It’s important for kids to learn their manners—and what better way to do that then with a little help from one of their favorite characters, Daniel Tiger.
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Welcome to Main Street Game, from University Games, is an adorable board game for preschoolers that has them traveling to different shops on Main Street, while learning to say, “Thank you.”
With bright colors and cute illustrations from the show, the game challenges players to spin the spinner and move the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood characters around the game board, which is set up like Main Street. They can travel to Music Man Stan’s Music Shop, Baker Aker’s Bakery, Mr. McFeely’s Post Office, Dr. Anna’s Doctor’s Office, and the Neighborhood Schoolhouse, before finishing at the Clock Factory. Players have to visit each location—each with their own stand-up storefront—and collect the Gift Token that matches the one on their backpack. Each backpack features a different Gift Token, so kids won’t be fighting over the same gift.
As players travel around the board, they will also encounter other spaces, such as the Thank You Tree spaces, which let kids take a thank you note from the Thank You Tree. This note will tell them to move forward, backward, or go to a specific location. Players can also land on the Gift spaces, which prompts them to give a Gift Token to another player. For example, if I land on a Gift space and my opponent has not yet visited Mr. McFeely’s Post Office, I can give him or her the Gift Token that matches his or her backpack from the post office.
Here’s where the manners comes in: Once a player receives a gift from another player, he or she must say, “thank you.” Yeah—it’s in the rules. Parents playing along can make sure players use proper manners in order to receive a gift. This fun game element teaches kids the importance of being kind, polite, and friendly, even when in the middle of a competitive-based board game.
Once a player has collected all of the tokens to fill up his or her backpack, he or she must head toward the Clock Factory. Although the gameplay is basic, there is no direct route around the board, so players have to use and develop basic problem-solving and strategy skills to figure out the best route. This game is great for preschoolers because the rules are easy to learn, but it’s still fun to play over and over again. Plus, whether they’re playing Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Welcome to Main Street, or walking down their own Main Street, they’ll be sure to remember to say, “thank you.”
