My 6 year old loves playing card games and prefers cards over toys or any other stationary activity at the moment.  Thanks to Debbie from The Village Toy Shop, we’ve recently discovered THE BEST card game ever and my entire family is more than slightly addicted.  If you have a child with an interest in numbers, memory, and logic…this game is a perfect choice.  The brand is Gamewright and they have great card, board, dice and party games. Rat A Tat Cat won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award and I can see why.  The age on the front of the box says it’s from ages 6 and up.  My 4 year old can play, so has a good range for different ages, although 5 - 7 years old is probably the perfect age to introduce the game.  Okay..here’s how you play.

There are 54 rat and cat cards, mixed with a few ‘peek’, ’swap’ and ‘take two’ cards which add a fun twist.  The goal of the game is to have your cards add up to the lowest number. You are dealt 4 cards and only initially can you peek at the two end cards, then you draw from the discard or draw pile and have to use your memory to replace cards with lower numbers.  The high cards are the rats and the low cards are the cats.  Obviously 0 and 1 cards are the best to get and when you’re confident you have the lowest number of cards, you tap the table and crow “Rat A Tat Cat”!  The other player goes one last time then you flip your cards over and determine who has the lowest number after you add up the 4 cards.  Francesco is so good at this game now - he’s tough to beat!  I’m a big fan of the card game Uno, but Rat A Tat Cat is hands down the best card game I’ve played with my boys.  Locally they can be found at The Village Toy Shop or online via Amazon.