Gems in a Treasure Chest

Gems in a Treasure Chest - Who doesn't want to look inside a treasure chest?

I have used this counting game more times than I can count (sorry). It seems like everyone is intrigued by a treasure chest. When kids look into my cart and see the little brown treasure chest box they always grab it and look inside.

I basically use Gems in a Treasure Chest to work on hand skills, including in-hand manipulation and palmar arch development. The die is a lightweight foam-type material and has the numbers 1, 2, and 3 printed on it. The gems are smooth, transparent, brightly-colored plastic. It also comes with instructions that include "extension ideas", but I no longer have that instruction sheet. Each chest measures 2 3/8" x 3" and has held up well. There is no latch on the lid, so it does not stay shut on its own. I put a rubber band around it. I also own quite a few of the small gems, which are about the size of a piece of rice, but they don't come with this game. I happened to run across them on a clearance table for $1.00 at my local Lakeshore Learning store. I scatter them on the table to work on a pincer grasp as well as focus.

Like so many things, Lakeshore Learning doesn't sell this any more. You could always watch ebay or other online stores that sell used products when you see something that you would like that isn't sold any more.

 

Try this:

• Sort out four different colored gems, such as all red, blue, green, and clear. Open and line up the four chests. Place 1, 2 or 3 gems into the player's palm. Ask him to bring them to the fingertips, one at a time, and sort them into the chests by color. Go through all the gems until they are all sorted.
• Sort out four different colored gems. Scatter them on he table top and ask the player to grab several at once and then sort them one at a time into the treasure chests by color. Use the whole hand to scoop them up.
• Scatter the gems on the table. Pick up all of one color, one at a time, squirreling them into the palm. How many can you hold?
• Throw the die. Pick up that number of gems, squirreling them into the palm as you go. Drop them into the chest. First to collect 10 gems in their chest wins.
• Pick up a fistful of gems with the dominant hand. Cup the non-dominant hand and drop the gems in one at a time as you count. How many did you pick up? Try again, switching hands, to beat that number.
• Cup the non-dominant hand and hold a handful of gems. Pick them up with the dominant hand, one at a time, and count out 10 into each treasure chest. When one handful is gone, pick up another until all gems are sorted into the smaller chests.
• Line up three empty boxes. Put a different color gem in each box and choose one color to watch. Tell the individual to keep his eyes on the box with the gem you have specified. Close the lids and move the three boxes around, changing positions. Ask him to point to the box with the color gem you specified and open the lid to see if he is correct. (The old shell game.)
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, palmar arch development, process skills, counting, color recognition, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 4 wooden treasure chests, 40 plastic gems, 1 die