Haba's Pocket Games

Haba makes a series of tiny wooden games that fit in metal canisters with sliding lids that snap shut. They're small enough to fit inside a pocket, even a kid's, and the only challenge is not losing a piece - we let Z play with this cow game by herself on the first day of a week-long vacation, and she lost a piece we miraculously found in a crevice between two pieces of furniture on the last day of our trip. The fact that her game was unplayable during that time was a source of frequent, if brief, frustration.

Two tiny dice create a condition that one cow meets: One declares whether the target cow has a face or is blank, and the other, the color. The players then race to see who can snatch up the cow first. This is a game that is easy to play with a toddler at any developmental stage, because you can be as slow as you like while your child works on finding the correct solution.

The only wrinkle to the game is that as pieces are claimed there will be an increasing number of rolls for cows that have already been picked up. One solution is to stop using one die after you're about halfway through. For younger players, too, you can use just one die the whole way through.

The best thing about this game is that it's priced right. You can't get many toys of this quality, tiny or not, for $5.

Haba makes a whole series of these games, which feature an impressive array of game models. In addition to the cow-selection game, there's one about fencing in horses, a tiny balance game with mice and cheese, something with sheep and hedges they eat, one with frogs and lily pads, and one about rabbits that is referred to as a guessing game, and these just scratch the surface. Check out the "Car Race Game," one with many-segmented caterpillars, and more in Amazon's listings. Most are priced at five bucks and they all look like they fit in the same little tins.

The fact that they're truly pocket-sized makes them nice vacation games or even stocking stuffers. Yeah, it's a little early to be talking Christmas, and don't worry, we won't be anytime soon, but we have a stocking tradition that emphasizes quality over quantity, and hate buying random junk just to give it bulk, so we tend to plan ahead. We actually keep a drawer of possible gifts year-round, primarily for relatives who are hard to shop for on command but also for last-minute "whoops!" gifts for extended family and friends' kids (forgot a birthday, didn't have time to buy a gift, etc.).

You can find Haba's miniature games on Amazon.com.