Product Description

Cranium Hullabaloo is the surprise-filled, high-energy game that turns bouncing off the walls into bouncing across the room! Players move from one colorful shape to another and use their bodies to perform the many Hullabaloo moves -- touch your nose to a circle, spin to a red, put your elbow on a musical instrument. When Hullabaloo says, "Freeze!" the player on the lucky pad wins! Every few minutes there's a new winner who gets to take a bow, make a victory jump, or do a funky monkey dance. Faster than a scavenger hunt, more creative than Simon Says, and able to make imaginative leaps past musical chairs, Hullabaloo provides hours of fun for any occasion -- birthday parties, play dates, even a rainy day. Ready to play? High-energy game loved by kids of all ages Jump, dance, wiggle, and giggle! Encourages listening and problem solving Thousands of variations for endless fun Easy to play -- just turn it on and go. Includes: A Hullabaloo talking audio console and 16 colorful play pads.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #321 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Cranium
• Model: 16518
• Dimensions: 10.50" h x 10.50" w x 4.00" l, 1.90 pounds

Features

• High-energy game loved by kids of all ages
• Simple, out-of-the-box fun - just turns it on and goes
• Encourages listening, problem solving and friendly competition
• Kids play alone or with friends -giggling guaranteed
• Thousands of game variations, so kids never tire of the fun

Amazon.com Review
Hullabaloo will get the whole family moving. As kids ages four and up bounce, spin, and jump between the colorful pads, they'll learn new shapes, colors, and words. They'll also hone their listening skills --especially when they "freeze" and wait to see if they're a winner at the end. Though it's geared towards kids ages four and up, even two-year olds will want to play along. Though younger kids might not "get" everything, they'll still have a great time -- especially dancing to the "funky" music at the beginning and end of each quick-moving round. Though kids can play Hullaballoo among themselves, parents will enjoy the silliness and the exercise!

Kids will have a great time playing and learning about shapes and sounds. View larger.

With large, bright buttons, even little ones will find the controls easily to navigate. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Catchy music, clever concept, easy to learn and play. The Bad: Console might not be loud enough if your surroundings are noisy. In a Nutshell: Hours of goofy yet educational fun. At a Glance Ages: 4 and up Requires: Three AA batteries, Phillips screwdriver

Easy to Learn; Fun to Play
The Hullaballo console is made of sturdy plastic with brightly-colored buttons that are easy for little fingers to find. Batteries aren't included and parents will need to put those in with the help of a screwdriver before play can start. The easy-to-read, illustrated instructions tell you how to play the game, which is a snap to learn. The console also clearly announces the rules of the game each time you turn it on. (It also plays a bouncy song at the beginning of each round that will stick in your head long after the game is over.)

Do a Funky Dance!
The talking musical console adds an element of excitement and unpredicability to the game. You never know what it will tell you to do next! The catchy music and the instructions to "do a funky dance!" at the end of the rounds especially appeal to kids. (Later, when you're not even playing the game, you can say, "Do a funky dance!" and they'll start dancing excitedly all over again.) The pleasing pallette of colors in Hullabaloo are appealing to the eye, from the purple, green, and red console to the multicolored play pads with their slightly retro images. These brightly-colored, sizeable play pads are hard to lose.Yet they are also easy to put away when the game is over.

Get Your Goof On
We especially enjoyed doing the funky dance at the end. We would even do a funky dance at the beginning of each round too-- the music is so catchy you just can't help it! At times, we wished the maximum volume of the console was higher. We also would have appreciated being able to put the batteries in without using a screwdriver. But overall, we found this game to be fun and energizing, with just the right amount of goofiness thrown in. It proceeds at a good pace -- slow enough so that kids have time to process the console's spoken directions, but fast enough to keep things exciting. The rounds are short so you don't get bored. And there are thousands of combinations of moves so you'll probably never play the same round again, not matter how many times you play!

What's in the Box
Talking musical console that directs play, 16 play pads, instructions.

Amazon.com Review
This game is sort of like Twister meets Simon Says. Lay the Hullabaloo pads around on the floor about two 'kid's feet' away from each other. The pads are different shapes and colors and have pictures and words on them. Turn on the game console and the cheerful music begins, a happy voice welcomes you to the game and then gives the simple directions you'll need to play. "Jump on a square shape," "Slide over to a red shape," "Hop to a shape with an animal on it" and so on. Then it might tell you to freeze, or to put a body part on one pad, and then a different body part on another. Then, it'll tell you that if you are on a particular pad at the end of that round, you are the winner. We found it to be fun, and easy to understand--though we did wonder how long it might hold a child's interest. --Megan Sullivan

From the Manufacturer
CRANIUM Hullabaloo is the surprise-filled, high-energy game that turns bouncing off the walls into bouncing across the room! Players move from one colorful shape to another and use their bodies to perform the many Hullabaloo moves -- touch your nose to a circle, spin to a red, put your elbow on a musical instrument. When Hullabaloo says, "Freeze!" the player on the lucky pad wins! Every few minutes there's a new winner who gets to take a bow, make a victory jump or do a funky monkey dance. Faster than a scavenger hunt, more creative than Simon Says and able to make imaginative leaps past musical chairs, Hullabaloo provides hours of fun for any occasion -- birthday parties, play dates, even a rainy day. Ready to play? Comes with an audio console that calls out fun instructions for kids to follow! Colorful play pads and thousands of gameplay variations keep kids entertained for hours. Includes a Hullabaloo talking audio console, 16 colorful play pads and instructions.

Customer Reviews

Excellent activity game!
I got this game based on reviews after coming across it on a store shelf. My boys (3&4) LOVE it! It is best described as a combo of simon says and twister. The announcer and music is very upbeat and my kids get really excited and "into" the whole play process. Each round of the game is only about a minute long which gives many chances to be a winner. The game requires listening skills, follow the direction, and knowledge of shapes, colors, and identification and classification of foods, instruments, and animals. There is a good and interesting variety in the directions (walk, spin, crawl, swim, stomp, hop, fly ect. to a "food", an "instrument", color, shape, or animal; as well as additional instructions to "sit on", touch your knee, elbow, nose, hand, shake hands with other players, or high five other players. Sometimes the instructions go on for several turns, sometimes just once, and sometimes the game director will instruct players to do step 1, "AND", step 2, "AND", step 3, ect. Thus, you get the twister like game play. At the end of each round players are instructed to "freeze" on the mat they are currently standing on and the announcer then designates one particular mat as the winner! That person(s-throughout all play there may be more than one player on each mat) is then told to take a bow, do a victory jump, or do a funny dance. My kids absolutely delight in listening, following the directions, then eagerly "freeze" and hope that the mat they've finished on is the winning one. They get so excited about the whole game that they have yet to get bummed if they don't win that round because the game announcer just dives right into another round of play. This game is perfect for parties, playdates, or when your kids need to let off alot or a little crazy energy!

A game varying ages can play together!
My kids have so much fun with this one. A great choice when you have kids of different ages. If they know their colors and shapes they are old enough to play, but still a lot of fun for older kids because they will have a better grasp of what they are doing. I would guess even a 2 yo would wander among the pads and get caught up in the fun, even if not understanding the point of the game. My 3 and 6 year old enjoy playing this together when usually the older runs out of patience with the younger on other games. After several rounds of hop to ..., stomp to ..., touch your knee to ... , ...one of the categories of pads (blue, musical instrument, triangle, etc), the electronic caller names a winning pad. The winner gets to do something fun like a funky dance or take a bow, then it quickly starts again. The winner gets some attention, but no one seems to mind that they didn't win as it is fun to watch the winner and then they are quickly started back to a new game without dwelling on who won. Its a rare game that can allow a winner without having young losers get upset. We have not played with the volume, so the only downside I could think of is that in a large group there could be too much noise for everyone to hear the caller and he does not repeat. The pads are made of a rubber or vinyl and seem to be pretty durable, don't slide on the carpet, and they all store back in the box. If your kids spend too much time sitting around, this is an excellent one for getting them up and moving without things getting too rowdy, although you do need space on the floor to place pads - I would think the area in front of a sofa/loveseat combo is minimal, but I'm sure they could circle round a coffee table. If they are too close together they will feel like the caller is a little slow though.

My favorite game for pre-schoolers and Kind.
I bought this game for my son's 5th birthday and he and his 7 year-old brother play endlessly. It includes some education for young players (ID shapes, colors and themes). The game gives verbal instructions which makes it a blast for early or pre-readers. There are no tiny game pieces for younger siblings to eat or lose. Also, it lets the kids move around and be silly without driving me crazy. It is one of the few games that I own that will keep my boys (and half the neighborhood) entertained with almost no involvement on my part. If the kids get too loud or crazy, they can't hear the next instruction - which generally keeps them focused. My only suggestion would be a volume control for the player to allow for a quiet 2-person game or a loud group, but overall this game is as good as it gets in my book.