Find the Fairies Memory Game Review

Reviewed by Dottie Rood

This game was lovely to receive as the packaging and illustrations are beautiful!  Find the Fairies-Memory Game not only puts your memory to the test, but it also gives you the opportunity to learn about the diverse fairies from all around the world as you play.

The gift box contains:
40 cards, each measuring 8.8 x 6.6 cm/3.5 x 2.6 in and a 28-page booklet.  Box size is 10 x 14.4 x 4.7 cm/4 x 5.5 x 1.75 in. It is very compact with no wasted space inside.  I found it very easy to take out with me as it fitted easily into my bag.

The 40 cards illustrate 20 diverse Fairy species from all parts of the world and the idea is to match the pairs that belong to the same species.  My Grandchildren found this a little difficult at first but soon got the hang of it.
Illustrated booklet covers the rules of the game and is also a ‘field guide’ on each Fairy species, telling us about their habitat, dwellings, distinctive features and habits.  It also gives you advice on where, when and how to spot either signs that the fairies have been there or even better where, when and how to actually find the Fairies!  I’m not sure who was more excited by this information me or the children!

Find the Fairies is based on the popular book from the Folklore Field Guides Series * A Natural History of Fairies, the cards feature naturalist illustrations of the world from the Blue Mountain Fairy to the Savannah Fairy and the Firefly Sprite of China to the Jogah Sprite of North American riversides.  The illustrator is Jessica Roux and the Author is Emily Hawkins.

How to play the game:
There are two ways to play the Find the Fairies game:
Matching pairs:  Put all the cards on the table face up, look carefully at them, then reunite the fairies with their best friends by picking out as many pairs of fairies as you can!  We adapted this game by timing each child and seeing who could do it the fastest (taking some away for the younger children) then having two children play ‘against’ each other and finally having a ‘free for all’ at the end when they all played (very frantic but really good fun).

Memory match:  Lay all the cards face down on the table and then take it in turns to turn over two cards -if you find two fairies of the same species, keep the cards, if you don’t turn them face down again.  You must try and remember where the different fairies are located so that on your next turn you can try again to make up a pair.  The player who has collected the most fairy cards at the end of the game is the winner!  Again we adapted this by putting less pairs out for the younger children.

This is a fun and easy to learn game that we really enjoyed.  Although it took a few practises to ‘recognise’ that the fairies where not necessarily ‘boy’ fairy and ‘girl’ fairy in the conventional sense they had lots of similarities that made them a pair.  This encouraged lots of very interesting conversation amongst all the children.  We also extended the conversation to ask which they liked the best and after telling them some of the ‘facts’ found in the booklet we discussed why they liked them.  This game, in all it’s different forms, kept them entertained for well over half an hour and they have asked for it again and again.  I would highly recommend it as a gift for children aged 4 years to 8 years (and even older as two of my Grandchildren are 10 and 8 and they really enjoyed it!).

*The Folklore Field Guides Series is a charming collection of beautifully illustrated handbooks on topics of lore and legend. Fascinating facts are accompanied by breathtaking illustrations, all presented in an engaging narrative form.
Also available in this series:
A Natural History of Faries. A Natural History of Magical Beasts. A Natural History of Mermaids. A Natural History of Magick.
R.R.P: £13.99
Rating: 5/5
The product ca be purchased from:
Stockist: Available from Waterstones, Amazon and all good bookstores.

Stockist hyperlinks:

https://www.waterstones.com/product/find-the-fairies/emily-hawkins/jessica-roux/9780711287877