My children are spoiled. This is the reason I was not surprised when their grandparents arrived home from a two week vacation, arms laden with bags of gifts for them. Included in the loot was the Jay Jay The Jet Plane Fly on Over Game. My kids have never been huge Jay Jay fans, although they have watched the show often enough to be somewhat familiar with the characters. That didn’t stop them from ripping the game out of the box and instantly insisting we play – NOW! Thankful to be playing something other than the current favorite Snakes and Ladders, I quickly read over the instructions and helped them set up the game.

THE PIECES
The colorful box includes16 cardboard landing pads in four colors – red, teal, purple, and red; 4 plastic Jay Jay movers; cardboard Spinner; and colored labels.

The cardboard spinner and landing pads are smooth and sturdy enough that they will likely take some abuse in our house as long as our kitten doesn’t get a hold of them.

The movers are large enough to be played with as figures. Each is in the shape of a Jay Jay Jet, blue plastic with a molded painted face with all the Jay Jay details.

THE SET UP
Assembling the game is as easy as affixing the colored labels to the Jay Jay movers. Each set of wings is given colored labels in red, teal, yellow, or red. My almost five year old insisted on doing this task on her own and had no problems.

According to the instructions, the spinner also needs to be assembled, but ours was in a sealed box and came already assembled.

To set up the game, all the landing pads are set out on the floor (or other playing surface) color side up. Each player then places his or her Jay Jay mover on any one landing pad. The pieces are a nice size – big enough to be played with outside the limits of a game and small enough to be played with on the kitchen table.

GAME PLAY
The youngest player starts by spinning the spinner. The spinner contains 2 red, 2 teal, 2 yellow, two purple, and two multicolored circles. A player takes a turn spinning, then moves to a landing pad in the corresponding color. Each landing pad in the color set has a different character – Snuffy, Savannah, Tracy, and Herky. The idea behind the game is that Jay Jay is flying over to visit each of his friends. This opens the door to pretend play even when a game is not in session!

The goal is to spin onto a space with the color that matches your wing labels. If you land on a matching landing pad, you can keep the landing pad on your next turn when you leave. The first player with all four of his or her matching landing pads wins the game.

When a player lands on one of the multi colored circles, he or she may move to any colored landing pad. Most of the time players will choose their matching landing pads so that they will be able to keep them on their next turns. However, only one Jay Jay mover can occupy a landing pad at a time, so if there are movers on all of your matching pads, you will have to select a different color. If you spin a color that is completely occupied, you simply stay where you are until your next turn.

AGE RECOMMENDATIONS
The box warns of a choking hazard, most likely from the spinner’s parts, so the game is not intended for children under three. The box suggests that the game is appropriate for children 4 and up, but I think that three year olds can easily play it. My two and a half year old can play with minimal guidance and the short game length is perfect for her short attention span.

THE GOOD
The game only takes a few minutes to play and is very simple. Unlike Snakes and Ladders, which can drag on forever leaving me to resort to cheating to lose, this game is over in about five to ten minutes depending on the number of players.

No reading is required. As long as children can match colors and spin a spinner, they are able to play along. It is also a great way to reinforce the concepts of color and matching in young children.

The Jay Jay figures flying overhead lead to some fun airplane sounds and a little extra imaginative play. My daughter often pulls out the game just to land the movers on the landing pads and let them visit their friends.

Winning the game is based mostly on luck. There is very little room for strategy, although with four players there is some room to block another player from winning if enough players are lucky enough to land on multicolored circles.

THE NOT SO GOOD
My biggest complaint about the game would have to be that the labels lift off the wings very easily. I plaster them down every time I open the box and still they persist in lifting. We have not had this game very long, and I can see them getting pulled off entirely very soon. Of course, they are necessary to play the game since without them the movers have no unique color.

OUR RECOMMENDATION
I think that my oldest daughter will become bored with this game within another year or two. While die hard Jay Jay fans will likely play much longer, I can see this one being shelved once she gets just a little older. There isn’t a lot of challenge, which is perfect for small children, but gets old quickly as the child grows.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): gift
Type of Toy: Board Game
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years