Rolling Tides

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players look for where to move or place dice on the gameboard.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Encourage children to look closely at where other dice are located, especially where other players may be able to make a grouping of 4 or more of their animal dice. It is important for the child to be able to judge whether to make an offensive or defensive move on their turn.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Playing Rolling Tides helps children develop spatial reasoning skills, planning and perspective changing.
Encourage children to look closely at where other dice are located, especially where other players may be able to make a grouping of 4 or more of their animal dice. It is important for the child to be able to judge whether to make an offensive or defensive move on their turn.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Determining is the primary skill developed playing Rolling Tides as each turn offers players the chance to evaluate different options prior to deciding a specific offensive or defensive move to make.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Allow children to physically move dice in different directions on the gameboard to evaluate options, prior to deciding on the final move they want to make.
If you notice a child consistently misses the option to move die to a strong offensive or defensive position, ask them to explain their move and then discuss options. This will help the child learn to think carefully and strategically prior to making a final decision.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
In addition to determining where to move one die and place another on a turn, children need to determine what type of strategic approach, offensive or defensive, to use during the game.
Educators can encourage children to discuss their options and to declare whether they want to make an offensive (try to make a group of four or more of an animal set) or defensive (try to block another player from making a group) move prior to placing a piece on the board. Allow children to physically move dice in different directions on the gameboard to evaluate options, prior to deciding on the final move they want to make.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players need to compare symbols (Wave and Current) and animals to make a set. They also need to compare the positions of other players to determine whether to be offensive or defensive on their turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Children will be able to make the comparison of symbols and animals without assistance.
To help with impulsive behavior, encourage children to look closely at the gameboard prior to making a move, including getting up and moving around the table to see the board from different angles. This can help the child see more options and to think carefully before moving.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Rolling Tides involves a high level of spatial reasoning and strategic thinking. Educators can help children develop these skills by carefully examining the positions of all the dice on the gameboard and to think about what the other players may be trying to achieve.
The educator can help children learn by observing and commenting on why certain moves were good choices. Avoid commenting on bad choices, so as not to embarrass players.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may try to predict what other players are trying to accomplish based on prior moves.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Children can increase their ability to predict if they concentrate, compare options and look at the position of all the other dice rather than play impulsively. Help children by asking them to "Wait. Look. Think." Using such cues can give children a model for future play.
In particular, draw children's attention to where other players are starting to create a group of four, making sure to consider that the Current and Wave symbols are wild, i.e. can be any animal. This will help them predict where other players will try to move or place dice on future turns.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
The more players, the harder it become to predict as the gameboard changes multiple times before your turn. Children can increase their ability to predict if they concentrate, compare options, think about how other players have made moves in the past, and look at the position of all the other dice rather than play impulsively. Help children by asking them to "Wait. Look. Think." Using such cues can give children a model for future play.
In particular, draw children's attention to where other players are starting to create a group of four, making sure to consider that the Current and Wave symbols are wild, i.e. can be any animal. This will help them predict where other players will try to move or place dice on future turns.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
There is a little planning in Rolling Tides as players may try to move dice to avoid being blocked, to get a set of four or more, or block an opponent on their next turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can encourage children to look at options for reaching a goal. Ask questions like "Where are you trying to create your group?" or "Do you think your opponent is trying to create a group or block you?"

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Educators can encourage children to look at options for reaching a goal. Ask questions like "Where are you trying to create your group?" or "Do you think your opponent is trying to create a group or block you?"
Also, Rolling Tides is a good game for helping children develop organizational skills as they plan moves, and adaptive skills as they creatively respond to moves of opponents. Organizing is essential to effective planning and is an important executive functioning skill.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will likely experiment with offensive and defensive strategies to determine what is most successful for them in a game or multiple games.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Discuss different strategies prior to starting the game. When first learning, play a practice game and discuss. Then, play again with the child trying different approaches and strategies (ex: try to block more frequently). Discuss again and compare the advantages and disadvantages. Once children understand different strategies, they can shift and adapt strategies within a game.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
This game involves solving two problems at once. First is how to make a a group of four or more of the same animals, including using wild card dice. Second is how to prevent other's from making a group. Thus, there are different approaches and strategies.
Discuss different strategies prior to starting the game. When first learning, play a practice game and discuss. Then, play again with the child trying different approaches and strategies (ex: try to block more frequently). Discuss again and compare the advantages and disadvantages. Once children understand different strategies, they can shift and adapt strategies within a game.
Further, educators can help children with their strategic thinking by encouraging them to change perspectives, i.e. imagine what an opponent might do. This will help them anticipate which is essential to planning and prediction.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players use their spatial reasoning and adaptability to create groups of four or more animal dice in an effor to be the first person to get 20 tokens.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
After children have mastered the rules and functions of the pieces, they learn new approaches by watching others during game play. This information directly effects how children strategize an approach for placing and moving dice, and ultimately solve the game.
This fundamental ability to shift strategies based on new information is a great life skill that can help children cope with the stresses of change in other areas of their life.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
This game involves uses of visual spatial problem solving, directionality and if/then problem solving. After children have mastered the rules and functions of the pieces, they learn new approaches constantly during game play. This information directly effects how children strategize an approach for placing and moving dice, and ultimately solve the game.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may review their strategies and moves to make improvements going forward as the game progresses.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
This game involves uses of visual spatial problem solving, directionality and if/then problem solving. As the game is being learned, children may move or place dice in non-strategic ways. If parents see this, ask children to explain their thinking and discuss what they might do differently next time.
It is also important for parents to model their own thinking, as this can help children learn a new strategy.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
This game involves uses of visual spatial problem solving, directionality and if/then problem solving. As the game is being learned, children may move or place dice in non-strategic ways. If parents see this, ask children to explain their thinking and discuss what they might do differently next time.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
The directions for Rolling Tides are complex. The meaning of the ‘Current’ and ‘Wave’ symbols and the concept of "wild" may be hard for children with cognitive challenges to understand. Blocking another player is also difficult to understand. Eliminate the "wild" dice or use the ‘Current’ and ‘Wave’ dice as two additional sets of symbols to build a group. If they make a group of Current or Wave (example, four Waves), let them take an equal number of their animal tiles.

Change the game of Rolling Tides for children with developmental delays. Make it a matching game. Place one animal die on the edge of each side of the game board. Allow children to roll a die and place it with other similar animals. Count the die in each set as it is grows. Encourage children to visually determine how many dice are in the set. The child can then find a matching animal tiles to place on the scoreboard. When there are 20 animal tiles on a scoreboard, see which scoreboard has the most of any one tile to determine the winner.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Explain the game through demonstration, as the directions may be difficult to understand for children with receptive language difficulties. Language production is not needed while playing the game, but can be encouraged. Ask players to name the animal on the rolled dice, count their animal tiles, discuss potential plays, and so on.

Build vocabulary by reading the information on the back of the score cards and the information about tide pools in the directions. Look for pictures of the animals and other sea creatures in books or online. This will make the game more meaningful.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If the child lacks motor control for rolling a die softly, use a cup the child can shake and dump out the die.

Placement of the die may be challenging for children with poor fine motor control. It may be helpful to draw a new gameboard with larger squares.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with low frustration tolerance may find it difficult to tolerate another player "blocking" their plan to form a group. Have them breathe deeply several times, while helping them to think about their next move and maybe how to block other players as well.

Children with impulsivity may not think carefully about different potential moves. Encourage children to think about more than one option at each turn, so they are looking for other potential groups of animal dice they can build.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with low vision may have difficulty seeing the animals on the dice. They can be encouraged to use color matching instead. The green of the shore crab and blues of the current and wave dice may be difficult to discriminate. Other players may need to name what was rolled and remind them of the meaning of the symbol.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Hearing is not needed to play Rolling Tides. Encourage the player to read the directions as the game is being demonstrated.

*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Have children do research on the four animals as well as currents, waves, and tide pools. They can then write down their favorite facts. As the game is played, each player who throws a die then names a fact they discovered about the animal or water event.

Materials Needed
Expository books, videos, or internet information about crustaceans, sea creatures, and the ocean.

Developmental Benefits
Children love books with real pictures of animals and ocean life. After reading several books or sections of books with the child, discuss your favorite facts. Sharing informational books is motivating to children and enables discussion that reinforces learning.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Draw pictures of the different animals in the game and other sea creatures. Share these with others before playing Rolling Tides.

Materials Needed
Paper and markers or crayons.

Developmental Benefits
Creating pictures of the Rolling Tides animals encourages children to notice details, ask questions, and share ideas. Drawing supports imagination and expression of ideas.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Experiment with new dice moving rules. For example, in one game, dice must be moved 4 spaces. In another, dice can jump over other dice. In another, dice can move diagonally.

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
Experimentation helps children learn to be adaptable, resilient and creatively thinkers. It also may make the game more interesting because children are taking control of rule-making.