CRANIUM Hullabaloo is the surprise-filled, high-energy game that turns bouncing off the walls into bouncing across the room! Players move from one colorful shape to another and use their bodies to perform the many Hullabaloo moves -- touch your nose to a circle, spin to a red, put your elbow on a musical instrument. When Hullabaloo says, "Freeze!" the player on the lucky pad wins! Every few minutes there's a new winner who gets to take a bow, make a victory jump or do a funky monkey dance. Faster than a scavenger hunt, more creative than Simon Says and able to make imaginative leaps past musical chairs, Hullabaloo provides hours of fun for any occasion -- birthday parties, play dates, even a rainy day. Ready to play? Comes with an audio console that calls out fun instructions for kids to follow! Colorful play pads and thousands of gameplay variations keep kids entertained for hours. Includes a Hullabaloo talking audio console, 16 colorful play pads and instructions.

Hullabaloo will get the whole family moving. As kids ages four and up bounce, spin, and jump between the colorful pads, they'll learn new shapes, colors, and words. They'll also hone their listening skills --especially when they "freeze" and wait to see if they're a winner at the end. Though it's geared towards kids ages four and up, even two-year olds will want to play along. Though younger kids might not "get" everything, they'll still have a great time -- especially dancing to the "funky" music at the beginning and end of each quick-moving round. Though kids can play Hullaballoo among themselves, parents will enjoy the silliness and the exercise!

Kids will have a great time playing and learning about shapes and sounds. View larger.

With large, bright buttons, even little ones will find the controls easily to navigate. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Catchy music, clever concept, easy to learn and play. The Bad: Console might not be loud enough if your surroundings are noisy. In a Nutshell: Hours of goofy yet educational fun. At a Glance Ages: 4 and up Requires: Three AA batteries, Phillips screwdriver

Easy to Learn; Fun to Play
The Hullaballo console is made of sturdy plastic with brightly-colored buttons that are easy for little fingers to find. Batteries aren't included and parents will need to put those in with the help of a screwdriver before play can start. The easy-to-read, illustrated instructions tell you how to play the game, which is a snap to learn. The console also clearly announces the rules of the game each time you turn it on. (It also plays a bouncy song at the beginning of each round that will stick in your head long after the game is over.)

Do a Funky Dance!
The talking musical console adds an element of excitement and unpredicability to the game. You never know what it will tell you to do next! The catchy music and the instructions to "do a funky dance!" at the end of the rounds especially appeal to kids. (Later, when you're not even playing the game, you can say, "Do a funky dance!" and they'll start dancing excitedly all over again.) The pleasing pallette of colors in Hullabaloo are appealing to the eye, from the purple, green, and red console to the multicolored play pads with their slightly retro images. These brightly-colored, sizeable play pads are hard to lose.Yet they are also easy to put away when the game is over.

Get Your Goof On
We especially enjoyed doing the funky dance at the end. We would even do a funky dance at the beginning of each round too-- the music is so catchy you just can't help it! At times, we wished the maximum volume of the console was higher. We also would have appreciated being able to put the batteries in without using a screwdriver. But overall, we found this game to be fun and energizing, with just the right amount of goofiness thrown in. It proceeds at a good pace -- slow enough so that kids have time to process the console's spoken directions, but fast enough to keep things exciting. The rounds are short so you don't get bored. And there are thousands of combinations of moves so you'll probably never play the same round again, not matter how many times you play!

What's in the Box
Talking musical console that directs play, 16 play pads, instructions.

This game is sort of like Twister meets Simon Says. Lay the Hullabaloo pads around on the floor about two 'kid's feet' away from each other. The pads are different shapes and colors and have pictures and words on them. Turn on the game console and the cheerful music begins, a happy voice welcomes you to the game and then gives the simple directions you'll need to play. "Jump on a square shape," "Slide over to a red shape," "Hop to a shape with an animal on it" and so on. Then it might tell you to freeze, or to put a body part on one pad, and then a different body part on another. Then, it'll tell you that if you are on a particular pad at the end of that round, you are the winner. We found it to be fun, and easy to understand--though we did wonder how long it might hold a child's interest. --Megan Sullivan