3) Cases for Game Modes with a Single Pointer

(3) Cases for Game Modes with a Single Pointer

ACTIVITY WHEEL

Name the Household Product

(Identifying household items, for ages 3 ~ 3 1/2) Please help the child identify the names and uses of various common household products. Suitable Age: 3 ~ 3 1/2 years old

Main Objective:

To identify the names and uses of common household products.

Secondary Objective:

To encourage logical thinking and verbal expression in the child.

Illustrations:

Mug, tissue paper, truck, brush, glass bottle, rope, paper box, baseball bat.

Game Guidance:

1. First, without disclosing the names of the illustrations to the child, allow him or her to try to figure them out through experience. 2. Once the child is familiar with all the names and illustrations, spin the disc until it stops and points at a picture. The adult can then proceed with simple questions, for instance, “What is the name of this object? Where have you seen it before?

What is it used for? How is it used? Can you think of other ways it can be used?” If the child has yet to fully develop verbal skills, the adult can use physical motions to demonstrate and encourage further expression from the child.

Additional Activities:

1. Charades: Spin the disc to begin the game. Once it stops, let the child try to act out the designated object and have you guess which object he or she is trying to describe. Switch roles every so often to let the child have a chance at guessing as well. 2. Memory Game: Let the child try to remember as many pictures or items on this game as he or she could. When ready, cover the objects up with a towel while adding or removing a new item, and reveal the new setup to the child to let them guess what has changed. 3. You can also collect several common household items and place them in a bag or a box to let the child try and guess their identity by feeling their shape and texture.

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Do What I Do: Exercising the Gross Motor Skills

Please assist the child in performing various body movements.

Suitable Age: 3 ~ 5 years old

Main Objective:

To assist the development of Gross Motor Skills in the toddler for movements that mimics throwing, catching, jumping, stretching, flexing, and balancing.

Secondary Objective:

To provide practice for the toddler in using his or her major muscles to perform and develop basic motions.

Illustrations:

Standing leap, standing with left leg, standing with right leg, standing jump with left leg, standing jump with right leg, overhand throw with left arm, overhand throw with right arm, and bending over touching the floor.

Game Guidance:

1. The adult first helps the toddler in recognizing the various body parts: including the head, shoulders, left hand, right hand, body, left leg, right leg. 2. Then demonstrate the following motions and encourage the toddler to imitate: bending over, squatting, extending both arms away from the body, jumping, and standing on one leg. 3. The adult then points to the pictures in the disc to let the child answer and imitate to motions. If the child is unable to answer or imitate successfully, the adult may provide additional prompting verbally or physically through demonstrations to help the child understand. 4. Once the child has understood all the illustrations, then help him or her turn the disc. When it stops, copy the motion that the pointer is pointing to. For instance, “If the pointer stops on Standing Jump, then the child should jump at least a foot in distance.” 5. The adult can also help time the child with a timer when he or she is standing on one leg to keep a time record.

Additional Activities:

The adult can also perform a simple motion to let the child copy, or work together with the child to create new motions.

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Can You Make This Face: Facial Expressions

Please help the child identify various facial expressions and emotions.

Suitable Age: 3 1/2 ~ 4 years old

Main Objective:

To identify various facial expressions and verbally express an emotion.

Secondary Objective:

Learn and recognize different kinds of emotions.

Illustrations:

Joy, anger, sadness, concentration, fear, envy, suspicion, shyness.

Game Guidance:

1. During the activities, help the child understand the features of each and every one of the facial expressions by physically demonstrating some of them if necessary. 2. Then the adult should describe the meaning of each facial expression, for instance,”

‘Shyness’ is used to describe a situation in which the person is embarrassed.” It can also be used to describe a type of personality that is not very good at self expression.

“Joy” on the other hand, can be used to describe a positive feeling marked by a slight smile. 3. Once the child is familiar the names and the appearance of all the facial expressions, spin the disc until it stops and points at a picture. The adult can then proceed with simple questions, for instance, “What is the face that they’re making in the picture?

Can you make the same face? When do people have this kind of expression on their face? When you see this face on other people, can you guess how they are feeling?”

Additional Activities:

While playing the game, it may be useful to use a mirror with the child to see what kinds of funny facial expressions they can make.

ACTIVITY WHEEL

The Little Observer: Animal Characteristics

Please help the child identify the main physical characteristics of various animals.

Suitable Age: 4 ~ 4 1/2 years old

Main Objective:

To learn about the main physical characteristics of various animals.

Secondary Objective:

To improve the child’s ability to observe nature.

Illustrations:

Elephant, kangaroo, rabbit, giraffe, girl, turtle, anteater, fish.

Game Guidance:

1. Assist and help the child describe the different illustrations of animals in terms of their physical characteristics. 2. If the child has missed any major details, be sure to bring it up afterwards. For instance, “The elephant is very big in size and has large, flat ears to cool themselves with. They also have a long nose that can spray water. The turtle, on the other hand, has a very thick shell into which they can retreat their head, tail and limbs when under attack.” There are some animals that may be more obscure in the illustrations, such as the anteater. Try to find more pictures and research more details about these animals with the child. 3. Once the child is familiar with all the names and illustrations of the animals spin the disc until it stops and points at a picture.

The adult can then proceed with simple questions. For instance, “What is this animal called? What is special about this animal?

Where have you seen this animal before?”

Additional Activities:

Collect photos and pictures of animals that interest the child, or take him or her to the zoo to see and learn about some live specimens.

ACTIVITY WHEEL

The Bear and the Box: Spatial Awareness

Please help the child place the objects into different positions and spaces.

Suitable Age: 4 ~ 4 1/2 years old

Main Objective:

To identify different positions in space.

Secondary Objective:

To develop the child’s sense of spatial awareness.

Illustrations:

Above, below, in front of, behind, to the left of, to the right of, inside, outside.

Game Guidance:

1. First make sure that the child has a basic level of spatial awareness. If not, then use real objects to physically demonstrate the various positions. For instance, “place a lemon on top of the child’s head to demonstrate ‘on top of’, place a banana in a box to demonstrate ‘inside’, place a melon beside the shopping bag to demonstrate ‘to the left of’, and etc.” 2. This part of the game can be proceeding as a game of hide and seek. For instance,

“Place a teddy bear behind the sofa and tell the child: ‘Teddy is hiding behind the sofa, can you find him for me?’ Make sure that the child is able to look in the right place.” 3. Once the child has a basic level of spatial awareness, spin the disc until it stops and points at a picture. You can begin with a simple question. For instance, “Where is the bear sitting next to the box?”

Additional Activities:

Place an object on the table to let the child physically interact with the objects in their positions. For instance, have the child place an apple on his or her head, inside a box, or other places in space.

ACTIVITY WHEEL

Draw These Shapes: Drawing Practices

Please help the child use paper and pencil to draw various lines and shapes. Suitable Age: 3 ~ 5 1/2 years old

Main Objective:

To recognize and draw straight lines and circles. Secondary Objective: To evaluate the basic writing techniques and control.

Illustrations:

Vertical line, horizontal line, left and right diagonal lines, trace circle, trace cross, trace square, and trace triangle.

Remarks:

The disc contains four lines and four traces for copying. The four lines are used to determine the precision of the child’s drawing abilities, and therefore require the adult to demonstrate drawing the line first and allowing the child to copy after. The shapes, on the other hand, are meant to be printed and traced out by the child.

Game Guidance:

1. It is important to guide and lead the child into participating the tracing and drawing practices as game and not as an evaluation of their skills. 2. Prepare and place a blank piece of paper with writing utensils. 3. Make sure the child is able to identify all the lines and shapes in the disc by naming them out loud. 4. Spin the disc to begin the game. Once the disc stops, have the child draw or trace out the designated line or shape. 5. Placing more emphasis on the game element of the “Draw These Shapes” will help the child to develop the basic drawing techniques faster. 6. If the child is able to complete all eight of the drawing and tracing practices without any problems, then he or she is ready to begin writing practice. 7. If the child is unable to meet the requirements for drawing and tracing, then this is simply an indication of the current level of progress in the child. Please refrain from pressuring the child into practicing techniques that he or she is not ready for. You can incorporate more of the daily schedule into the writing game to further establish a solid foundation of drawing and pen-holding techniques in the child. Copy the Drawing:25 Copying Skill Evaluation

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Writing Skill Preparations, Practices, and Evaluations

Writing is a precise and complex motion requiring eye-hand coordination. It requires our eyes to accurately calculate the distance while coordinating the hand to apply multiple strokes to form an abstract word or symbol. This hand movement is itself a coordinated effort of the small muscles in the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, and the palm, where each applies just the right amount of force to move the pen tool a correct distance with every stroke. As such, it is imperative for the adult to prepare a child so that he or she may establish a good foundation of eye-hand coordination prior to writing their first words.

1. Eye-Hand Coordination Practices:

For younger children, prepare a large, blank sheet of paper with some colored writing utensils to let the child doodle at will.

This simple exercise will help them develop the necessary wrist muscles and eye-hand coordination for writing later on.

Certain toys are also very useful for developing the muscles in the fingers. For example, toys that involve swinging and percussion can help the child develop wrist and arm muscles, while games that require pressing buttons or twisting objects will help develop coordination of the thumb, index and middle fingers.

2. Establishing the Correct Stroke Order:

For older children, practice (with strokes from left to right and top to bottom) drawing vertical, horizontal, circular, and diagonal lines as well as basic shapes such as crosses, squares, and triangles to practice the basic concepts of writing and stroke order.

3. Basic Writing Practices:

Coloring books are ideal for practice techniques of holding the pencil because the pictures inside these books encompass a wide array of different dimensions and shapes. Provide supervision to the child when coloring so that they are not simply applying the colors with random strokes. Instead, ensure that the child is able to color in an ordered manner, such as coloring by using vertical or diagonal strokes only. This allows further practice for writing techniques and control.

4. Establishing Spatial Awareness:

Spatial awareness enables the child to recognize the spatial relations between the word and its surrounding spaces. By using the illustrative game stories such as

“The Bear and the Box: Spatial Awareness”, the child can learn to distinguish the positions of objects in relation to one another in space. 26

ACTIVITY WHEEL

1. Drawing Vertical Lines

Appropriate Age: 3 years old

Evaluation Key:

Draw a straight, vertical line of at least 5 cm on a piece of paper, and ask the child to draw a similar line next your line.

The child’s reproduction should be less than 15 degrees from parallel to pass the evaluation.

Less than 15 degrees from parallel Appropriate Age: 3 1/2 years old

Evaluation Key:

Direct the child’s attention to the illustration of a circle, and ask him or her to trace out a similar circle. The child’s reproduction can be any enclosed (or nearly enclosed) shape that somewhat resembles a circle to pass the evaluation.

2. Drawing Horizontal Lines

Appropriate Age: 3 years old

Evaluation Key:

Draw a straight, horizontal line of at least 5 cm on a piece of paper, and ask the child to draw a similar line next your line.

The child’s reproduction should be less than 15 degrees from

3. Tracing a Circle

parallel to pass the evaluation.

Enclosed or nearly-enclosed Less than 15 degrees from parallel

4. Tracing a Cross

Appropriate Age: 4 years old

Evaluation Key:

Direct the child’s attention to the illustration of a cross, and ask him or her to trace out a similar cross. The child’s reproduction must contain an intersecting of two perpendicular lines at an angle between 80 to 90 degrees to pass the evaluation.

Intersection at 80 to 90 degrees

5. Tracing a Square

Appropriate Age: 4 1/2 years old

Evaluation Key:

Direct the child’s attention to the illustration of a square, and ask him or her to trace out a similar square. The child’s reproduction must contain four enclosed corners with each of the square’s sides deviating less than 15 degrees from the printed shape. Appropriate Age: 5 years old

Evaluation Key:

Draw a diagonal line falling to the left at 45 degrees and have the child draw a similar line beside yours. The child’s reproduction should at least 5 cm and should not deviate from the 45 degree angle by more than 15 degrees.

ACTIVITY WHEEL

6. Drawing Right Diagonal Lines

Appropriate Age: 5 years old

Evaluation Key:

Draw a diagonal line falling to the right at 45 degrees and have the child draw a similar line beside yours. The child’s reproduction should at least 5 cm and should not deviate

Four corners must be enclosed, and sides with less than 15 degrees deviation

7. Drawing Left Diagonal Lines

from the 45 degree angle by more than 15 degrees.

Less than 15 degrees of deviation from the 45 degrees Less than 15 degrees of deviation from 45 degrees

8. Tracing a Triangle

Appropriate Age: 5 ~ 5 1/2 years old

Evaluation Key:

Direct the child’s attention to the illustration of a triangle, and ask him or her to trace out a similar triangle. The child’s reproduction should be enclosed on all three angles of the triangle.

All three angles of the triangle should be enclosed