This Holiday
season, consider playing games with your children. As busy as the holidays can be, it is important to take some time out and try having a little FUN! You and your children will be happy you took the time to spend together.
Games
can bring much more than fun – they can help improve so many other crucial life
skills for social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. While pretend and make believe play are vital
to a child’s healthy development, as children get a little older, more
controlled play which consists of following rules can be just as important and
can begin to assist them with other important developmental skills.
Below are a
few game ideas for preschoolers and specific areas of development the games target. Think about putting one of these games under
the tree for your child!
Preschoolers – Age 3 - 5
Around ages
3 to 5, children begin to define their understanding of cause and effect. Toddlers
are beginning to learn new words and develop fine motor skills. All of the games below are great for teaching
skills such as following directions,
turn-taking, maintaining attention to task and developing eye-hand coordination. In addition, they teach
precursors to speech and language development such as sharing, waiting, taking
turns, and enjoying interaction with others.
Skills which mirror the communication exchange which they are beginning
to learn.
NAME
|
ADDITIONAL SKILLS TARGETED
|
AGES
|
# PLAYERS
|
PLAYING TIME
|
Chutes and Ladders
|
Math Skills/Counting
|
3+
|
2-4
|
20 + minutes
|
Candy Land
|
Color Recognition/matching, counting
|
3+
|
2-4
|
20 + minutes
|
HiHo Cherry-O Game
|
Numbers, counting, Math skills
|
3+
|
2-3
|
15 minutes
|
Spot it! Jr
|
Matching, visual recognition
|
3+
|
2-6
|
5 minutes
|
Boggle Junior
|
Letters, words, spelling, matching, memory pattern recognition
|
3+
|
1-2
|
10 minutes
|
Memory Game
|
Matching, visual memory
|
3+
|
1 or more
|
10+ minutes
|
Elefun
|
Dexterity, eye-hand coordination
|
3+
|
1-6
|
10 minutes
|
Don’t Spill the Beans
|
Dexterity
|
3+
|
2 -4
|
10 minutes
|
Don’t Break the Ice
|
Dexterity
|
4+
|
2-4
|
20 minutes
|
Zingo
|
Image/word recognition, matching, verbalization, concentration,
memory, quick thinking
|
4+
|
2-6
|
5 minutes
|
Perfection
|
Dexterity, memory , shape recognition
|
4+
|
1
|
6 minutes
|
Scrabble Junior
|
Literacy, language skills
|
5+
|
2-4
|
20+ minutes
|
Gobblet Junior
|
Memory, Abstract Strategy
|
5+
|
2
|
5 minutes
|
Trouble
|
Math skills
|
5+
|
2-4
|
20 + minutes
|
I Spy Memory Game
|
Matching, visual memory
|
5+
|
1+
|
10 minutes
|
Rush Hour, Jr
|
Problem solving, logic, reasoning
|
5+
|
1
|
5+ minutes
|
Most of
these games can be purchased at stores such as Target, Toys-R-Us and
Walmart. They can also be found on the
websites below.
Keep in mind, at this age, children should be able to attend for about 10 – 20 minutes – give or take a few. Attention may be negatively impacted by fatigue, lack of interest and difficulty level of task. Make sure to read your child’s cues and assist them as needed.
Lastly, remember to give your child enough time to process what they are doing. Playing these games with your children may just teach you a thing or two about patience! Have fun!!
Stay tuned for my next blog which will give you some game ideas for older children!
Elisabeth Miller, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
The Wellness Connection
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