How
The Grinch Stole Christmas! Dr. Seuss
The Grinch hates Christmas, and he’s stolen all of the Whos’s presents to try and stop Christmas from coming. Can you help the Whos save Christmas?
To recover the most presents from the Grinch.
20 Presents
Game Board
Spinner with Spinner Arrow
4 playing pieces and matching stands
The youngest Player goes first. Players take turns spinning the spinner and moving the number of spaces shown. Players move in a clockwise direction along the track on the game board. Players may not reverse direction and move back along the path.
When a player reaches a junction on the board, he chooses which path to take.
When a player’s turn is over, the player on her left goes next.
There are three types of spaces on the board: Letter Spaces, Grinch Spaces, and Cindy-Lou Who Spaces.
When a player ends her move on a Letter Space, she picks up a present from the center of the board and looks at the toy on the bottom. If the letter on the space that he occupies appears in the toy’s name, she keeps that present. If the letter does not appear, she announces the name of the toy, shows it to the other players and, and returns it to the board (with the bow facing up).
When a player ends her move on a Grinch Space, she must return a toy to the board. The player announces the name of the toy, shows it to the other players, and returns it to the board (with the bow facing up).
When a player ends her move on a Cindy-Lou Who Space, she may take any present from the board and keep it.
When the first player reaches Finish, the game is over. Players count the number of presents they’ve collected; the player with the most presents wins.
If the players, as a group, have collected 10 or more
presents when the first player reaches Finish, they’ve stopped the Grinch and
helped the Whos have an even merrier Christmas (remember, Christmas doesn’t
come from a store—in the true spirit of Christmas, the Whos will have a day of
song and rejoicing, with or without presents!)
All players should stand up, hold hands and sing a rousing chorus of
“Welcome Christmas, Ba-hoo Bo-ray.”
While inventing and developing this game, we came up with two different ways to play the game. As a special present, we’ve included the rules for the second version below. To play this version, replace Object and Winning the Game with the following:
Object:
To recover three presents from the Grinch and return them to the Whos.
The first player to give all of his presents to the Whos wins the game. Do not enter the Finish Space; continue moving around the board until a player has given all of his presents to the Whos
Use the following rules in addition to the rules printed in the rules folder:
When players collect a present, they place it on the table in front of them with the bow facing up.
Once a player has recovered three presents from the Grinch, he can return presents to the Whos. On the turn that he collects his third present, a player turns his presents so that the toys are facing up (this will help the players remember whether they are collecting presents from the Grinch or returning them to the Whos.) Once a player turns his toys face up, he may no longer collect presents from the Grinch when he lands on a Letter Space.
When a player with face-up toys ends his turn on a Letter Space, he returns a present to the Whos if the letter on the space that he occupies appears in the name of one of his face-up toys. If that letter appears, he places that toy back in the box (not on the game board.) A player may not give more than one present to the Whos on a single turn. If that player lands on a Grinch Space, he must take another present from the board. If that player lands on a Cindy-Lou Space, he must return a present to the Whos.
Do not use the STOPPING THE GRINCH rules, but feel free to sing “Welcome Christmas, Ba-hoo Ba-ray” at the end of the game!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Game is designed for parents and children to play together. The game is simple to master for young children, but challenging enough to hold parents’ interest. The game reinforces early reading skills, as players recognize letters, then look for letters form words. The use of memory enhances these skills: before players can locate a word, they must determine if the letter they need is part of that word. The game also features counting, decision-making, and simple strategy. Finally, the game involves a unique mix of competition and cooperation—although there is one winner, everyone wins if they, as a group, collect enough presents to stop the Grinch.
Players take turns spinning the spinner and moving around the board in a clockwise direction. When a player lands on a Letter Space, she picks up a present from the center of the board and looks at the name of the toy on the bottom; if the letter on the Letter Space matches one of the letters in the toy’s name, she keeps that present. When a player lands on a Grinch Space, she returns a present to the board. When a player lands on a Cindy-Lou Who Space, she takes any present from the board. The game ends when a player reaches Finish. Players count their presents—the player with the most presents wins. If all players, together, have collected 10 or more presents, they’ve stopped the Grinch (and everyone wins!)