Diggity Dogs

Diggity Dogs - Adopt the most dogs by making sets of three cards.

If you're a dog lover like me, check out Diggity Dogs. There are seven dogs up for adoption (there's a great conversation starter right there) and you want to make sure they each get a good home, preferably with you.

The dogs are made of a heavy card material, are printed the same on both sides, and each comes with a plastic white piece that will allow it to stand (see image above). The instruction booklet has a brief description, complete with name, for each of the dogs. The name of each dog is also printed next to it on the card. Each dog has a thought bubble next to it and in each thought bubble are three items. This grouping of items is a different combination for each dog and is what that specific dog needs before you can adopt him. Items include a bone, dog brush, tennis ball, dog dish, dog food and stick.

Included are 28 picture cards and each card will picture just one item. The cards are on the small side and measure approximately 7-3/5" x 5". These are the cards that you will collect to match the three items in each dog's thought bubble.

Object:
Be the player who has adopted the most dogs by the end of the game.

Set up:
Place each dog in a white plastic stand and put all the dogs in the middle of the playing area. Shuffle the cards and deal out two to each player, face-down. Put the rest of the cards in a stack in the middle of the playing area.

Play:
Your goal is to collect three cards that match a dog you want to adopt. Collect the three cards and trade them for the dog. On each turn, one player will ask another player, of his choice, for a specific card, such as "Do you have a tennis ball?" If the player has it, he must give it to you. If this gives you a match of three and you can adopt a dog, put the three cards in the discard pile, put the dog by your side, and play again. If the player does not have a matching card, draw a card from the draw pile. If this card completes your set of three, adopt the dog and play again. If not, your turn is over. Keep playing until all the dogs are adopted. If the draw pile runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile and turn the cards face-down and they are now the draw pile.

Try this:

• Play alone. Line the dogs up on the table. Go through the stack of cards and sort them under each dog until you have found all three cards for each. Hold the cards in the non-dominant hand and push them off, one at a time, with the thumb.
• Sort the cards by type into piles. Place the pile face-up in front of you. Take each card off the top of the stack without toppling the stack.
• Line up several of the dogs. Give the individual three cards that will match one of the dogs. Ask him to find the dog that matches the cards. 
• Place one dog in front of the individual. Ask them to sort through the cards until they have found the three necessary items. Take them each out as they come up. Hold the cards in the non-dominant hand and push them off, one at a time, with the thumb. Keep going through the stack until you have adopted all the dogs.
• Line up the seven dogs in front of the player. Ask them to point out or read the name of each dog that needs a tennis ball, then all the dogs that need a brush, then who needs a food bowl, etc.
• Pick out the dog that is your absolute favorite. Tell what it is about the dog that you like so much and what you would name it if it was yours.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, shuffling/dealing/holding multiple cards, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 7 stand-up doggy game pieces, 28 cards

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

Campbell's ABC Soup Game

Campbell's ABC Soup Game - Spell words with the letters you find in your Campbell's Soup.

Playing Campbell's ABC Soup Game is more fun than eating a bowl of Campbell's Alphabet Soup. Does anybody besides me remember the fun you had spelling out words while eating Campbell's Alphabet Soup when you were a kid? Or maybe you still eat it or prepare it for your kids. This game is a take-off of that same soup. Made by Fisher-Price, a company that has been around a long time and is well known for making quality toys for infants and toddlers, this game comes in a nice sturdy plastic can. (You haven't seen me post much about Fisher-Price in the past because I don't work with kids that young and, therefore, I have very few of their toys.) So let's see exactly what is in this sturdy can. 

The spinner and soup bowls are the same shape and size, made of heavy cardboard, and are approximately 4-1/8" in diameter (see image above). The spinner is well constructed and has a cute spoon instead of an arrow, which moves freely. The spinner is also big enough (or the spoon is small enough, take your pick) so that you can hold the spinner by the edge in one hand without your fingers getting in the way of the spoon as it spins by. There are six sections on the spinner and each section has what looks like a group of random letters, but I assume that the groupings relate back to the words. 

Each soup bowl has a picture in the circle at the top and then spells that word in letters under it (see image above). One side of each soup bowl has a three letter word (owl, bat, log or map) and the other side has a four letter word (frog, bowl, boat or lamp). 

The 16 double-sided noodle letter tokens are colorful, have the same letter on both sides and measure 1-1/4" in diameter. These letters also have a colored background that match the colored background on each letter in the soup bowl. (So will the individual be matching the letter or the color?)

Object:
Be the first player to fill your soup bowl with the appropriate noodle letter tokens to spell your word.

Set up:
Decide if the players will be using the three letter word side or the four letter side. Each player chooses one soup bowl and places it in front of themselves. Scatter the noodle letter tokens in a draw pile, between the players.

Play:

Players take turns spinning the spinner. One player, the person who spins, plays at a time. Depending on where the soup spoon lands on the spinner, the player will take one of the following actions: 

• Spoon lands on a space with a letter that you need - You may pick up a letter token and place it in your soup bowl, on the matching letter.
• Spoon lands on the space that shows all the letters - You may choose any letter that you need from the letters scattered on the table.
• Spoon lands on a space but you don't need any of the letters - You turn ends.

Play until someone covers all the letters in their soup bowl and wins the game.

I checked and you can play a game with four soup bowl cards (four players each take one or two players each take two) IF each player takes cards with the same number of letters, meaning you use all of the four letter words or all of the three letter words. I tried a game with two four letter words and two three letter words and the letter tokens did not match all of the letters needed for the soup bowls. If you want to mix them like that you will have to check before you start to make sure that you have enough of the needed letters. 

P.S. Campbell's Alphabet Soup now comes in chicken, beef, vegetable (with beef broth), and yes, vegetarian :) After all this talk about soup I'm tempted to run out and buy a can right now. 

Try this:

• Look for a nice rounded web space before flicking the spoon on the spinner.
• Isolate different fingers to use for flicking the spinner.
• Turn the circle noodle letters upside-down and sideways in the draw pile so the individual will have to recognize them from different orientations.
• Reinforce letter recognition by pointing to each letter in your soup bowl and saying it before playing, saying each letter as you pick it up and place it in your bowl and again saying each letter as you spell the word at the end.
• Do the same as above to reinforce colors.
• Hold the noodle letter tokens in a stack in one hand and push each letter off the top with the thumb as you drop them onto the playing surface during set up.
• Make the game a little longer by requiring players to spell their word in letter order.
• Practice spelling your word out loud. Then cover your bowl and see if you can spell the word three times without looking. 
• Eat a bowl of alphabet soup after playing the game and see if you can spell your game word(s) with the real thing. Look for other words you can spell in the soup. As you look around the bowl, call out the letters you recognize. Choose one letter and see who can find it first in his bowl. Scoop up a spoonful of letters and name each one out loud before eating it. See how many of a single letter you can get on your spoon at the same time.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual form constancy, figure ground, spatial relations, eye-hand coordination, letter recognition, coordinated use of both hands, in-hand manipulation, finger isolation, rounded web space, manual dexterity, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the can: 1 bowl spinner, 16 double-sided alphabet noodle tokens, 4 double-sided Campbell's soup bowls

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