Thrift Shop Find: Fisher Price Animal 2x2 Game

Another great find at the local Thrift Shop.

I just saw the blue Fisher Price case and knew that something great was in it because it was the same case that Barnyard Bingo is in.

So when I got home and opened it up, I was thrilled to find what was inside.  A Matching / Animals / Memory / Tic Tac Toe game!  Perfect for our family.

So the game comes with 24 "coins", each of which are half of a whole.  They match up by animal (turtle, zebra, bumble bee), and then they fit together to make a whole coin.  At that point, you can also look at the shape on the coin that matches to the slot on the top of the ark.  It then drops into the ark like Connect 4.

This is such a great game for any child, but especially for a Special Needs kid.
Fine Motor:  not only does it take good coordination to put them into the ark, but matching them up is tricky too, and then keeping them together while putting them in is yet another level of skill.
Memory:  you can flip them all face down and play it like a memory game.
Matching:  we put three in a row (eventually four, then five, and so on) and have the boys match the one we hand them to the choices in the row.  We could also turn the choices over so they can start to learn to remember where the match is or isn't.
Colors/Shapes:  once the animals are matched, you need to talk about colors and shapes to get them into the ark.
Manding:  so easy to have a child mand for the coins simply by "coin" (or use the sign for it), by animal name (or sound!), or by shape name or color.
OT: make it a sensory activity!  Put the ark on one side of the room and hide the coins in the rice table on the other side of the room.  Dig for a coin, run it across the room and put it in the ark.  Or roll across the room.  Or pull yourself across on a scooter board.  Or put them in a bag and have the child reach in and pull them out one at a time.  Or put them in a baby wipes box and have the child reach in through the slot in the top to pull them out (Huggies wipes have a great rubbery slot that little hands reach into nicely and easily but also provide good resistance.)

So, while I hate it when other people post about great thrift shop finds that I will never have a hope in finding, I've discovered that you just never know what you might find, if you just open your eyes a little bit.

Thrift Shop Find: Dot the Dog

Well, I'll start with Dot the Dog - A Matching & Memory Game.  Not my first find, but today's find and sitting right here beside me, so why not start there.

I found out about Dot the Dog when I was researching Tic-Tac-Tony (another post for another day.)  I believe it was Playskool's answer to Fisher Prices' popular puppy.  Both are wonderful for autistic kids for various reasons.

Dot the Dog was made in 1995, and I was lucky to find her on my Thrift Store shelf today.  Not only was she marked at 3.50, but she was tagged in green, which was half price this week!  A real bargain at 1.75!  I've seen her on ebay for upwards of $15-$20, but who knows what she really goes for.

And back in 1995, Playskool was doing it's "Ages & Stages" thing, which, as I read through the instructions (yes!  it had the original instructions in the package!), really helped me out a lot.

Dot is designed with a series of dots on her body.  When you pull down on her tail (Wag her tail), the pattern of dots (and fleas) changes.  On the back of her body hangs a series of cards (ingenious storage spot) which depict each possible pattern of dots and fleas.  Each pattern has a name, which is hidden behind the plastic dog tag hanging around Dot's neck.

So Stage 1 of play is simply to match the fleas.  You turn all of the cards face down, wag her tail, and have your Little One turn over a card.  If the flea size and colour matches, they get to keep the card and try again.  If not, it's the next person's turn, until all the cards are exhausted.

Stage 2 of play is to match the colour (and eventually the words) on the dog tags around Dot's neck.  It's similar in play to Stage 1 in that the cards are put face down and the tail is wagged, but this time you are looking to match the color of the tag.  Cards are turned over until a match is made, and then the tail is wagged to change it up and the play continues.  This is also memory oriented as you'll want to try to remember where the red tag card is for when it comes up, for example.

Stage 3 involves matching the dot and flea patterns.  The cards are all placed face up on the table, the dog tag is closed, and the tail is wagged.  Each player takes a turn, examining all of the cards to find the one that matches the dot and flea pattern.  When a match is made, the dog tag is opened to check if the player is correct (this is, of course, self corrected privately until it's confirmed to be right so the other players don't get a peek ... in case they were wrong the answer isn't blabbed to everyone.)  As this gets easier, you can alter it so that every player is racing to find the right card.

So for Dew1 especially, this game has a lot of great aspects.  As far as OT goes, the wagging of the tail is great fine motor skills.  Matching and memory work is what this game is all about.  It will work in with his ABLLS work nicely, as well as just working on his observation skills.  Not to mention manding.  But ultimately, games are great for learning about turn taking, following rules, behaviours regarding sitting at a table for a period of time, and winning and losing.  Plus, both Dews love to match and love dogs, so this is right up their alley.

So keep an eye out for Dot the Dog by Playskool.  It's a keeper!

(and yes, I stole the pictures from Ebay.  I'm feeling a bit rushed today.)

Tot School: Felt Star Matching

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I found my Star Box the other day.

And put it to good use.

We have a felt board mounted to our wall.  When I find the post that inspired it, I'll post about it.  Until then, please be satisfied with the statement that I have a felt board on our wall.

So I pulled out my Star Box, and opened it for Dew2.  We played with them for a while, checking them all out.  I have a weird assortment of colours now, because many were destroyed or taken home during my programs, and I'd have to hastily make more with whatever colours of felt we had on hand at the time.

We went to the felt board, and I put one of each colour up to the board, labeling the colour as I went. He tried to repeat me as much as he could.


Then we pulled out more stars, and I gave them to him to match.  He did really well!  I was very impressed with how well he matched his colours.

And it was a bit of a challenge for him to work standing up, and to get them to stick, which was also perfect.  When I can fit a bit of OT in, it's a good day :-)

So we matched stars.  And now it's a favourite activity.

Matching - Halloween Mix and Match Creatures

I found these cute Mix and Match Creatures on Family Fun's website.  They have some really cute printables, and this one caught my eye.  I want to say that another blog led me to their site if not this specific activity, but I can't remember exactly (sorry!)

I printed out two sets of the page.  One I cut up into each part, the other I just cut into each creature.  This way, the Dews would have a master to work from.  Eventually we'll get to using it as it's intended (as a Mix and Match make your own type of game) but for now this is a great activity.  I put magnets on the back so they are for our magnet board. 

As usual, I wrestled with magnets or felt.  I try to go for either of the two as our boards are mounted against the wall, and it's really good OT for Dew1 to work standing up.  Helps strengthen his trunk.

There are 6 creatures all together.  Happy Haunting!

(now I just need to find some mix and matches for next season!)

Matching - Jack O Lantern Faces

With Halloween coming, and Dew1 starting to figure these things out, I decided it was high time to have some Jack O Lantern Fun.  Dew1 loves to match - he finds it to be a very rewarding task.

This is by no means an original idea.  I googled around, and found a great Pumpkin Body and Jack O Lantern Face pieces patterns on the Family Education website - the patterns are free to download, and copyright to Pearson Education Inc.

Because we have a great flannel board mounted on the wall, I finally decided to make this out of felt (I wrestled with magnetic as we also have a great magnetic board on our wall as well.)  I chose sensory over fine motor, and I thought the felt would be fun.  I have had troubles getting things to stick to our flannel board - I suspect it's because it's mounted flat against the wall.  All of the flannel boards I have ever used at work have been standing easel-types, and I am thinking that the angle is a big help.

Anyway, after testing velcro and other types of sticky assists, I discoverd an article on about.com that commented on using sandpaper.  Well, sandpaper is a lot cheaper than velcro (I bought a package of 5 large sheets for $1 at Dollar Tree to make sandpaper letters.  Haven't gotten there yet but I had the sandpaper!)

I traced the outline onto the back of the sandpaper (right side up ... I made that mistake the first time.)  Then I ran it through the Xyron to stick it up, and then stuck it to the felt.  It made it very easy to cut the felt out, I must say.  Same for the eyes, mouths, and noses.  Then I realized a problem.  Our felt board is black.  The face pieces are black.  Hmm.

So I put a few pieces of sandpaper onto a square of blue felt to use as a landing zone area for the face pieces.  Not ideal but it works for me for now.  Perhaps a basket on the shelf beside?

I have also taken pictures of several face combinations for Dew1 to match.  I punched a hole in the corner and put them on a binder ring.  He has tried a few, but is more interested in the pieces for now.

He is also very wrapped up in the sensory experience.  It is soft on one side and quiet scratchy on the other.  This makes it fun to just hold and reposition on the felt board.

Update:
Emily at Learning Vicariously posted about her Magnetic Jack-O-Lantern here.  It looks great - I might have to do a magnetic one after all!  I love how they used it as a springboard to talk about feelings.  Great Idea!