Just a week ago when I received a spur of the moment phone call from the almost ex husband to go shopping for some clothes for the kids. I chose K-Mart and off we went. When we got one foot in the door almost ex mentions well maybe we can get one toy for each child. The one maybe turned into two toys for each boy and a book as well.

My youngest son is turning five at the end of the week and I have a hard time finding toys for him at K-Mart and prefer Toys “R” Us. We went up and down each toy aisle twice while I scoped out each toy for a sign that this was the one he would want. The video and book selections were easy, he looked at each and tossed into the shopping cart.

I spotted the Fisher-Price® Go Fish! game with a very reasonable price tag of $6.99. The box is a small square size with a handle for kids to transport. I got a look of interest from my son and that was enough for me since he enjoys all the other fishing games and poles we have, so why not one more! Both my children fall into the recommended age range of three to seven. What appealed to me was there are two levels so this game will last several years in our household.

My complaint would be there is only one fishing pole making it a sharing game for my two kids that must learn to wait their turn to touch or handle the pole. There is no reading required with this game, and we have another game in this line-up, Octopus Dominoes™, not yet listed at this website unfortunately!

There are two green worm labels you place on either side of the worm that dangles from the fishing pole. The pole is yellow with a section in the back for the worm to snap into place when not fishing. The pole does nothing else, the knob is a decoration and does not move.

There are thirty-five fish cards that look identical on the front side but on the back there are four colors to differentiate between them as well as numbers. These consist of one through eight. The colors are red, yellow, green and blue, same as the boats. This means there are four cards with each color for the numbers. The premise of the game is the winner would have four matching colors to the boat inside the boat.

There are three other cards that are blue on the other side with the pictures being a shoe, tire and anchor. If at any time a player gets one of these they show to the other players and toss back into the pile of other cards to be picked up by next player using the fishing pole.

To begin each player would pick their boat according to what color they want and mix up the fish cards. Leave the cards in a pile and have the youngest player start by pressing the worm over the top card and hope the suction cup underneath will pick it up. This works best if the cards are evenly placed and not strewn around. Also it sometimes takes persistence in getting the fish card to stick onto the worm that is on the edge of the pole. Wanna eat a worm!

Each boat has four slots that the fish snap into. It is easier to take the fish from the pole and insert into the slot rather than wait a lifetime for your child to get it in the slot! Just an idea, you make the call in your house, but beware if you are barefooted in the house and step on one of these boats! Wanna eat a worm!

For the fish cards the blue one is a lighter color than the boat so if you have a picky child they might just refuse that these two are the exact same color blue. The directions refer to one side of the fish as the belly if you want to get technical and use the correct terminology, whatever works.

This way to utilize the game is the first level known as matching colors for two to four players. The second level is advanced and considered Goin ‘Fishin’. The object is to pick six cards and load them into the boat. Then you look at the cards and if you have any sets you place them in front of you. You ask each player for a card that you need like 2 Fish, and if they do not have it they say Go Fish! . The players that do have these must give them all to you. When you are told to Go Fish! you then pick up a fish card with the pole using the suction and if you complete a set you get to go again, otherwise your turn is over.

The winner will be the one who has the most sets of fish cards. I assume for adults if you feel like playing when the kids have retired you could say Go Fish in the lake, or take a dip in the lake, or go jump in the lake! The instructions do not state anything about taking the fishing pole into the tub or outside in our pool so that might just happen next.

If you need replacement fish or boat or another pole, contact Fisher-Price® at 1-800-432-5437 between 8 am and 6pm Monday through Friday eastern standard time. For the hearing impaired and users of TYY-TDD the number is 1-800-382-7470.

The feel of the fish is not slimy so that is a plus for me! The eyes of the fish are cute and he or she, this has not been determined, is smiling. There are yellow dots on the fish with a yellow mouth and green and blue body. All the pieces fit back nicely in the box this was purchased in.

This does help in learning numbers, matching colors and sorting plus cause and effect. There is also the emphasis on eye hand coordination and having a good time with a game that requires no batteries and is noise free!

Please note that this game is not the one pictured at this site. For a preview of this game you can check out http://www.amazon.com. Next you would use the search for toys and type Go Fish! to view what this game looks like. The selling price is $6.99 there as well as in the K-Mart store last week.

I would recommend this game for toddlers, preschoolers and older for some fun quality time with siblings and friends that can get silly after awhile. The box with the handle makes it easy to carry along to a friends house or share at school or bring to camp for share day.

** The reference to Wanna eat a worm is a commercial I like on television where the kids are eating some worm candy.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 6.99
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years