Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land are classic board games that probably bring us all back to our childhood’s, but are there board games to teach kids important skills like language and abstract thinking? Sherry Artemenko, M.S., CCC-SLP recently posted a blog about her favorite and most effective games to play in therapy sessions.
Her top pick is Buzz Blast by Discovery Bay Games. The game consists of players taking turns in four different challenges. The challenges include spotting differences between two pictures, coming up with an answer to a tricky question, completing a silly sentence and blurting out a tongue twister, but the player has to move fast before the timer runs out! Artemenko says Buzz Blast helps develop critical language skills such as categories, association, similarities and differences and abstract thinking.
Another one of her favorite games to play is I Built It! Memory Match + Tic Tac Toe by I Build It! Games. This is a fun version of the classic memory match and Tic Tac Toe games where you can create your own customized game pieces with photos, drawings and stickers. You can even download free drawings like 3-D shapes and numbers from their website. There are many concepts kids can take away from this game including vocabulary, concepts, emotions and facial expressions, opposites, sounds for articulation practice and word-finding.
The therapists at our clinic enjoy a variety of games including Headbandz, which involves wearing a headband with a picture on it then guessing what the picture is and helps children with language skills, as well as Zingo, which is a snazzy version of classic bingo.