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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!

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Jul 11, 2018

Monopoly Junior Party

Monopoly Junior Party - A fun game to play at a birthday party.



Monopoly Junior Party is a kid's party-themed, simplified version of the original Monopoly game. Add your own small surprises to the gift box to really up the excitement.
 
Board in play.


The board is square and much smaller than the original game, with only 16 properties (called parties in this game) instead of 24. Each property is bought once and no further building is done on it, and ownership is recognized by the color of present sitting on the property.

Money only comes in denominations of 1 and all money transactions are between 1 and 5 dollars. These differences will allow kids as young as 5 to enjoy the game and may aid in learning colors (green, blue, red, yellow) and counting (1-5). Five squares share the same images as the original game: Go, Chance, Just visiting, Free parking, and Go to jail.
 
If you like this game, check out a dozen Little Kid Monopoly games I have posted about.

Object:
Be the player with the most money and/or properties when the first player runs out of money.

Set up:
Involve the player in this part as a lot of skills will be used. Separate the plastic presents (property markers) and cupcakes (pawns) into piles by color. Each player chooses one pile and places his cupcake on the Go square. Separate the chance cards from the property cards. Place the chance cards in a face-down pile on the question mark space on the board. Count out and give each player money (18 bills for 2 players, 14 bills for 3-4 players). Assemble the 3-D Party Box and place it on the board. 


Play:
In turn, each player with throw the die and move his pawn (cupcake) that many squares forward. Check out which space you landed on and then follow these instructions:
  • A party (property) with no present on it - Take the property card and pay the bank the amount of money written on the card. Place one of your presents on the space so that all players know you own it.
  • A party (property) with a present on it - If it is your property, do nothing. If it is someone else's property, pay them the amount of money that is shown on the property as a gift.
  • Go - Any time you land on or pass Go, collect $2 from the bank.
  • Chance - Read the card and follow the directions. If you are asked to pay money, place it in the party box. Examples of Chance instructions are:
    • The party police think your party's too fun! Pay $3 into the Party box.
    • Go to any green party space. If no one owns it, get it for free! Otherwise, the owner keeps it. Pay them the price on the space.
    • You buy silly hats for your party. Pay $1 into the Party box.
  • Party box - Congratulations! You get to open the Party box and keep any money that is inside. Return the box to the board when you are done.
  • Just visiting - Do nothing, you're just visiting anyone who is in jail.
  • Free parking - Do nothing.
  • Go to jail - Move your pawn to the jail space. Do not collect money if you pass Go on your way to jail. On you next turn, pay $1, throw the die, and move.
Play continues around the board until someone runs out of money. The player with the most money and property at that point is the winner.

For more information on Monopoly games and how to use them in therapy check out my post on Monopoly.

Try this:
  • Assign the person who is working on counting the job of banker.
  • Say the name of each color out loud as you sort the presents into different piles by color.
  • Stand up all of the presents and cupcake markers that will be used for the game by holding 2 or 3 in the palm and moving them, one at a time, to the fingertips to rotate and place on the table. 
  • Cup the hand, curl the fingers together, and hold for several seconds while shaking the die without dropping. If he has trouble cupping the hand, first shape the player's palm by putting a small ball or round object in the hand and forming the hand around it. Then remove the ball. 
  • Put the markers away after the game by asking the player to cup the hand, hold the fingers in that position, and then slowly drop the presents and cupcakes into the palm one at a time while counting. Drop the pieces into the box by handfuls.
  • Put the markers away after the game by picking them up one at a time and squirreling them into the palm. How many can the player hold without dropping? Get another handful, can he hold one more?
  • Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, $1- $5 money skills, figure ground, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, palmar arch development, executive functioning skills, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Game board, 32 present (gift) tokens, 16 chance cards, 16 party cards, 70 1 notes, 4 cupcake movers, 1 party box, 1 die

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

 

1 comment:

  1. Very good. It helped alot because we lost the instructions and we badly wanted to play here while a very bad tornado storm that happened here in Texas. Bye from me.

    ReplyDelete

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