Wooden sorter ‘Whose pattern is it? (stencil)’

About the game

What would happen if you swapped the tiger’s stripes and the cow’s spots? In this game, the animals seem to be trying on their own patterns. Find the right background — and the picture will come to life!

‘Whose Pattern Is It? (Stencil)’ is a wooden sorter with an unusual matching mechanism. The child matches a stencil card featuring an animal to the corresponding textured window. When the stencil is placed on top, the pattern appears on the animal’s image: stripes, spots, feathers, scales or fur.

Nine little transformations help children see familiar animals and their natural patterns in a whole new light.

In the set

• a 32 × 23 cm board with 9 patterned windows: feathers, spots, stripes, scales, fur and others
• 9 stencil cards featuring animals: a crow, a cow, a tiger, a parrot, a lamb, a zebra, a hedgehog, a snail and a butterfly

How to play

1. Look at the patterns in the windows.
2. The child decides whose skin or feathers these are.
3. They place the stencil over the animal, and the animal is ‘dressed’ in its pattern.

Where to start

Start with the best-known examples: a zebra has stripes, a cow has spots.

Game variations

• ‘Whose pattern is it?’;
• swap the stencils and have a laugh at the ‘funny’ animals;
• ‘Stripes, spots or feathers?’;
• ‘Where does this animal live?’.

What children can practise

• attention to detail
• knowledge of animals
• speech

Who it’s for

Children aged 3 and over; at home, at kindergarten, or during lessons with a teacher.

Material

Wood-based board (pressed wood), bright print.