Using Pickles to Penguins! to Build Language Skills

How Are a Beach Ball and a Dandelion Connected?

Check it out! We’ve got a hilarious card game you can play with your kids—and strengthen their language skills at the same time. Pickles to Penguins! is sure to become a new family favorite.

Pickles to Penguins! is known as “the quick-thinking, picture-linking party game.” But a party isn’t necessary to enjoy the fast-paced fun of this easy-to-learn card game. Whether at home or on the road, this is a great way to get in a little language skills practice while having a blast at the same time.

And even though it is recommended for ages 8 and up, Pickles to Penguins! can be simplified to suit younger players. It also includes instructions for five alternate methods of playing, so this game will never get boring!

How to Play

Let’s start linking pictures!

Each player is dealt 25 cards, and the leftover cards go in a draw pile. Grab five of your cards (your “player’s deck”) and lay them out in front of you. Leave the rest of your cards in a pile beside them.

Here are your cards:

Now, be sure to look at both sides of your cards! Each card has two pictures and you don’t want to miss a great word to play.

To start the game, the dealer turns over two cards from the draw pile and lays them side-by-side in the center of the table.

The dealer says “Go!” and it’s time to play! Players race to make connections with the cards in the piles.

Can you make any connections between your cards and one of the cards on the piles? You sure can! Your polar bear card could link to the snowman card. But to make your connection valid, you must yell out the connection between the two cards. As you lay down your polar bear card, you yell, “A snowman and a polar bear are both white!”

But remember…when you announce your connection, you must say the names of each item and you must use full sentences. Be sure to make a good connection, because if you don’t, you may get penalized!

Now quickly take another card from your draw pile and add it to your player’s deck. With everyone trying to make connections, this game goes fast, so take a look at your cards and try to make your next connection. Remember, your goal is to be the first player to use all of your cards, so keep going!

A bunch of connections have been made and the card piles are getting bigger. Another player just made a connection on the dandelion card. “A beach ball and a dandelion are both round.”

Lucky you! Your surfboard card links perfectly to the beach ball card. You make your connection and yell, “A surfboard and a beach ball are both used at the beach.”

Uh-oh. Now someone just put apple on top of tire and yelled, “A bike has tires, and I can eat an apple while riding my bike,” but that link seems like it might be a bit of a stretch! You and the other players must decide whether that connection is valid. If you decide it is, just keep playing. But if you don’t accept the connection, the player who made the invalid connection has to take five more cards from the draw pile. Ouch!

Now you only have two cards left, and one of them is a wild card. You can play that wild card on either of the two piles without a connection, and then you can play your remaining card on the wild card without making a connection. But do it quickly before someone else beats you to it!

Hooray! You just won the game!

4 Ways to Build Language Skills with Pickles to Penguins!

1. Build vocabulary. With 528 double-sided cards (that’s over 1,000 different items!), this game provides plenty of new vocabulary words for your kids to learn as they play. The pictures on every card also help by providing clear examples of each item.
2. Learn to compare and contrast. Pickles to Penguins! is an excellent introduction to the concept of comparing and contrasting items. Kids will have to come up with creative comparisons for numerous items, as well as explain contrasts when it’s time to dispute another player’s comparison.
3. Construct full sentences. The game instructions require all players to say the names of both items and the connection between them in a full sentence, such as “Frying pans and bathtubs can both hold water.” Kids learn the importance of quickly inventing clear and complete sentences—because if they don’t, they lose the game!
4. Learn compound words. LOTS of the word cards in this game are compound words. Take the opportunity to discuss the different types of compound words and how they are formed. Download our list of 501 Compound Words for Kids for even more practice!

Notes from Our Game Testers

1. There are a lot of rules to remember, so playing with younger players might require some rule adjustments.
2. If you are playing with a child who needs more processing time, give her the first chance to play a card. If she decides she doesn’t have a match, she can say “Pass!” to turn the play over to the other players.
3. Be sure to try some of the alternate games included in the instructions.
4. Pickles to Penguins! is also available in a Travel Edition. Try it on your next road trip!

Does your family have a favorite board game that is a fun and “sneaky” way to build language skills? Please share in the comments below!

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