Tag Archives: inclusive

Adapted Games for Inclusive Play: Candy Land

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Adapted Games For Inclusive Play - Candy Land

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Adapted Games for Inclusive Play: Candy Land

I’ve been looking for a way to make the Candy Land game accessible for kids with special needs and found a great solution by combing an app, a specific version of the board game and ideas from an old journal article and a few websites!

Who knew that there has been SO many different versions of this game over the years and that each version has slightly different pictures on the “picture squares” in the game?

Well there has been and I was determined to get the version of the board game that matched up to this app. Could have sworn that I already had the Candy Land board game but looked through my entire stash of materials and couldn’t find it. If I had found it and it wasn’t the right version, my plan was to take screenshots of the pink picture squares from the app and attach them to the game board to make it match.
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After extensive research I finally figured out which version of the Candy Land board game matches this app. I bought “Candy Land – The Kingdom of Sweets Board Game” (2010) on Amazon for $7.49: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000DMF5 and this app for $.99 (Candy Cards by Panther Technology,  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/candy-cards/id554983778?mt=8 , iOS 3.2 or later, Universal app that works on iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch). I was initially leery of the app since it had not been updated since 2012 but at the price of $.99 decided to try it out. I’m pleased to report that it worked fine on my iPad Air (running iOS 9.3.1) and on my iPhone 5 (running iOS 9.3.2). The only quirky thing I noted when using the app on an iPhone is that the app did not adjust to landscape orientation and had a small black band of dead space at the top and bottom of the screen.

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Check out all the options in this app’s settings area:

Under “Accessibility” settings:

  •  “Safety Time”: For kids who tend to tap repetitively, you can lock the screen for 2, 3, 5 or 10 seconds after drawing each card. That means focus can stay on the game instead of “stimming” on the iPad screen.
  • The “Target” feature can be centered, appear at random places, or even move around the screen if you are wanting to work on “targeted touch”. When “target” is toggled off, you can tap anywhere on the screen to “draw” a card (great for kids with more severe motor impairments).

Under “Play Settings”, you can toggle on/off the background music, the card count, and sound effects and select one of four backgrounds (grey metal, orange, candy stripe and my personal fave… a calming green).

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See more about the app on the developer’s website: http://panthertechnology.com/products/panther-candy-cards/

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So for the bargain price of $8.48 I now have a version of this classic kids game that is more inclusive of kids of a wide range of abilities and needs. I plan on modifying play further when I am in a group or have parents and/or siblings present by playing as “teams” where one teammate’s job is to “draw” the card using the app and the other teammate’s job is to move the game piece. Another option in a 1-on-1 session would be for you and the child to use it as a “cooperative” game and work together as a team to move one of the game pieces to the castle.

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I am also planning on incorporating the ideas for adaptations & task analysis from the journal article “Everyone Can Play!: Adapting the Candy Land Board Game TEACHING Exceptional Children July-August 1996 28: 28-33” (yes I realize the article is 20 years old but the concepts are still valid today). I saved a PDF of the full article out on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1p1pimgnjmm52wp/Everyone%20Can%20Play%20-%20Adapting%20the%20Candy%20Land%20Board%20Game.pdf?dl=0

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{No Prep SLP Tips: Candy Land} https://omazingkidsllc.com/2016/07/28/no-prep-slp-tips-candy-land/

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Additional ideas:

Check out these great Pinterest boards full of game adaptation ideas:

And lots of materials created by SLPs on TPT: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/PreK-12-Subject-Area/Speech-Therapy/Search:candy+land. I especially like this self esteem conversation prompts freebie: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Self-Esteem-Prompts-for-Candy-Land-1152578

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Oooh… just saw this fun idea to combine Candy Land + the Name That Word Game. Love finding new ways to use materials that I already own! I got my copy of that game several years ago at a back-to-school sale at a teacher supply store but saw that it’s available on Amazon.

http://millionsoffingerprints.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-in-speech-therapywe-played-candy.html

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Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities
Home E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com
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Blog: http://omazingkidsllc.com
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Angela Moorad is the founder of OMazing Kids, LLC and is an ASHA certified & licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and Kids Yoga Teacher with over 26 years experience working in a variety of settings (early intervention, schools, teletherapy & a nonprofit pediatric rehab hospital for children with developmental disabilities). She is an app beta tester for educational & therapeutic app developers and loves sharing info about great apps, products, books & toys to use with kids of all abilities.
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{please ignore any ads that may appear below. This is a free blog and I don’t have any control over ads nor do I profit from them}

Universal Design for Inclusive Kids Yoga: Inclusion is Belonging

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I have had this on my heart to share for a while and decided that today would be a good day as we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Inclusion & Universal Design

Inclusive programs create accepting environments and send a powerful message that all children are welcomed and valued.

When inclusive practices are fully embraced, we provide all children with an authentic sense of belonging.

Materials and programs that are developed with “universal design” concepts are designed from the beginning to be flexible enough to accommodate the unique needs of a wide range of individuals, including those with and without disabilities.

The intent of “universal design” is to simplify life for everyone by making products and programs usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal design benefits people of all ages and abilities. Have you ever used automatic doors or “curb cut” ramps? Then you have benefitted from universal design.

Inclusion is Belonging – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9-XX9227ek

Here’s my dream: Let’s use the concept of “universal design” as we develop and implement yoga programs and materials for kids and youth. What simple modifications can we make to be inclusive and supportive of kids and youth of all abilities and needs in our classes? Can we add visual supports? Simplify instructions? Modify poses for specific physical and/or sensory needs?

Before offering “separate” classes or creating “separate” materials for kids & youth with special needs, consider what could be done to support inclusion in what is already available.

Ok….. I’m not Pollyanna. I know that inclusion may take more thought and planning. Inclusion may be uncomfortable the first time you are faced with how to handle a challenging behavior. And there may some situations where it would not be safe for a particular child to be included at that point in time (ex: due to extremely aggressive behaviors). But based on my 21 years experience working with kids of all ages (0-21 years) & a wide variety of special needs, it is pretty rare to have a child with that extreme of a behavioral issue unless you are working in a program/setting specifically designed for those intense needs.

  • Who better to “be the change we want to see in the world” than those of us doing yoga with kids & youth?
  • Where better to truly teach the concept of inclusion than in yoga programs for kids & youth?

Need help knowing how to take steps towards inclusion? One great resource would be to collaborate with folks who are passionate about inclusion in your own community. Look for a teacher, a parent of a child with special needs, a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, social worker, etc… who shares your passion for inclusion.

And I’m here to brainstorm ideas via my OMazing Kids Yoga Facebook page….. The reason I established it was as a means to promote inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities…. So I’d love to help!

Here are some great online resources for inclusion:

http://www.inclusionproject.org/

http://www.includingsamuel.com/resources/inclusion.aspx

Supporting Inclusion for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Community Programs

http://www.kitonline.org/html/about/publications/Supporting-Children-with-Autism-Disabilities/eMagFiles/source/Binder1.pdf

Supporting Social Emotional Needs

http://www.kitonline.org/html/about/publications/KITSocial-Emo-Bookletindd/eMagFiles/source/KITSocial%20Emo%20Booklet.pdf

Supporting Children with Developmental Disabilities

http://www.kitonline.org/html/about/publications/Supporting-Children-with-Development/eMagFiles/source/Special%20Hope%20Resource%20Guide.pdf

Visual Support Video Series: How to Use Pictures to Enhance Activities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=720vEFf40ls

Visual Support Video Series: How to Use Picture and Object Schedules

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpsJoZSn61c

Defining expectations: How to Teach Children What is Expected of Them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZb_FqBAu7Q

Sensory support: How to Accommodate Children Who Are Over or Under-Sensitive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmsPYQd_Gmk

 

My goal in providing these thoughts & resources is to inspire and support inclusion. Namaste! 🙂

 

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC – inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities in Norman, Oklahoma

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1

Blog: http://omazingkidsyoga.com

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Using Visual Supports in Yoga Groups for Kids & Teens – being inclusive of learning styles

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Looking for ways to include kids & teens with different learning styles in your yoga groups? Want to use positive ways to support participation and reduce problematic behaviors? Then you might want to consider using “visual supports”.

Many of the kids I work with in OMazing Kids Yoga have difficulty understanding & following verbal instructions. This can be due to a difference in learning style (visual vs. auditory learner), difficulty maintaining attention (ex: ADD/ADHD), difficulty tuning out extra sensory input to be able to attend (ex: Sensory Processing Disorders), focusing in too much on an area of high interest to the point that the child has difficulty attending to other information (ex: Autism Spectrum Disorders), specific learning disabilities, etc…

Regardless of “why” the child is having difficulty understanding & following instructions, this will make it difficult for them to participate in a meaningful way in activities, including a kids yoga class.

Adding “visual supports” (ex: pictures of the poses, pictures to depict the sequence of activities that will occur in the group, pictures to show the “steps” within an activity, showing “first ____ / then _______”, etc…) can make a BIG difference for many kids.

Here are a few examples of visual supports I created to use in OMazing Kids Yoga:

Some kids do well with a “Social Story” describing the expected behavior and how that makes other feel:

Some kids do well with a left-to-right schedule showing what will happen in the group (other kids do better with a top-to-bottom type schedule):

(this file is saved out on Boardmaker Share at: http://www.boardmakerachieve.com/Activity/1865866)

Some kids need extra visual cues to help them understand concepts:

(Note: These are just a few examples of the many different visual supports I use. Every child is unique so I often modify things or make new visual supports to meet those unique needs. Some kids do better with photos, black & white symbols or just words.)

Looking for PDF printable versions of some visual supports?  Here are a few: yoga breathing visual support (flower and candle), Social Story “Good Behavior in Yoga Group” with picture symbols, Peace Tree – guided visualization.

 How Do I Make These Visual Supports?  I use a combination of Boardmaker, MS Word, MS Paint, Google Images and the “snipping tool” in Windows 7. Boardmaker is a software program commonly used by Special Education teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists and other therapists to make communication boards, educational materials & visual supports for kids with special needs. Mayer Johnson offers a 30-day free trial of the program (http://www.mayer-johnson.com/downloads/trials/) and free online trainings on how to use it (http://www.mayer-johnson.com/training/recorded/details/id/2189/).

More About Visual Supports

Visual supports help many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other special needs understand their world better.

Just as many adults need calendars, to-do lists, shopping lists and planners to remind them of their activities for the day, many children need visual schedules and other visual supports.

Visual supports enhance understanding of what is going to happen and clarify expectations during that specific time period or activity.

In addition, visual supports often help the child move from one activity to the next with less frustration and reduced behavioral outbursts because the symbols turn the unknown into something the child understands.

The consistency provided by a visual support is crucial in establishing an atmosphere of trust and
security. Visual supports can also provide motivation for the child to work through a less preferred activity knowing a preferred/reinforcing activity is coming soon.

The type of symbols used, number of activities and amount of time shown on a visual schedule depend on the individual child’s needs.

If you want even more info about “visual supports”, check out these websites:

http://www.autism4teachers.com/autism4teachers_028.htm

http://www.autism4teachers.com/autism4teachers_020.htm

http://cdd.unm.edu/swan/autism_course/modules/environ/visualschedule/index.htm

http://card.ufl.edu/content/visual.html

http://www.polyxo.com/visualsupport/

http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/visual-supports

http://www.usevisualstrategies.com/VisualStrategiesInformation.aspx

http://visualaidsforlearning.com/

http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/visual-supports.pdf 

NOTE:  Please ignore any ads that appear below the blue divider bar. This is a free blog site & I have no control over ads appearing here.

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC – inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities in Norman, Oklahoma
Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2
E-mail: amoorad1@juno.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OMazingKidsYoga
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/amoorad1
Blog: https://omazingkidsyoga.wordpress.com