Go Go Gelato

Place the gelato on the cones to match the pattern cards.

You're working at a gelato shop and the customers are streaming in fast. You need to make cones as fast as you can from the order (pattern) cards to keep up with the demand. That's the gist of Go Go Gelato from Blue Orange. 

Go Go Gelato consists of lightweight, hard plastic cones and slightly squeezable, colored plastic balls. There are four cones each of four different colors (see image above). There are four balls each (scoops of gelato) to match three of the colors (there are no matching blue balls). 

As you make the cones you are not allowed to touch any scoops of gelato with your hands, you can only touch the cones. Therefore you must use two cones to pick up each scoop of gelato, or hold a cone with a scoop in one hand and tip the gelato from it into a cone held in the other hand. This is a feature to slow you down a little, or make it a little more awkward since the game is based on speed. If you didn't have a little handicap of some kind there wouldn't be much of a challenge to the game.

I am more interested in the pattern cards than playing the actual game for speed. Each card has anywhere between two and four cones. Some of the cones are empty, some have one scoop of gelato, some have two cones stacked and one scoop, and some have a cone with one scoop and another cone perched on top of it at an angle. I would not say they necessarily advance in difficulty in any appreciable sense except for the stacking, they just have any combination of those four features.

Object:
Be the first person to collect 5 challenge cards.

Set up:
Give each player one each of the four colored cones and one each of the three colored balls. Each player places the cones with the same colored scoop on top in front of him. Mix the challenge cards and put them in a face-down stack that all players can see.

Play:
Someone turns the top card from the deck face-up and all players work quickly to build the cones as they are pictured on the card. Remember the rule: you cannot touch the balls with your hands, only the cones. Once that round is over, leave your cones built just the way they are. After each round you will have to change what you built from the last round into the new pattern, picking up gelato from one and transferring it to another with the cones. The person who builds the correct pattern first wins the round. Play until someone wins 5 rounds.

Try this:

• Practice picking up the balls with two cones and transferring a ball from cone to cone before ever playing a game to get the feel.
• Skip the game. Present a challenge card and ask the individual to build the pattern. Use hands on the scoops of gelato or don't.
• Skip the cards and make cones with matching color scoops.
• Skip the cards. Place the cones one at a time in front of the individual and call a color of gelato for them to put on top.
• Ask the individual to stack the cones. Have them hold the bottom one with the non-dominant hand and then stack them as you call the color order.
• Sort and stack the cones by color.
• Place a challenge card net to the player. Cover everything to the right of the cone being built if they cannot separate it out to build. Then pull the paper over one cone at a time as you build until it is done.
• Place a challenge card in front of the individual. Build the pattern and make an error. Ask the player to find the error and fix it.
• Build from a pattern card. Then place several cards in front of the individual and ask them to choose the card that matches the  pattern you have built.
• Turn the cones upside down and stack them. You can do this without holding with a stabilizing hand if you're careful.
• Stack the cones in a pattern such as pink blue pink blue, etc. Or green yellow pink, green yellow pink.
• Work on visual discrimination, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, graded release, problem solving, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

In the box: 16 cones, 12 gelato scoops, 54 challenge cards
 
If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.