Horse Fair Card Game

Do you like games with small manipulatives?

I picked this up thinking it was a card game, so was tickled to open the box and find 10 small horses. For someone who loves small manipulatives in games, it was truly a serendipity.

Be the first to collect four of these miniature cuties and win the game. Each card in the deck pictures one of seven horses and a number (1-7). There are multiple identical cards for each horse and each card for a single horse will all have the same number. For instance, looking at the cards below, you will see that the horse named Rascal has a number 3 printed in the corners. All Rascal cards look exactly the same - all have the number 3. For the purpose of explanation, I will call all cards for a single horse a "set". Each set of horse cards also has one "thumbs down" card and one "second look" card.

Object: Be the first person to collect 4 horses.

Set up: Mix the cards and deal six, face-down, to each player. Place the rest of the deck face-down in the middle of the players. Place the horses nearby.

Play: In turn, each player will take one card out of his hand and place it face-up on the table in front of him. He will end his turn by picking a new card off the pile and adding it to his hand. All cards played will be visible at all times to all players. The number for a horse equals the number of that card that must be face-up on the table to earn a horse. Be the person to lay the last card for the set on the table and earn a horse. For instance, player one has two face-up cards for Snowflake, player two has three face-up cards. That is a total of five face-up cards for Snowflake, who has a number 6 on her card. If you play a Snowflake card, making the 6th card face-up on the table, you have completed a set. Remove the six Snowflake cards off the table and take one horse. Rascal, number three, will take fewer cards to make a set and earn a horse. Sundown, number seven, will require the most cards to be face-up to earn a horse. On your turn you may also play one of these cards:

• Thumbs Down - When this card is played, all horses that match the picture on this card are immediately removed from the table.
• Second Look - When this card is played it counts as two cards toward the set.

First person to collect four horses is the winner.

Try this:

• Stand all the horses nearby in the invisible corral instead of just piling them before starting the game. Place one at a time in the player's palm and ask him to move it to the fingertips, orienting it in-hand for placement. Or, ask him to pick up one or two horses and palm them himself before moving them one at a time to the fingertips for placement.
• Put the horses away at the end by picking them up, one at a time, and squirreling them into the palm. Can all 10 be held without dropping?
• Practice shuffling and fanning the cards in-hand.
• Deal the cards by holding the deck in the non-dominant hand and pushing the cards off the top, one at a time, with the thumb.
• Sort the cards into piles of matching horses. Place one of each horse face-up in front of the individual and practice shifting by holding the deck in the non-dominant hand and pushing the cards off the top with thumb.
• Sort the cards into piles of matching horses. Choose two horses and take all of those matching cards out of the deck. Set the remaining cards off to the side. Shuffle the cards for the two horses and place the deck face-up on the table. Place one card of one horse to the left of the deck and one card of the other horse to the right. Pick the cards off the deck, one at a time, without toppling the deck or sliding unwanted cards off and sort them into the two piles.
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, visual closure, in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, coordinated use of both hands, palmar arch development, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  
  In the box: 65 cards, 10 horses

Imagination Patterns

Create images from pattern cards using wooden, magnetic pieces.

Two words described my reaction today as I opened the wooden carrying case and examined the contents on my newest game - very disappointed. I ordered this because I own the original set called Imaginets and have used it a lot. I have had this Imagination Patterns set on my wish list for quite awhile, and finally broke down and bought it.

If I had paid more attention to the images on the front of the box (above), I would have noticed that the elephant and helicopter are both images that are included in the Imaginets set. But I didn't really give it any thought. So when I opened the package of cards for this new set and found that over half of them were repeats of images found in the Imaginets set, I was, as I mentioned, very disappointed. 

The reason it was on my wish list so long was because this set costs over $30. I think long and hard about paying that much for one item, but the Imaginets set has been such a hit with the kids, and a very useful tool across ages and abilities, that I thought it was worth the investment. Maybe it is just me, but when I pay that much, I would have expected all new images to work with.

Now that that is off my chest, I will point out a few more differences between the two sets and then write a little about how you can use it. Both sets have 5 vibrant colors of wood pieces. Pieces are the same shape and size in both sets. The imagination Patterns set has light orange pieces instead of the original yellow. This new set also has 11 pieces with patterns, including stripes, swirls, stars, and checkers. The rest of the pieces are solid colors.

With this set you can create models from 2D picture cards using a variety of wooden, brightly colored, pieces of a variety of shapes. The wooden pieces have a magnetic layer on the back and stick to the white board quite securely. You can set the board up on its side and the pieces will not slip or fall off. The white board can also be drawn on with a dry erase marker, according to the manufacturer, but I have not tried it. Therefore, I don't know if it leaves a shadow once erased or not, but I have found Bic erasable markers do, so I steer clear of them. 

The challenge cards are numbered 1-50 (small numbers in the bottom corner) and increase in difficulty as the numbers go up. I often use the magnetic pattern sets with beginners or individuals who have slight hand tremors or other conditions that impact their fine motor precision because magnetic pieces, once laid, are harder to disturb if bumped than non-magnetic pieces.

For more activity of this type, check out my blog What's in Your Therapy Box? Pattern Blocks Edition.

Try this:

• Play with the pieces before using the cards and point out the differences in size, shape, color, etc.
• Put the first piece in place in front of the individual if he cannot look at the picture and figure out where to start. Or say something like "Let's start with the trunk".
• Orient and place a piece if the individual is having trouble with orientation. Then pick it up, hand it to the individual, and invite him to place it.
• Hand the individual a piece he will need and ask him to turn it in-hand for the correct placement.
• Use consistent directional and positional language such as above, to the left of, under, flush, etc.
• Find all pieces for the picture ahead of time. Place only those pieces (or even fewer) next to the board if you want to focus on one specific skill at a time, such as spatial orientation. This may decrease frustration from working on too many things at once.
• Practice recognizing shapes from different orientations. Ask the individual to search through all the available pieces to find the ones he needs. Make sure that the pieces are in various positions so that some are facing the wrong direction, some are overlapping, some are upside-down, some are on their sides, etc.
• Correct errors as soon as they are made as continuing to build on incorrect placement may impact the rest of the model.
• Teach the individual to recognize and correct errors. After the individual places a piece incorrectly, ask "Are you sure?" or say "Try again". If he cannot figure out the error, make the correction while he watches. Then pick up the piece and hand it to him to place.
• Give fading prompts as the individual learns to identify errors and correct mistakes on his own.
• Ask the individual to cup his non-dominant hand. If he has trouble doing this, place a small ball in his hand and ask him to curl his fingers around the ball. Then remove the ball and ask him to hold his hand in that position. Place several of the pieces he will need in the cupped hand and keep the hand cupped while he places the pieces on the board.
• Work on manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, visual discrimination, visual closure, visual form constancy, spatial relations, figure ground, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning skills, recognition of shapes and colors, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

  In the wooden carrying case: 43 wood blocks, 25 double-sided pattern cards (50 designs) 

Ages 3+, 1+ players 

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