Spiky

Spiky - Sharpen your tactile perception.

As the story goes, there is huge excitement in Dragonland as the dragons wait for an egg to be hatched. To pass the time, they play a game. The first dragon to earn 5 fire stones (the red plastic pieces above), will win the game. 

The egg, die, and dragons are made of wood. The die is a little larger than your typical die, and has an egg painted on the side where the 6 should be. The five dragons each have spikes down the back of their necks. Each dragon has a different number of spikes, from 1 to 5. 

Object:

First person to accumulate five fire stones is the winner.

Set up: 
Place the egg in the middle of the players. Place the red fire stones around it randomly (see image above). Let each player handle the dragons before placing them out of view in the blue bag. Feel down the back of the neck and count the spikes as your fingers run over them. Counting the spikes in this way, without vision, will be key to winning the game.

Play:
Throw the die. Whatever number comes up, put your hand in the bag and, without sight, feel for the dragon with that many spikes on his back. Pull it out. If you are correct, take one red flint and put the dragon back in the bag. If you are wrong, put the dragon back in the bag. If when you throw the die the egg comes up, everyone grabs for the wooden egg and the person who gets it takes a flint. Put the egg back in the middle of the playing area.

Try this:

• Practice feeling the spikes, with vision, before playing a game. Model how to purposefully run your finger down the back of the dragon, counting the bumps as you go. Feel and talk about the other parts of the dragon, the nose and tail etc., and how they feel different.
• Cup the hand and roll the die in the hand before tossing. If the individual has difficulty cupping the hand, place a small ball in the hand and curl the fingers around it, then remove the ball and add the die.
• Place the die in one cupped hand and cover with the other cupped hand. Ask the player to shake while you tell a dinosaur joke (to keep the cupped hands in that position a little longer). There are lots of them online. Here is one to get you started: What do you call a sleeping dinosaur? A dino-snore.
• Skip the game, just place the five dragons in a line in number order of the spikes.
• One at a time, stand a dragon on the table and place the number of red fire stones next to him that matches the number of spikes on his back.
• Work on in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, tactile perception, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
   
  

In the box: 5 dragons, 1 dragon egg, 1 number/symbol die, 20 flints, cloth bag

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

Fish Stix

Fish Stic - Get hooked on this strategy matching game

I always get excited when I see the word "strategy" on a game because I work with several high functioning individuals that like to be challenged, but Fish Stix would be quickly and easily mastered by them.

Fish Stix is a strategy/matching game where the fish sticks are the only game pieces (see image above). They are made from a heavy cardboard-type material. Each piece is the exact same size and has 4 images of fish on it. There are five different images of fish altogether, each a different color, and one image of a school of six small fish. The fish are always the same size, shape and color on the sticks, but they may be pointing either left or right.

The score pad has six rows, one for each fish, and 10 columns - 60 boxes in all. You will need a large playing space, as you will be lining up the sticks, side by side, as you play.

Object
Be the first player to check every box on your score sheet.

Set Up
Give each player one score sheet. Mix the fish sticks and give each player three. Place the remaining fish sticks in a pile, face-down, in the playing area.

Play
In turn, each player will add one fish stick to the line-up. Match a fish from your sticks to a fish already in play and place it next to that stick. It must be facing the same direction to count. Then check the boxes next to that fish on the score pad, one box for every fish that is lined up. If there is one in play and you add one, then you can check two boxes. If the next player adds one more to the line, he can check three boxes. If you add one more, you can check four boxes, etc. Check your sticks against the sticks in play on each turn and see if you can place a stick in a position where you can match more than one fish. The more fish you can match with your one stick, the more boxes you can check off on your score sheet. (See the example below.) Each time you play a stick, draw another stick from the pile so that you always have three sticks to choose from on each play. As soon as someone has filled in their score sheet, the game ends and he is the winner.

Examples of scoring from box.

If you would like to read more about games that require writing or drawing in some form, check out my post Games That Require a Writing Tool.  

Try this:

• Model how to scan the sticks in play, looking for more than one match. Choose one fish to compare, and each time you find a good location, see if anything else on the stick matches.
• Forget about keeping score, just choose one fish and make a long line of matches.
• Use Xs on the score sheet instead of check marks if working on diagonal lines in writing. Stress drawing from corner to corner.
• Use the score sheet as an opportunity to practice shapes or letters or symbols over and over without making it seem like writing practice. For instance use the person's initials, or any letter you are working on, or circles, etc.
• Line the sticks up in a grid, face-up, on the playing surface. Choose one fish and then pick up all the sticks that picture that fish. Pick the sticks up where they are, don't pull them to the edge of the table first to help.
• Work on visual discrimination, spatial relations, figure ground, visual scanning, manual dexterity, writing tool use, writing in confined space, efficient grasp, executive functioning skills, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

 In the box: Score pad, 72 fish sticks

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