Little Acorn Games

18/05/2024

Have you ever wondered how you take an idea and turn that idea into a product? 🤔

I thought with Football Final having launched earlier this month, it was the perfect time to go behind the scenes of Little Acorn Games to share everything that's been happening since last summer, when the process of bringing out Football Final began!

I hope you find this new blog post an interesting read 😊 I would have loved to find a post like this when I was first starting out so feel free to share it with anyone who might find it helpful!

Did you know? I have been mulling over the idea of Football Final for a good couple of years! There was always something niggling me about one or other aspect of it, and the initial concept was actually nothing like the ...

06/05/2024

⚽️ 🥅 🏆 ***Football Final is now live on Amazon UK!***🏆🥅⚽️

It’s finally time for kick-off with our newest game and we couldn’t be more excited!

Available on Amazon Prime✅ for next day delivery - link to buy is:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXJH67Z5

25/04/2024

What’s in the box?

⚽️ 4 Game boards
⚽️ 28 Player cards
⚽️ 17 Action cards
⚽️ 4 Goal cards
⚽️ 4 Cup cards
⚽️ 1 Rules sheet

With just 53 cards and some extension rules, Football Final has 3 levels of play to ensure the whole family can play together time and time again as the children grow up! 🏆

More details on the different levels coming soon! 👀

13/03/2024

So this is how Little Acorn Games was born!! 😆 My plan written in January 2019!

Anyone that knows me knows I love a list but what makes me chuckle is the fact I created a Word document saved as ‘Plan’ just for these 5 points! I suppose having an official document made it feel more official and made it more difficult to talk myself out of it.

5 years later I continue to write all plans down, no matter how small or simple they may seem - it makes me feel accountable and has driven the business forward 💪

Do you write all your ideas and plans down?

11/03/2024

Big news!!! 📢

Production of Football Final is now complete and I’ll be taking delivery on Friday!!! So blooming excited, I can’t WAIT to open the box for the first time and play it with our kids! ⚽️🏆

Check back at the end of the week to see what happens on delivery day! 🚛

08/03/2024

International Women’s Day 2024 -

Meet the girls of Football Final! ⚽️

They make up half of the 28 players in the game and when I pointed this out to my children (age 10 and 8), their response was, “Well of course half are girls - why wouldn’t they be?” How fantastic is that?! As it’s not always been this way…

In 2000 when I was 14, my friends and I had to ask the teacher if we could start a girls’ football club. We tried, but it never took off. I loved playing football, I had a season ticket at with my family, watched every men’s World Cup and Euro but I never played in a team because there weren’t the opportunities!

Today, girls’ football is becoming the norm in schools, there are mixed and girls’ junior football teams everywhere and women’s football is on the telly 🙌

There is still a long way to go, but today on I want to celebrate and thank those that are working so hard to for our next generation of football-loving girls! The have been creating a wave of change since winning the Euros in 2022 and there have been so many more women before them too that have been fighting for equality in football for decades 💪 THANK YOU!

So this is why my next game Football Final means so much to me 💚

Not only because my son loves football, but because it represents everything that I would have loved growing up. It represents how far women’s football has come. It says to girls and boys from all backgrounds and walks of life that football is for EVERYONE 🌎

And when children constantly see these messages of inclusion and diversity through everyday things such as board games, books, toys and TV to name a few, it becomes the norm…and change happens. As a , I’m feeling very excited that Football Final can play a small part in this! ⚽️🏆

*Launching Spring 2024!

07/03/2024

Happy ! 📖

I’d like to use this day to thank children’s illustrator Ian Ian R Ward Illustration and graphic designer Paul Guppi Limited for creating such beautiful artwork and design for all of our games 🙌

Ian is so talented at taking my ideas and producing the most wonderful and engaging illustrations and characters that inspire children’s imaginations 💭 He has illustrated countless children’s stories, and as a result will have instilled a love for books in so many children - I know my kids’ love for books all began with beautiful picture books! 📚

Paul is the mastermind behind the games’ logos and overall design and does the most amazing job of just knowing what the packaging needs to look like! I am blown away every time with what he comes up with! ✨

I am so thrilled to have found Ian’s website back in 2019 and even more thrilled that he wanted to take my project on. He also introduced me to Paul who was keen to help me out - back then I was clueless about pretty much everything to do with producing a board game so to have an experienced illustrator and graphic designer on board was such a confidence boost. Thanks Ian and Paul!!! 🌟

World Book Day (UK & Ireland)

01/03/2024

I’ve decided to start a new thing… ! (Is this already a thing? I have no idea. Please help me tackle social media by voting in my story!!! 🤷‍♀️). Anyway, there are so many 5* reviews of our games on Amazon that I thought it was about time I shared what people think! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

28/02/2024

Hi! 👋 I thought I would introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my children’s board games business, Little Acorn Games!

My name’s Jen, I’m married to Rob (/Bob!) and we have 2 children aged 10 and 8 - here we are in our favourite place on earth, Disneyland Paris! ✨

As well as running Little Acorn Games, I’ve:
👩‍⚕️ been a doctor
👩‍🏫 been a student teacher
🧁 run a wedding cupcakes business with my mum
👩‍👧‍👦 been a stay-at-home mum for 8 years…
✏️ and am now a part-time Year 2 Teaching Assistant!
For someone who doesn’t like change, it seems I’ve done quite a lot of it 😆

It has always been in the back of my mind that one day I would run a company. I’ve watched Dragon’s Den my whole life and come up with daft ideas over the years (the one that has gone down in history with my family is the ‘memory bath’ - a bath made from memory foam…how comfy would that be?! 🛁).

So when the idea for my first game, Funny Fairies, came to me💡whilst playing board games with my daughter when she was 5, it was all I could think about. We love playing board games as a family and I truly believe there is no better time spent together than sitting round, cups of tea in hand, playing. It was THE scalable idea I had been waiting for!

We released Funny Fairies 🧚‍♀️ in 2020 after a crowdfunding campaign and our second game, PJ Pirates 🏴‍☠️, came out in 2021. Football Final ⚽️ is next, due for release in Spring 2024…and our 4th game is in the pipeline for the end of the year (you heard it here first!)!

I still pinch myself that I get to build this business up and experience everything that comes with that (stand out highlights: hearing from , and at the events). My 20-year-old-memory-bath-self would be beaming from ear to ear! 😁

I’d love to know who you are in the comments below 👇 Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent (some of my happiest days), have a bonkers business idea, love Disney too and everything in between, I’d love to hear from you! 🥰

08/01/2024

🥁 Drum roll please…it’s finally time to reveal our third game…

…Football Final!!! ⚽️🏆

“The fun, footballing memory game that will have the whole family cheering!”

There’s an action-packed Cup Final ahead in this fun memory game with a twist! Collect players, use the action cards wisely and avoid injuries and bookings to build your team, score the winning goal and lift the cup!

Inspired by our son’s love of football, we’re really excited to release this one - it’s shaping up to be my favourite of all 3! Aiming for a Spring 2024 launch just in time for the Euros! 🎉🥳🤩

29/11/2023

We’re giddy with excitement for the game name and box reveal ⚽️…incoming in the next few days!!! Keep your eyes peeled! 👀

26/11/2023

Christmas game donations done! 🎁✅
Here I am dropping off at Bolton’s for their Toy Appeal. These games will go towards supporting BAND Bolton, a community based mental health service which has seen the impact of the cost of living crisis. We’ve also sent to again this year, a charity that helps people at times of personal crisis.
As ever, thank you so much for continuing to buy our games to enable us to do this! It is a real privilege to be able to help families at this time of year 🎄✨

22/11/2023

Exciting times ahead as the big reveal of our football-themed third game will be coming soooooon!!! ⚽️🏆

15/11/2023

It’s all to play for… the graphic design process is now underway! 🥳⚽️

09/11/2023

Training is well underway…⚽️🥅
Thanks once again to Ian R Ward Illustration for the amazing illustrations!!

29/10/2023

It’s the start of a new season here at Little Acorn Games… ⚽️😁
More details of game number 3 coming soon!!! 👀

01/07/2023

🏃🏻‍♀️Run 30 Miles in June complete!✅
Job done - what a month! I feel really proud to have completed the 30 miles and absolutely OVER THE MOON to have raised £170!!! This will be doubled by Little Acorn Games to £340, all of which will go to Cancer Research UK. This is way more than I imagined I’d raise when I started this challenge!!! 🥳 🙌
As ever, thank you for your support of Little Acorn Games and our annual charity challenges! I appreciate it so much 🥰

27/06/2023

Donate here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jennys-giving-page-1004

Thanks to some very kind donations recently, the total is currently way past my target at £160!!! So happy about this - thank you to everyone that has sponsored me!!!

Can we make it to £200 in the next 3 days??! 🤞🤞🤞

25/06/2023

DONATE HERE: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jennys-giving-page-1004

Well, I completed the 30 mile challenge on Friday night with a week to go!! 🥳

I’ll still continue to run till June 30th though to see how far I can get. It’s been a weekend off for me this weekend however as feeling pretty tired! 😴🥱

Back to it tomorrow! 🏃🏻‍♀️ …any last minute donations would really spur me on!!! 😁

13/06/2023

Donate here:
https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/jennys-giving-page-1004

Almost at the target of £100 thanks to some very kind recent donations! ☺️☺️☺️ Now that I’m already at £80 I’d love to go way beyond £100 if possible….please share this post and spread the word, thank you!! 🥰

07/06/2023

Any donations would be very gratefully received! ☺️

As many of you already know, I decided to take on a charity challenge every year since our daughter’s best friend Zara was diagnosed with bone cancer at the start of 2021. She has come so far since then and is the inspiration for these physical challenges! This year it’s all about running rather...

05/05/2023

🏃‍♀️ Run 30 Miles in June! 🏃🏽
It’s that time of year again when I start planning the annual charity challenge and I think this year’s could end up as one of my favourites!
I have decided to take on Cancer Research’s ‘Run 30 Miles in June’! 🏃🏾‍♀️3️⃣0️⃣ I really enjoy running and it’s something a bit different than the long hikes we have done for the past 2 years, plus it’s raising money for an incredibly important charity, so I’m really excited to get started!
Little Acorn Games will double the amount raised by matching all donations…this is something we started last year and I’m so thankful that people continue to buy our games meaning we are able to do it again for 2023! I’m hoping together we can reach a total of at least £200 💪
You can find out more about why we take on these challenges in our blog over on our website (link in bio).
Right, I think it’s about time I set up a account…see you on June 1st! 👋

15/03/2023

How is it mid-March already?! We have been sitting on this news for a while now...it's about time we shared it! 🤩
Imagination Gaming

How is it mid-March already?! We have been sitting on some news for a few months now...but with busy lives and jobs outside of the business, time has just slipped away!! So here it is:

01/11/2022

So excited and honoured to be attending this year's Scale Up Awards in London!

It's going to be a night to remember...48 hours to go!! 🥂🤩

21/09/2022

So excited to share that we are a SMALL BUSINESS AWARD FINALIST at the SCALE-UP AWARDS 2022! 🤯
These prestigious awards, run by Business Leader and judged by an independent panel of business experts, celebrate the success and enterprise of high-growth companies across the UK in 15 different award categories.
The Small Business Award, created by Theo Paphitis in collaboration with Business Leader, is new for this year and recognises growing small businesses with potential. To be chosen as one of them is the greatest of honours and to be honest, we can’t quite believe it!!
The overall winners will be announced at the Scale-Up Awards gala dinner in London on November 3rd. We can’t wait!!!
Thank you to Theo Paphitis and Business Leader for this incredible opportunity! 🤩

www.businessleader.co.uk/live-events/scale-up-awards

21/06/2022

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our sponsored 28km (windy!) walk, from Kendal to Ambleside, which we completed last weekend for 🙌
We have raised £169 in total, and Little Acorn Games will match this to double it to £338! 🙌