What's in the Cat's Hat?

Work on tactile discrimination, visualization, visual discrimination, grasp, finger isolation, manual dexterity, haptic memory, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, problem solving, process skills, play exploration and participation

In the box: 1 hat, 32 exploration cards

What's in the Cat's Hat? Can you use different senses, clues and questions to figure out what it is? To play, one person will hide something in the hat and the other player(s) will use the exploration cards to figure out what it is. The game will be different each time as different players choose to hide different things.

The hat is soft, but stands easily on its own. It measures approximately 10" high and 6" inches in diameter at the base. There is a piece of material secured with velcro over the top so that you cannot just look in and see what is inside. There are three little doors in the hat, you can see the covering for the square one in the image above. The square door allows you to take a peek inside (through a blue screen), the triangle door allows you to smell inside (again through a screen). I'm not sure how effective this one is unless the item is quite fragrant, as all I smell is the hat material. The final round door allows you to put your finger inside and feel, although there is a piece of silky material that will cover your finger as you poke it in. 

The exploration cards all have the same picture on the front, and are either blue or yellow on the back (see image above). The blue cards give you instructions for feeling, smelling, hearing, looking, etc. The yellow cards are questions you can ask the person who hid the object. They must answer the questions, which will give you clues as to what is hidden inside. Here are examples of each card:

• Blue cards
• Smell through the flap
• Jiggle the hat and listen
• Feel the hat with your elbows
• Yellow cards 
• What are its colors?
• Is it something we eat?
• What letter does it start with?
• Would it hurt if it fell on your head? 
• Make up your own question.

Object:
Be the first to guess what is in the hat, or guess what is in the hat with the fewest amount of clues.

Set up:
One player hides a secret object inside the hat and closes the top. Shuffle the cards and place them in a face-down pile on the table.

Play:
Turn one card face up on the table and follow the instructions or ask the question. Each player gets one guess of what is inside. If no one guesses, turn over another card. Keep turning over cards to gain information until someone guesses correctly.

You will be using your own items from around the house as no items are included with the hat.

Try this:

• Play with the items you will use ahead of time. Talk about the features, feel them, name them. Play again on another day with the same items and see if the individual can remember them from feel only.
• Skip the cards. Place an item(s) in the hat and let the individual put his hand inside, from the top, to feel it and guess.
• Skip the cards. Put an item inside and play 20 questions.
• Have a theme and play several games with items that fall into that category (square items, items you can eat, etc.), or items from a particular room in the house (cup, canned good, bread, etc.). 

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