Gumball Grab

Gumball Grab - I love the tongs.

Gumball Grab is a fun game to use to practice fine motor skills with a theme that kids love. This game includes one of my favorite types of tweezer/tongs for working on developing an appropriate grip for pencil use.

The tall gumball machine board is about 14.5" tall and sturdy. The balls are placed on the top of the gumball machine (a round plastic barrier is built in to keep balls from rolling away) and the stack of cards can be placed toward the bottom, where the money would go in if it was a real machine.

On your turn, pick one card and follow the instructions. Cards are plastic coated and instructions on the cards include

• Take 1 - any color
• Take 2 - any colors
• Lose 1 - any color
• Lose 2 - any colors
• Lose 3 - any colors
• Take 1 - specific color shown
• Take 2 - specific colors shown

The first one to fill his card with the appropriate colored balls wins the game. The tweezers are sturdy plastic and have three prongs, perfect for placing the three fingers of the tripod. The balls are a rubber material and are easy to grasp. They bounce easily and there are exactly enough, no extras, so don't lose any. These balls are the exact same balls (size, color) as the balls in the Tweezer Tongs Sorting Game activity. Fun and very kid friendly! Both were purchased from Lakeshore Learning. 

CAUTION - The balls are small and could be swallowed if a young child or a person who cannot tell the difference gets a hold of them and thinks they are candy. Safety first - make sure this game is appropriate for the person you are working with.

If you would like to see a list of games with tweezers and tongs, click here.

Try this:

• Get 5 small bowls or a 6 hole cupcake tin. Use the tongs to sort the marbles, one color per bowl or section.
• Choose a tweezer color. Pick up only the marbles of that color and drop them into a small bowl or cup. Choose another tweezer color and use it to pick up only that color balls.
• Play against someone and the person to collect all of his colored marbles first, wins.
• Start with only TAKE cards if trying to learn TAKE and LOSE, while learning a new game, is too much. Add the LOSE cards in later after the person has the hang of the game.
• Use the tweezers for sorting all kinds of small manipulatives. Try using the tweezers yourself first to make sure they will be appropriate.
• Cup the hand and drop balls in one at a time while counting. How many can you hold. Put them back into the box by handfuls.
• Cup both hands while someone else drops them into your hands. Now how many can you hold? Put them away by the handfuls.
• Work on manual and finger dexterity, efficient grip, hand separation, tool use, visual discrimination, eye-hand coordination, visual closure, figure ground, spatial relations, play and leisure exploration and participation, socialization skills, process skills, executive functioning skills
   

In the box: 4 games mats, 4 tweezer tongs, 40 instruction cards, 40 balls in 5 different colors, a game board

Take the Cake

Take the Cake - Cupcake decorations and pattern cards

I can almost smell them baking. Small manipulatives, a die, pattern cards, and a yummy theme make up the game Take the Cake. This is a simple matching and counting game for young players.

The 16 pattern cards show either one, two, or three shapes on the icing. The 32 wooden pieces are the exact same shapes and colors as the shapes on the cupcakes. The cupcake container and the lid are both hard plastic. The cupcake lid is round and sits on top of the cupcake bottom, but there is no way to secure it onto the cupcake. Therefore, as you turn the cake upside-down and shake, you will have to hold the lid on with your thumb or else curl all fingers around the top as you hold it in your palm from the bottom.

There are 2 versions for playing this game. Per the instructions for both games, you will be putting the small decoration pieces into the cupcake, turning it over, and shaking it so that pieces drop out.  With that said, here are the two versions of play:

Version 1
Set up the game by stacking all the pattern cards face-down on the table and putting all the small pieces into the cupcake. Turn the top four cupcake cards face-up. Each player will start his turn by throwing the 1-2-3 die. That number will be the number of times the player gets to shake the cupcake. All pieces that drop out as the player shakes can be played onto any/all of the four face-up cards. If the player fills one or more cards with these pieces, he takes that card and the pieces and places it by him. Any unused pieces go back into the cupcake and a new card(s) is added to replace the card(s) that was taken. His turn is over. Each player, in turn, will repeat these steps until all the cards have been claimed. The person with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

Version 2
Same as version 1 with the exception that instead of all players playing on four shared cards, each player is given two cards. Once the player fills a card(s), he may replace it with a new card(s) and his turn is over. Once the last card is taken, the game is almost over. After the next person fills a card, the game ends. Person who has filled the most cards is the winner.

Try this:

• Play alone and skip the cupcake and die. Just match the shapes to the cards.
• Place the pieces on the table. Give the individual one card that will require either two or three pieces. Ask him to find the pieces for that card and, picking them up one at a time, squirrel them into the palm. Then move them one at a time from the palm to the fingertips to place on the card.
• Ask the individual to cup the non-dominant hand, squeezing the fingers together so pieces cannot fall out. Place numerous pieces into the cupped hand. Ask the individual to pick up those pieces, one at a time with the dominant hand, as he fills the cards.
• Make a nice cup in the hand with a hollow in the palm while shaking the die. Ask the individual to roll it in the hand for a few seconds, without dropping, before throwing.
• Place all the pieces in a pile and let the individual match them to the cards. Places pieces in different orientations than they appear on the card, such as on the side or upside-down.
• Pick up the small pieces and turn them in the fingertips to get the correct orientation, as opposed to turning it on the table top or against the body.
• Drop all the necessary pieces for a pattern card into the palm of the dominant hand. Ask the individual to move the pieces, one at a time, to the fingertips and rotate for placement.
• Look at a two or three shape card with the individual. Name the pieces in the order you would like him to place the pieces, such as "green star, pink circle". Can he remember the sequence and place them correctly?
• Put the pieces away at the end by picking them up as you count them one at a time. Squirrel them into the palm, or turn hand and drop into the palm as you count. How many can the individual hold without dropping?
• As the player to say the color and shape out loud as he places each piece to help reinforce color and shape.
• Hold the cupcake in one hand and drop the pieces into the top with the other hand to set up the game.
• Let the individual choose his own pattern cards for play according to a certain criteria. For instance, all cupcakes with yellow frosting, or a cupcake with one shape and a cupcake with two shapes and a cupcake with three shapes, or four cupcakes with three shapes each, etc.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, visual form constancy, figure ground, spatial relations, manual dexterity, distal rotation, palmar arch development, coordinated use of both hands, in-hand manipulation, pincer grasp, counting to 3, color and shape recognition, executive functioning skills, sequencing, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 
   

In the box: Cupcake shaker, 1 die, 16 cupcake pattern cards, 32 wooden shapes

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

Sticker Scenes Fall

Work on finger dexterity, in-hand manipulation, pincer grasp, thumb opposition, fine motor precision, coordinated use of both hands, spatial relations, visual discrimination, visual memory, figure ground, eye-hand coordination, visual scanning, creativity, executive functioning skills, process skills, play exploration and participation. 

Boy I wish we had had these when I was a kid! Sticker scenes have been a favorite of mine and my kids for a long time. First a word about where I purchase them. Oriental Trading has long been a go-to resource of mine for craft kits, sticker scenes, and some art supplies. Sticker scenes come in a variety of sizes and prices. These are approximately 8.5 X 11 and cost roughly 43 cents each on the day I am writing this. Each scene is really a set - a page with stickers and a blank, colored sheet to put the stickers on.  Here is an example:

When you buy craft sets or stickers scenes like this from Oriental Trading, you typically buy them in sets of 12. A set of 12 of these sticker scenes is $5.25. If I am only buying one or two things, I wait for a free shipping on any order offer because the postage can cost you more than the item. If you sign up for their email, they will send you offers for free shipping. The stickers have always stuck well for me, the colors are nice and bright, and there are many pictures to choose from. I have bought a number of different sets that they do not sell any more, so they change their stock over time. 

Try this:

• Complete a sticker scene ahead of time to use as an example. Ask the individual to make their scene look just like yours, placing stickers in the same locations, orienting them the same, etc. if they misplace something, ask them to look at their scene and your model and point out what they did differently.
• If they have difficulty looking at the whole, cover up all but about a 1/4 or 1/2 of the scene and work it a section at a time.
• Allow the individual to use the stickers any way they want to make their own scene so you can concentrate on specific skills, such as hand skills and sticker removal or spatial orientation.
• Cut the sticker sheet in half or quarters if the individual is not able to fold and manipulate the 8.5 X 11 sheet.
• Demonstrate how to take large and odd shaped stickers off the sheet by lifting the different corners before pulling the whole thing off to avoid ripping the sticker.
• Point to a ransom sticker on your model and ask the individual to find it on his sticker sheet and place it on his scene.
• Give verbal prompts, such as "where does the wagon go?" requiring the individual to find the wagon on your model, the sticker sheet, and then place it appropriately.

For other fall related games and activities, check out Adapting Off-the-Shelf Games and Toys for Therapy - Fall Edition.

If you are interested in purchasing a sticker scene or just want more information, go to Oriental Trading.

Angry Birds Playground Under Construction

Angry Birds Playground Under Construction

With only 4 pieces, how hard can it be? Plenty. The plastic puzzle board has 20 unmovable birds that are printed on it. The plastic puzzle pieces are printed as shown above, to look like pieces of wood and stone.

 

To play, choose a challenge from the puzzle book. Puzzles are in order of difficulty from easiest to most difficult and the answers are in the back. Your job is to use the four puzzle pieces to cover all birds on the board except the bird pictures that are showing on the puzzle you chose. The positions that the birds are pictured in on the challenges are not where they will appear on the puzzle. The pictures are just to show you which birds not to cover. Puzzles range from Starter to Master, and Master puzzles may take awhile to work out. 

If you are interested in reading more about this type of logic puzzle, check out my post What's in Your Therapy Box? Logic Puzzles Edition.

Try this:

• Give the location of one piece and let the individual find the rest.  FYI: Once one piece is given, the other three pieces often fall right into place.
• Start with three pieces already in place. Let the individual place the fourth. Then start a puzzle with two pieces already in place and let the individual finish it. Then one piece, until the individual is working independently.
• Work several puzzles. If the individual is struggling, use those same puzzles the next time you work and see if the individual remembered how to solve. If not, keep coming back to the same puzzles until they are solvable before going on to harder ones.
• Solve a puzzle as the individual watches. Problem solve aloud so that the individual can learn how to solve the puzzle. Then take the pieces out and ask the individual to solve the same puzzle.
• Offer a clue as to whether each piece is on the top or bottom of the puzzle.
• Look at a piece and then at the empty space. Try to determine whether that shape can actually fit into the space before trying it. Some individuals will waste time trying pieces in spaces that are not big enough or the correct shape. Teach them to determine that before trying the piece if possible.
• Explain that these types of puzzles often take a certain amount of trial and error and that getting it wrong is not failure, just keep trying until something works.
• Demonstrate how turning a piece in different directions can make it look different.
• Use the answer part of the book and use the puzzles as patterns for set up only if the individual is not capable of solving the puzzles.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, visual closure, figure ground, visualization, visual form constancy, eye-hand coordination, in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  
  
  In the box: Plastic puzzle board, 4 plastic puzzle pieces, puzzle book with 48 challenges
   

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