Search & Find - Giant Family Fun Pad

GIANT Search & Find fun book.

Search & Find books are a fun way to work on figure ground skills. This Giant Family-Fun Pad is made by KidsBooks (kidsbooks.com). The Scholastic brand I Spy line includes big books as well as many games. For more information about I SPY products that I have blogged about, click here. 

This book is LARGE.  It measures about 18.5" x 14.5". Let me say up front that my version of this book looks different than the one that is on Amazon now. It's the same theme, but the cover is different. I got the image above from their website so I know the Amazon image is the up-to-date version and my version must be an older version. I have been lucky to stumble onto several new books in this line over the years for $1.98 at one of my local stores. I've used them for gifts as well as used them in therapy.

The book is full of pages that you can tear out. My book has 32 pages but their website does not say how many pages the newer version of this book has. Sometimes I marvel that people can even sell products with the vague descriptions that they give (one reason I decided to start this blog). 

You can see from this image below that some of the pictures in these books can be quite detailed. If you need more of a starter book, this is probably not it just because of the number of items that can be found on one page. For starter books (less crowded pictures), look at the Search & Find books. They come in different levels. I have several of those too and will blog about them some day.

There are two levels of difficulty on each page. You can see along the top they show you pictures with words and you can search for the picture. Down the left side of the page they just give you words and you have to find the picture without any visual clues. Check the box next to each picture as you find it. If someone else is going to use it after you, don't check the boxes. Just search for each picture in order and only move on after you have found it. Sometimes if we search awhile and can't find it we move on to the next one to avoid frustration, but I ask them to keep it in mind as they look for others and someone eventually spots it.

Try this:

• Ask the individual to study a picture at the top of the page to remember. Then cover it up and see if they can find it in the picture.
• Rehearse the item you are looking for in your mind as you go. You could think it or even say it out loud several times as you look. You will be looking at a lot of different objects and it may be hard for some to keep in mind what they are looking for.
• Give the person a clue if they can't find what they are looking for. Of course this means you will have to find it first. I will say "It's on the left hand side of the picture" or "It's on the bottom" or "Look in the top right corner" etc.
• Work on writing the alphabet. After finding one of the pictures I will ask the person to make a large letter over the picture to indicate we found it. An obvious example would be to write the letter X over the picture but I have used other letters as well.
• Work on figure ground, visual discrimination, use of a writing tool, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation. 

If you are interested in purchasing this book or just want more information, go to Amazon or the Kidsbook.com website.

Express-It Guess-It

Express It Guess It - Express moods by drawing, charading and talking.

If you are working on facial expressions or body language, Express It Guess It  can be a fun addition to your lessons. Players will be assigned a random mood and will be required to draw a face expressing that mood, act out that mood, or read a phrase expressing that mood in such a way that the other players can guess the mood. Imagine saying "The hills are alive with the sound of music" in an angry mood or "This is the best thing that ever happened to me" in a frightened mood. Can you do it in such a convincing way that others can guess how you're feeling?

The board is 21" x 19" and folds into fourths in the box. There is a circle with the word start and one with the word finish at the bottom of the board. There are 28 rectangles on the board, each with a different mood printed on it. Examples of moods are amused, sulking, infatuated, snobbish, excited, angry, confused, suspicious and nervous. There are circles with the numbers one, two and three around the boarder of the board. These are the spaces you will be moving through to get to the finish circle at the bottom of the board.

There are 28 game cards that each list one mood that matches the moods listed on the board. There are 80 "say it" phrase cards (I mentioned two of the sayings above). There are three custom dice. Each die has two side with mouths (say it), two sides with hands holding a pencil (draw it) and two sides with clapperboards that say charades (act it out). There is a sheet of stickers with these pictures that you will have to stick onto the dice before playing. Each pawn shows a face with a different emotion. There is a sheet of stickers of these faces that you will have to put onto the pawns before playing. There is a drawing pad with about 35 pages. Each page is printed front and back with just the outline of a person's head so you can draw in facial expressions. They should have added a bigger pad in my opinion. 

Back of box.

 Object:
Be the first player to reach the finish circle on the game board.

Set up:
Open the board and put it in the middle of the players. Shuffle the two decks and place each deck face down near the board. Each player chooses a pawn and puts it on the start space on the board.

Play:
Players will take turns. The first player chooses a mood off the top of the stack, looks at it, and keeps it a secret from the other players. The player throws the three dice to see if he will be drawing it, charading it or saying it. If they come up all different, you get to choose. If one things comes up twice or on all three dice, that is the action you will take. Here are the options:

Charade It - Act it out using body language and facial expressions.
Draw It - use the pad and draw a face on the person. Add additional objects if it will help those guessing.
Say It - Choose a "Say It" card and read it aloud in the mood that you drew at the beginning of your turn.

Now that your action has been determined it's time to perform. Each player will look at all the mood options on the board and secretly write on a piece of paper which one they think it is. The performer will turn over the mood card he drew. Each player that is correct moves ahead one space. For each player that is correct the performer moves ahead one space.

After the turn is over, the performer puts the mood card on the board so that others know that mood is now out of the game for future guesses. Play until someone gets to the finish circle and is declared the winner.

Try this:

• Skip the board. Just use the mood cards and the action cards to work on facial expressions and body language.
• Skip the board. Just use the mood cards and one action per game. This is just between you and me, but I am good at stacking the deck. Choose one action you want to work on and then pick the moods that you want to concentrate on. If I only have a little bit of time with the person and I want to zero in on something specific, I stack the deck.