Insanely unlikely Xmas recommendation

December 7, 2007 3:01 PM

My going to be 4 years old daughter is asking for "the spider game" for Christmas. All we've been able to get out of her in the way of a description is that it involves a spider web possibly above a track of some sorts. Anyone have even a glimmer of a clue what it might be she is after?

I know, not much to go on. We're in Canada and pretty much the only TV she watches is Treehouse which is pretty commercial free. Though she occasionally sees other channels at her grandparents. We've just moved so she hasn't been playing with other kids in the last couple of months so I don't think she saw something at her friends.

We don't have any game systems so I don't think it is a game for them. Also it doesn't seem to be related to SpiderMan.

posted by Mitheral to shopping (19 answers total)

Hmmm....it could be Insey Winsey Spider or Itsy Bitsy Spider. Are yo going to show her the things we link to to see what she says?
posted by iconomy at 3:07 PM on December 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hey Treehouse sells episodes of something called Miss Spider - could it be a game that Miss Spider plays on one of the shows? Or....here's a bunch of Miss Spider activities and things on Amazon. She probably knows Miss Spider from the show.
posted by iconomy at 3:13 PM on December 7, 2007

Tumbling Spiders?
posted by tastybrains at 3:13 PM on December 7, 2007

Shot in the dark from a parent with a child at a similar age: Mousetrap? It has the track and the cage that falls may look like a spiderweb.
posted by tkolar at 3:37 PM on December 7, 2007

List of board and card games containing "spider" in the title; might be worth checking through. There are reviews at this site too, that may help you decide which would be good to get.

There's one called Old Spider and the Fly from Family Pastimes, a Canadian company that is well-known for making cooperative games.

Miss Spider's Board Game and Miss Spider's Card Game; there also seems to be a Miss Spider themed My First Uno set.

Another possibility: did she ever go to someone's birthday party where the parents had set up a big backyard or multi-room spiderweb, with string, that the kids had to unravel as a way of going progressively through the stages of a treasure hunt? I remember being amazed by those as a kid.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:40 PM on December 7, 2007

Here's one called Spider's Web - it has a track that looks like a spider web.
posted by iconomy at 3:41 PM on December 7, 2007

Caught in the Web?
posted by ormondsacker at 3:45 PM on December 7, 2007

iconomy writes "Are yo going to show her the things we link to to see what she says?"

I'm hoping seeing the thing will give me an Ah! moment. She's quite a logical little girl but she doesn't see things the same way we do it seems.
posted by Mitheral at 3:48 PM on December 7, 2007

I should have said: some of those links have pictures toward the bottom of the page.

You said it has a track... could it be:
The Spider's Web

Spider Attack is described as a roll-and-move game, so might have a track - they don't have a picture of the board.

Is she good at distinguishing spiders from other creepy crawlies?
Here's a list of games involving bugs of various kinds; could be something on there.
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:54 PM on December 7, 2007

Please come back and tell us if you figure it out...somehow this question and the issue of the spider game has hit totally off the adorableness charts for me. I really want to know what game she wants. Good luck!
posted by bunnycup at 3:56 PM on December 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

I thought of Mouse Trap too. The cage does look a bit like a spider web.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:13 PM on December 7, 2007

Is she in day care/preschool? My daughter was always asking for things that she enjoyed at school at that age. Perhaps ask her teachers what she might be referring to.

Also, when it comes to getting a description of it from her, try asking her how you play it or who you play it with. That could clue you in to whether it is a board game/card game/toy.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:24 PM on December 7, 2007

Why don't you just ask her where she played it and then go from there?

This is a cute thread! That age is just adorable and I love the things they say.

I know this has nothing to do with your question, but it reminds me of my daughter's "no monkey" game, when she was about two or three (she's now 18). I was so in the dark and had never heard the song, but I caught her jumping on the bed singing "no monkey, no monkey" and I was horrified. I told her not to be jumping on the bed. Later on, I heard the Elephant Show (a cute pre-schooler show) and they were singing the counting game. Obviously she missed the point of the song. ;)

Good luck and I hope you manage to find her spider game. :)
posted by magnoliasouth at 9:07 PM on December 7, 2007 [2 favorites]

I was going to recommend asking her caregivers, if she has them. And if not, ask her where she saw/played the game.
posted by Miko at 9:20 PM on December 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

So this is not a board game, but one "spider game" is something my parents always did for my birthday parties as a child ... they took long stretches of yarn and strung them all around the house, one color for each child, and then the game was untangling the yarn. Each child got a cardboard holder to wind back the yarn while he or she searched for the end, and there was a prize at the end. They called this a Spider Hunt. I know this isn't the answer to your question, but I loved that game at a similar age (and for several years afterwards.) Highly recommended.
posted by Happydaz at 10:52 PM on December 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Could it be something she saw in a store? Maybe you rolled by the toys section of the grocery store, and she spotted something she liked?
posted by smoakes at 12:21 AM on December 8, 2007

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've ordered the Insey Winsey Spider suggested by iconomy as it has the single track under the web my daughter described. (ya, I realise I didn't actually describe it that way, neither did she in so many words. I forgot the "single" part of the description). I'll post an update here sometime after Christmas.
posted by Mitheral at 11:01 AM on December 8, 2007

Did you consider the idea that the game only exists in her imagination?
posted by Julnyes at 3:54 PM on December 8, 2007

iconomy writes "Insey Winsey Spider"

We have a winner (or at least a reasonable facsimile), and in six minutes too.

She's played it for hours now and there wasn't even a hint that it isn't what she wanted. Thanks iconomy and AskMe.
posted by Mitheral at 11:53 PM on December 26, 2007