Games are so much fun to play, but sometimes we don't always like to play the same ones over and over. Here are a variety of ways that you can change up the games that you have at home to make them new and exciting! Enjoy!
Connect 4
Connect 4
- Stack the pieces
- Use tongs to put pieces in
- Make a pattern out of the peices
- Put letters and numbers on the pieces- alphabetize them or put them in numerical order
- Make sight words out of the letters on the pieces and then practice writing them- Here is a list of sight words.
- Sort pieces by color
A Deck of Cards
- Build a tower
- Sort them: by color, by number, or by suit
- Play memory
- Make a match and then paper clip or place a rubber band around them
Guess Who
- Make the boards match
- Cover up part of the picture to minimize the options to ask questions about
- Write the questions to work on that handwriting... if they can't read it, they can't answer the question
- Use tweezers or tongs to move the pieces
- Practice your drawing and listening to details... Have another person describe the person on the card to you and see how close your picture ends up to the real thing
Battleship
- Match the pattern
- Wrap pieces in foil or putty
Candy Land
- Add an exercise to go with each color (red is 10 jumping jacks, yellow is downward dog for 20 seconds, blue is 10 frog jumps, orange is crab walk across room and back, purple is superman posture (fly on tummy with legs and arms up), green is 10 donkey kicks).
- Make your own card pile they draw from with different exercises on each card
- Incorporate zones of regulation- talking about emotions/feelings- Intro to zones found here.
- Have letter/numbers on the board...Practice writing the one that you land on. For correct letter and number formation, check out... Working On: Handwriting
- Write sight words on the cards-write the word that you pick or create a sentence with it.
- Take the pieces and play a target game- try to knock them down.
Jenga
- Make a structure for them to match
- Use tongs
- Add sight words- you could make sentences out of them and practice that writing :)
- Add some exercises :)
- Add some spoons!
- Use any small type of item that will fit on a
spoon (pom pom, bean, beads, etc.) I used
legos!
- You can use tongs to move the items around
- Add some problem solving and mix up the items
on the spoons- then you have to move one item
at a time to get all the items that are the same
color in the same row.
Operation
- Hide pieces in putty, playdough, or sand
- Write the word of the pieces you retrieve
- Draw person and place items in the correct place according to the board
- Make sure you hold the tweezers correctly!
Chutes and Ladders
- 1:1 counting coorespondence-use pennies to help represent each spot
- Add exercises when you land on a chute
- Introduce the concept of expected and unexpected behaviors: Check out this awesome resource from Melissa Laux on TPT that provides a chart of examples of expected and unexpected behaviors https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Expected-and-Unexpected-Behavior-Chart-3164235
- Work on finger isolation to flick the wheel
Mancala
- Make your side match my side: Correct number of piece in each slot. Could make it harder if you include requiring the correct color of pieces as well.
- Use pennies or any kind of coin instead
Happy game playing! We Wish You Well!
- Willard OT Team
- Willard OT Team