I was searching around Amazon looking at games that might be fun and appropriate to try with Drake now that he is a little older, when I came upon this game called Hello Sunshine.  The premise is that there are 18 double sided cards with instructions about what to do with Sunshine, the big plush sun that comes with the game. The cards instruct players to hide Sunshine in various places around the home (in the bed) or on your body (behind your back). I thought it seemed really cute and something that could be easy for Drake to understand. I read a lot of reviews of how kids loved the plushy sun and I knew Drake would too. I saved the game in my wishlist thinking it might be a good fourth birthday present.

Over the next few days, the game stuck in my mind. I really liked the concept, but since it only came with 18 double sided cards, there really were only 36 ways to place Sunshine. Over time that might get boring, especially as Drake gets older. I knew he would probably always like Sunshine the doll, but it seemed like a lot of money for a stuffed animal.

The next day we received a Christmas care package from one of my college friends who moved away. When I opened the box, Drake spied this fellow laying on top and grabbed it (he loves stuffed toys and figures).  He immediately named him Leck (the minds of 3 year olds) and began playing with him, mostly hiding him and then trying to find him. That night Drake took Leck to bed with him, and I decided that I could recreate the Hello Sunshine game using Leck.

Meet Leck!

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I chose Leck partially because he was on my mind and I saw how much Drake liked him, and because he was fairly simple for me to illustrate. I could create my own picture cards, so we wouldn’t have to worry about running out of places to place Leck since I could always add more ideas. I also thought that this might be a way to help teach Drake sight words like on, in, above, behind, next to, etc.

This weekend I started making some cards for the game. Every night after Drake and Juliet are asleep and I am relaxing for that one hour with Mr. Chocolate watching TV, I can sit and illustrate one or two cards to add to Drake’s game. Even if I only have a few cards, we can start playing soon, and maybe Drake will be excited as I slowly add new cards.

Do you have any favorite board games for your toddler or preschooler? Have you made any of your own?