I created this board by drawing a bullseye and putting velcro in the white areas and on the opposite side of a few light balls. (You can play without the velcro, you will just need to pay attention to where the ball hits the board.) Then I drew some Angry Birds and put them around the board (angry birds are Connor's motivation, use whatever motivates your child - songs titles, words like tickles, squeezes, or maybe types of dancing (experiment with words and pictures to see what your child likes best - I find pictures more fun myself). If you want to elongate the game and if your child is willing, have them help in some way (choosing the motivations, or coloring the pictures - Connor told me how to color each bird, so we worked on language skills too!)
Tape the bullseye to the wall. Then model the game a few times by throwing the ball and wherever it hits on the board give your child that motivation. After you've done it a few times ask your child to throw the ball to pick the motivation. It's that simple, and fun!
ways to vary the game:
- Wear a velcro headband over your eyes to keep the balls on when not in use, to encourage your child to look more
- Use one motivation such as tickles or squeeze and have body parts (places to tickle) taped to the board
- For children in higher stages, have numbers on the board and throw 3 balls, add the numbers up that all 3 balls hit and have a correlating sheet that has motivations for different numbers (e.g. 3 = singing "in the jungle", 5 = making up your own handshake, 7= doing silly faces, etc.
Have fun, let me know how it goes, and if you have a creative way you varied the game, please share!
love,
Katrina