Haba's twist on pick-up-sticks, Keep It Steady!, is a great game for preschoolers, and fun to play with them. Wooden sticks of three different diameters are bunched in one hand and the wooden ring is slipped over them, then fanned out to offer group support. Players roll a colored die to identify which color stick they need to extract without bringing the whole thing down, and in a dozen or so moves, the situation gets pretty hopeless. This game had us all laughing and eager to play it over and over again! There is less strategy (we think) in this game than in traditional pick-up sticks - less analysis and more going with your gut. Then again, maybe we're just novices. But this is one of those games that is equally fun regardless of your skill level - one essential kind of game to enjoy with young children.



Like many Haba games, this feels like something of quality that you can hand down to the next generation, which is saying a lot for a $15 game. Keep It Steady! is also compact and travels well - a cloth bag or cigar box (yes, we are cigar box fiends) can give it a personal touch that will make this game so cozy it will be coveted by all you play it with.