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Children learn through play. As an occupational therapist who works with children and youth, I use games and toys almost every day to help develop important cognitive, visual perceptual, motor, sensory, social, play and leisure skills. While many different types of activities can be used in therapy, this blog focuses on off-the-shelf games and toys that are accessible to most. Whether you are a therapist, parent, teacher, or a game lover like me, I hope you discover something useful while you are here. Learn a different way to play a game you already own or discover a new game for your next family game night. Either way, just go play. It's good for you!

The OT Magazine named The Playful Otter one of the Top 5 Pediatric OT Blogs.


Aug 10, 2017

Rooster Run

Rooster Run


I like BlueOrange games, even though a lot of them are based on speed, including Rooster Run. However, when I use them in therapy, we often ignore the speed factor. Some people are not wired for speed and actually do worse under those conditions, and sometimes I want to work on a specific skill and I know if I introduce speed it will result in impulsive moves and focusing on the wrong objectives. So you can decide that for yourself.

I have owned this game for a long time and put off blogging because the directions are kind of involved. So I am going to focus on how I use this in therapy so I can take it off the "draft" list. If you want more information you can email me or click on the link below to Amazon and see BlueOrange's video. I eliminate the sweetheart cards and the broken heart chips. This leaves me with the 32 cards, the 40 earthworm tokens and the rooster rings.


Contents of the box.


The 32 rooster cards each have an earthworm in the top left hand corner that will match one of the earthworms on the earthworm tokens. Earthworms are red, blue, yellow, or green. Some are plain, some are striped, some are spotted, some wear glasses, some are fat, some are skinny. Here is an example of a match.

 


Object:

Be the fastest player to find the earthworm token that is pictured on the face-up card (top left-hand corner).

Set up:

Everyone chooses a chicken ring and puts it on the pointer finger. Slip it on between the first and second knuckle. Ring colors are red, orange, yellow, purple, green, and blue. Lay all the circle tokens face up. Shuffle the cards and place them in a pile, face-down.

Rooster ring.


Play:

Turn over the top card and scan the round tokens to find the exact chicken from the card. If you are the first to find it, "peck" it with the chicken ring on your finger. If it is correct, take the card. If not, everyone keeps looking. If it is, take the card and turn over the next one. Go through the deck, card by card, until all the tokens are found. The person with the most cards is the winner.

Try this:

  • Start with only a few matches and add more as the individual is able to scan more at a time in a busy background.
  • Scan for only one attribute at a time instead of getting bogged down looking at each detail on each and every worm. For instance look at only a certain color worm. Each time you stop at that color, look at the fat/skinny attribute, then look for the decoration attribute, etc. Process of elimination.
  • Put the circle tokens away by picking up all of one color at a time. Pick up one, stack it on top of another. Then pick up both and put them on top of another. Then pick up all three, etc. How many can you hold?
  • Skip the game and sort the chips into piles by attribute.
  • Practice shuffling cards.
  • Turn some of the circle tokens so that they are not all upright and the individual will have to recognize the worm from a different angle.
  • Set the game up so that the matching circle tokens will requiring reaching across midline to retrieve. Watch for leaning.
  • Show the individual a picture of the worm. Recite aloud, several times, the attributes you will be looking for. Turn the card over and see if the individual can remember and find the correct worm.
  • Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, visual scanning, visual memory, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, finger isolation, executive functioning skills, social interaction skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box 6 rooster rings, 32 cards, 12 sweetheart cards, 40 earthworm tokens, 8 broken heart chips

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.

Aug 9, 2017

Money JINGO

Money Jingo - A bingo game that will make you think (about money)

I was introduced to Jingo several years ago when I bought Jingo ThanksgivingJingo is a line of bingo games which are more educational than your typical call-and-cover bingo games. For instance, the Thanksgiving game came with 36 question cards that covered Thanksgiving history and traditions. Instead of calling numbers, the caller reads a question and players cover the answer (if they have it) on their bingo card. 

Money JINGO covers coin and small bill identification, adding money, and three questions that require figuring change. The materials are all made out of heavy-weight paper and none of them are laminated. The JINGO playing card measures 8.5 x 11, it is a 5 x 5 grid, and there is a free space in the middle. The question/clue cards are printed 10 on a page, they are perforated and they will need to be torn or cut apart before playing. Each question/clue card is printed with one question/clue, and the answer (with matching picture) is also on the same side of the card so the players cannot see it unless you want to reveal it. The bingo card, as you can see above, has either coins, bills or a number in each space.

No bingo chips or tokens for covering the squares are included. Coins would be an appropriate token for this game, but you could also use paperclips, dried beans or any other small item you have a lot of. The object is to be the first to complete a predetermined pattern by covering squares on your card. 

Here is an example of the clues on the cards:
  • One quarter, one dime, and one nickel are worth this many cents (40).
  • Find the grouping of money that is worth 16 cents (image of nickel, dime, and penny).
  • Find the grouping of money that is worth $5.05 (image of five dollar bill and nickel).
  • You buy a candy bar that costs 80 cents. You pay the clerk with four quarters. What will your change be (image of two dimes)?
There are only three problems like the last one above. Most of them are pictures of money or word description of money (example two dimes and a nickel). Individuals will need to be able to do mental math or figure answer on paper before finding it on the card.

Object:
Be the first player to cover all spaces needed for a win.

Set up:
Choose a person to be the caller. Give each player a playing card and a handful of markers. Shuffle the calling cards and give them to the caller. Choose a pattern for the win (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, four corners, letter X etc.)


Play:
The caller will ask one question from a calling card at at time. Each person will scan his card for the answer, placing a marker on the square if he finds it. If the players need help, the caller can show (or describe) the picture on the card. Go until someone wins and yells JINGO.

Giving out small prizes is always a fun bonus. Maybe keep the coins that were used to play. 

A colorful playing card, clue cards with pictures, an instruction sheet with examples of bingo patterns

Jingo has a large line of bingo games with quite a few holiday games which are fun for get-togethers. I have also blogged about Back to School JINGO, Thanksgiving JINGO and Community JINGO.

To see a list of games with money that I have blogged about, click here.

Try this:
  • Hold several tokens in the hand, bringing them to the fingertips one at a time to cover the squares.
  • When cleaning up, pick up the tokens one at a time and squirrel them in the palm without dropping. How many can you hold?
  • Make a copy of the black and white card (comes with the game) which shows the different bingo patterns (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, four corners). Cut them out and display the one you are using during a game as a pattern for all to see.
  • Figure out the answer to the story problems as a group to make sure that they are covering the correct answer.
  • Use letters as your patterns. You can play for O (border), X, N, L, P, C, E, F, G, H, I, S, T, U, Y and Z.
  • Visualize the letter you are going for as a bingo and do not mark pictures that aren't part of the letter.
  • Pick the pieces off the card after each game, squirreling them in the palm. How many can you hold without dropping any?
  • Stop occasionally and check the player's card. Ask them to point out places where they only need one more to win a bingo. Or point out possible bingos and ask how many more will be needed to win or which squares will need markers to win in that direction etc.
  • Work on identifying and counting coins and small bills, visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, figure ground, visual scanning, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
In the box: 30 player game cards, 40 clue cards.
 
If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.