Fur & Feathers Game Lets Kids Save Animals

Image courtesy Animal Matters.

Gaming has become a popular way to teach children about important issues, and a new board game seeks to teach kids about compassion for animals. Fur & Feathers is a game for 2-6 players, ages 6 and older. Creator Christine Durrant invented the game "in an effort to teach children to be kind to animals in a fun, gentle and cute way."

Players make their way around a game board by rolling the die and following directions and/or answering questions. Players can stop in at the animal shelter, the farm, or the cafe (full of veggie options) to help save animals. The first player to save all 5 kinds of animals (dogs, cats, chickens, cows, and pigs), wins.

The game board is colorful and has a clean design, and the simple rules are modifiable for those who can't yet read. It's a bonus (for people in the U.S.) that the game is made in the U.S., and a portion of the proceeds from game sales go to help rescued farmed and companion animals.

One quibble we had was with some of the questions. The game comes with a pack of question cards. Some deal with facts about animals (how high a cat can jump or what you call the red part on top of a rooster's head). And a few offer questions about being kind to animals, (which are the strongest questions -- we would have loved more of these). However, a few of the questions are so vague or generalized that they can be confusing and misleading without additional information, and one question states that vinyl is a good alternative to leather (vinyl has a very toxic lifecycle, so it's not a good alternative to anything). Of course, to counter any weakness in the questions, adults/kids can create additional question cards and invite players to seek out more information and verify statements.

Despite our concern with some of the question cards, we're excited to see a game focused on saving animals and cultivating compassion. Kids will find this one fun!

~ Marsha

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