Super, the floor can stay where it is. Rhino Hero Junior moves up to join Baby Spider Monkey.
- No? Uh-oh, it's okay. The overeager Baby Spider Monkey moves back to join Rhino Hero Junior and the incorrectly placed floor is returned to where it was found.
Each quarter section of a floor shows the appropriate number of blue birds. Count them out loud together with the children. Then show and name the numeral displayed. This will help the children to playfully associate quantities with the corresponding number.
Then it is the turn of the next child to choose a matching floor.
The game ends
The game ends when the last floor is in place and Rhino Hero Junior and Baby Spider Monkey arrive back on the game board. Well done! The children have won the game thanks to the power of teamwork.
Now that all the floors are so nicely lined up, there's an opportunity for another game. Ask the children to sit together on one of the long sides of the row of floors. You sit down on the other side. Hide one of the figures behind a floor so that the children cannot see it. Ask the children where the figure is hiding. Phrase the question in different ways, e.g. "Who do you think is behind the biggest floor?", "Behind the smallest floor?", "Behind the floor with the 1, 2 or 3?". You can also give hints, such as "Rhino Hero Junior is hiding behind the green/yellow floor".
Game 2: Stack 'em High (but Don't Overdo It!)
A stacking game with some wibble-wooble.
Before the Game Begins
Sit with the children in a circle around the board. Place it so that everyone can see the construction site. Place Rhino Hero Junior on the construction site and the preassembled floors around the game board. Baby Spider Monkey doesn't dare climb yet and stays in the box with the two roof cards showing Baby Spider Monkey. Get the remaining roof cards ready in a pile, with the roof side facing up.
The children have the job of constructing a high-rise building, starting with the largest floor at the base and finishing with the smallest at the top. Can they place Rhino Hero Junior on the topmost roof without the tower falling down?
Now We Can Begin!
Play goes in a clockwise direction. The youngest child goes first.
Ask the child: Which floor needs to go on next?
The first player takes one of the floors and places it on the building site to get the game underway. The next player will choose a floor to go on top during their turn. Everyone looks to see whether it is the correct floor.
Ask the child: Was the floor that was just placed the largest of what hasn't been used yet?
- Yes! Excellent! Take the top roof card and lay it on the floor, roof side up.
- No? Ah what a shame, but don't stress. Remove the last floor and return it to where it was found.
If you are not sure if the floor that has just been stacked is the correct one, you can check by looking at its colors. The top bricks of each floor will show the color of the bottom bricks of the next floor. If the two colors match, the floor is correct.
Then it is the next child's turn to choose a floor.
The game ends when either...
- ... the last floor and the last roof card have been carefully placed on the tower, or if the tower collapses. If you've finished the tower, the player who placed the last roof card picks up Rhino Hero Junior and stands him on top of the tower.
- ... or if the tower has collapsed. What a shame! But don't worry, just start over again. You've all learned a lot, and next time you'll probably do better.
Variant
If you want to make the game more of a challenge, have the players take a roof card from the top of the pile and stack the matching floor next, regardless of whether it is larger or smaller than the one below. This makes the tower less stable, and the children have to be much more careful in stacking the floors on top of each other.
Game 3: Heroes in Training
A heroic memory-stacking game.
Before the Game Begins
Sit with the children in a circle around the game board. Place it so that everyone can see the construction site. Lay out the 8 roof cards with the roof side up in two rows of four. Place Rhino Hero Junior and Baby Spider Monkey on the building site and the 6 floors around the game board.
Now We Can Begin!
This time the children have to use their powers of memory and their stacking skills to build the tower from the largest to the smallest floor together. Then they'll have to place Rhino Hero Junior on the topmost roof, without the tower collapsing.
Play goes in a clockwise direction. The oldest child goes first by turning over any roof card they like.
Ask the child: What do you see on the card now that you've turned it over?
- The next floor in the sequence? (i.e. the lower color matches the upper color of the current top floor, and the next number is shown on it. At the beginning of the game, it will be the floor showing the number 1) Great! Stack the matching floor on top of the tower (or on the building site at the beginning of the game) and place the roof card on top of it with the roof side facing up. Stand Rhino Hero Junior on the now placed roof card.
- A different floor? (i.e. the lower color does not match the upper color of the current top floor and there is a different number than the next one in the sequence) A heroic effort, but never mind! Return the roof card to where it was, with the roof side facing up.
- Baby Spider Monkey? Oh dear! Now Baby Spider Monkey is in pursuit. Take Baby Spider Monkey and put them on the roof card that is currently on top. If there is no floor with a roof card on the building site yet, Baby Spider Monkey will stay where they are. Return the roof card to where it was, with the roof side facing up.
Now, the next player turns over a roof card of their choice.
In addition to correctly identifying the next floor in size and the correct sequence of numbers, in this game the children also learn to remember the position of the cards with Baby Spider Monkey, as well as practicing their tower stacking and eye-hand coordination skills.
The game ends when either...
- ... the last floor and the last roof card have gone into place and Rhino Hero Junior is on top of the high-rise, or if the tower collapses. If the tower has been completed, the players have won together thanks to their joint effort.
- ... or if the tower collapsed, it's okay! Just start over again. Everyone has learned a lesson, and they will surely do better next time.