Playroom Entertainment Pick A Paint game review

November 9, 12:19 PMChicago Children's Toys ExaminerRenée Carver

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  Children learn their colors and hone their logic and memory
skills playing the cute Playroom Entertainment Pick A Paint game.
(credit: Renée Carver)

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The Playroom Entertainment Pick A Paint game is a fun and educational card game for 2 to 4 players ages 5 and up (although younger children, like our four-year-old tester, can play the Cooperative version).

In the Cooperative version, players take turns working together to "paint" 20 Symbol cards with Color Cards so that no color repeats down a column or across a row. In the more difficult Competitive version, players discard their Color cards face-down and must use their memories to remember which colors the Symbol cards were "painted" or receive penalty points for putting down the wrong cards.

The review copy of the Pick A Paint card game that we were sent consisted of two kinds of cards (Color Cards and Symbol Cards) packaged in a sturdy box. The Symbol Cards are numbered 1 to 20 and each pictures a black-line version of a different simple object. The Color Cards show paintbrushes on backgrounds of different colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink), and each has a hole cut out of the top so that when a Color Card is laid over a Symbol Card, the number on the Symbol Card is still visible. 

Each of the 20 Symbol Cards displays a black-and-white
picture of a common object. (credit: Renée Carver)

How to play Cooperative Pick A Paint

The Cooperative version of Pick A Paint works well with younger players or those first learning the game. First, the Symbol Cards are laid face up in a grid of cards running five across and four down. Each player holds 3 Color Cards, with the rest placed in a Draw pile.

Players then take turns "painting" the cards 1 through 20, being careful not to place cards of the same color in the same row or column. Players can spend a turn discarding a Color Card and drawing a new one if they are unable to play without putting down a mistake color.

This version of the game encourages the development of object and color recognition, as well as counting skills. Parents should encourage children to describe what they are doing during each turn to help the growth of vocabulary skills (for example, "I paint the bucket blue"), as well as having kids identify which number will need to be painted next. Naturally, children also use logic skills in determining which Color Cards can and cannot be played on each Symbol Card.

Players place a Color Card over each Symbol Card to
"paint" it. A hole at the top of each Color Card allows the
number on the Symbol Card to show.
(credit: Renée Carver)

How to play Competitive Pick A Paint

In the Competitive version, which develops memory and logic skills, players show and name the Color card they are using to paint each number but then place the Color cards face down. Players must then remember which colors were played where when deciding which Color Card to play next.

After all of the Symbol Cards are covered, players uncover them one by one, each player uncovering the cards that he or she played. If and when a mistake is revealed, that player receives a penalty point. The player with the fewest penalty points wins.

When painting the cards, players must be sure not to use
the same color in the same row or column.
(credit: Renée Carver)

Playroom Entertainment Pick A Paint game review

Each game poses a different logic challenge, so Pick A Paint offers good repeatable play value. Families with younger children will enjoy the Cooperative version and how even the Competitive game offers a beginner's variant where players deal only 12 Symbol Cards into the grid. To make the game even easier for the youngest children, parents can allow them to hold Color Cards of all of the colors instead of only three.

Overall, this is a cute and visually appealing game that combines fun play with a truly educational experience in colors, numbers, objects, and logic. Chicago families might look for it at Cat & Mouse Game Store (which stocks a nice selection of Bright Idea early learning games from Playroom Entertainment) or online at amazon.

Families with young children who enjoy this game may also enjoy playing the Playroom Entertainment Sherlock Deluxe card game or the Super WHY ABC Letter Game.

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