Item: uKloo Early Reader Treasure Hunt Game
Rating: 5
Author: Jessica

Okay fellow mamma’s…I couldn’t wait to write this uKloo (pronounced you-clue) Treasure Hunt Games review to tell you all about these amazing products. This is a set of games that get kids EXCITED about reading. Yes, you heard me correctly! The uKloo Early Reader Treasure Hunt Games are a great way to introduce reading, disguised as a treasure hunt. Not only do they help kids get comfortable with reading, they get kids physically active as they read clues and search to find a hidden surprise. There is even a Picture Helper poster to look up words when kids get stuck. The children are so engaged that they begin reading without even realizing it.

I had heard wonderful things about these products from a few moms who reached out to us about how this product helped their children learn to read, and I thought this might just be too good to be true. It’s not! The creator, Doreen, is a mom herself. She created this product because her son was struggling to read and she wanted something fun for him to do while also making it easy and fun to read. She clearly succeeded because my little guy picked up on this really quickly and nearly begged me every day to play.

To give you some background, my son loves reading…well, he loves for me to read to him. That’s great when they are little, but as he grows up, I need to find a way to foster a love of reading in him. It’s been a struggle and quite frustrating. He loves books, and he loves making up stories in his head, but the minute we open a book and I ask him to read with me, he freezes. I feel terrible, and I just didn’t know what to do. Enter, uKloo. Ladies, I’m not even kidding, this product is absolutely amazing.

Not only does it build sight reading (visual word recognition), it provides basics of sentence structure, introduces research skills, boosts self confidence, promotes independence, builds problem solving skills, offers a physically active reading experience, and so much more.

So, how does the uKloo Early Reader game work? The premise of the game is this: Just select and hide the uKloo clue cards around your house and there is one card at the end that you can write whatever you want on for a final “prize” (we’ve done a trip to the zoo, a play date in the park, time on the iPad, a movie at our local movie theater, etc). Think of something that your child will be excited to do as a reward. The final card is laminated so you can erase it if you use the right marker and change it up each time you play. There are also plenty of pre-written cards that are clues on where to look – like, “under the couch,” etc.Just select and hide the uKloo clue cards around your house.

The cards are all written – no pictures, but you can use the picture dictionary poster that comes with the game to help when you need something visual to help.

And it’s so easy to set up! Not difficult at all – promise!

The uKloo Early Reader is for ages 4+ and includes: 3 color coded levels of achievement, A “Picture Helper” reference poster, Blank “Write Your Own Clue” cards and Blank “Surprise” cards.

This product has proven to be effective for early readers, reluctant readers, ADHD, ADD, and children on the Autism Spectrum, and it has won many awards!

In addition to the uKloo Treasure Hunt game, uKloo also has a Riddle Edition that my older kids loved (ages 7+). With over 70 riddles, a “Hints Helper” booklet, and a surprise at the end, uKloo Riddle Edition Treasure Hunt Game is an educational get-out-of-your-seat adventure. This game has three different achievement levels to help your child grow with the game. This edition focuses on boosting reading comprehension and building logic, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making skills while promoting independence.

We got my kids together, plus a few of their friends and played this game over the weekend. We had 5 kids playing, and it was a blast. None of them thought they were learning.

This game consists of pre-made treasure hunt “clue” cards just like the Early Reader edition mentioned previously. You set up a treasure hunt for the kids and then you provide a surprise at the end. Or alternately if they can read then they can set the game up for each other, which is what my kids did.

Here are a few examples of the clues:

It’s the place where you must toss, your dirty clothes before the wash.
Always white, sometimes brown, builds your bones when it goes down.
A tornado in a machine, cups go in dirty and come out clean.

The uKloo Riddle Edition even comes with a guide of tips and tricks for writing skills to help parents and kids create their own riddles (a pad of blank “Write your Own Riddle” cards is supplied).

In the end, these are high quality products and we absolutely loved having a chance to review them. I would HIGHLY recommend that you check them out if you have kids who struggle with reading, or need to brush up on some skills. I am buying a few of these as gifts for birthdays and such given the excitement from the kids who have already played the games.