Time Jumpers

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players need to explore options for where to place your cards, how best to move their pawns, and which card is best to select and place strategically on their dashboard.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
As children look for the best card to select, encourage them to look at other players' dashboards.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Educators may want to use Time Jumpers to spark children's interest in different topics. At the end of a game, ask each child select a card they liked the most and discuss what they found interesting. This may also lead the child to seek out more information about the topic or related topics. This is great for building curiosity and research skills.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
As players explore, they are quickly concluding their analysis in order to decide which card to select, where to play it and where to move their pawn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Time Jumpers involves so much decision making, it may help to encourage children to "Wait. Look. Think." This will help them spend time enough time considering options and implications of different possible uses of letter and power cards.

This will also help with impulsivity and planning. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play as well as complex life choices.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Time Jumpers involves so much decision making, it may help to encourage children to "Wait. Look. Think." This will help them spend time enough time considering options and implications of different possible uses of letter and power cards.

This will also help with impulsivity and planning. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play as well as complex life choices.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
In combination with exploring and determining, players will compare the relative benefits of different choices as part of their analysis underlying final decisions for what to do on their turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If you notice that a child is having difficulty making the best choices, ask them to talk about the options they are considering and why one would be better than others. Encourage analytical thinking by asking open-ended questions like "Where would you place that card on your dashboard?", "How does selecting that card help you or block another player?" or "Which card would give you the best scoring option?"

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Time Jumpers involves complex comparing and analysis as children need to consider multiple scoring scenarios, blocking other players' scoring goals, and where to move their pawns in anticipation of next turn.

Educators can engage players with open-ended questions and dialogue to help them advance their analytical skill development.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will have an advantage if they keep track of other players' dashboards which can help them anticipate which cards other players may be pursuing.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
As players fill out their dashboards, an individual player can hypothesize which cards or types of cards other players are seeking. This information can help them make choices that may thwart other players while putting themselves into best scoring position.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Playing Time Jumpers involves thinking ahead, anticipating the goals of other players and thinking through consequences of possible moves.

Educators may want to ask a player on their turn to predict what each other player will do on their next turn. This may reveal areas of strength or weakness in the child's thinking that can be discussed and, if needed, improved..

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Playing Time Jumpers involves some planning as players try to plan sequences of moving their pawns in order to pick cards they want. Also, when a bonus token is used, the player will quickly plan how to rearrange the cards on their dashboard most advantageously.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Because the planning is limited, there is no assistance required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Because the planning is limited, there is no assistance required.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
While experimentation is not prevalent in a single game, players may experiment with different card placement and scoring strategies over multiple games.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
While assistance is not required, parents may encourage children to try out different strategies to see what may work best in different situations. For example, in one game try to fill in the Century Spread first. In the next, try to get Time Span and Accuracy.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
While assistance is not required, educators may encourage children to try out different strategies to see what may work best in different situations. For example, in one game try to fill in the Century Spread first. In the next, try to get Time Span and Accuracy.

Alternatively, direct all players to the same goal during a game. For example, everyone go for Century Spread first. After one is completed, then announce the next goal.

After experimentation, discuss the results and why they occurred.

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Because Time Jumpers has many implicit levels of strategy, players will get better at strategic thinking the more they play.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
While assistance is not required, parents may use any of the other recommendations for skill(s) development for Time Jumpers to help their child focus on the areas they most need to practice in order to get better at the game.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Time Jumpers involves a lot of strategic thinking, analysis, logic, reasoning, spatial reasoning and other cognitive skills.

To learn how a more advanced player is solving the game, while promoting social interaction, active listening, and verbal communication skills, educators can encourage players to ask others why they made a certain move.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players need to adapt their play to address the affects (ex: a card they want is taken) and strategies (ex: another player has nearly completed the Century Spread) of other players.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If you notice a child is getting stuck with limited good options for scoring, parents may want to remind the child that they have a bonus token. This allows the child to rearrange their entire dashboard, except for completed sections.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Time Jumpers involves a lot of adaptation as players modify their strategies and goals based on the moves of other players.

If you notice a child is making poor decisions, educators may want to pair the child with a more experienced player for a few games. Or, ask open-ended questions to help the child think more thoroughly about their options prior to making a move.

Imagine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may use their imagination if the visualize history, geography, culture, science, and other topics based on what they read on the cards.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special assistance is required.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special assistance is required.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with cognitive delays may have difficulty focusing on more than one attribute at a time. In the Century Spread area, eliminate the need for finding one of each category and decade, and focus on getting the years (emphasizing the final two digits). The other sections can follow the game directions.

Play as partners so one partner can help the other think about choices and explain the rationale. Allow the child with cognitive delays to pick a card from the appropriate portal row. Then ask for an explanation of where the card should go and why the card is a good choice.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Although Time Jumpers can be played without communication, children who are verbal should be encouraged to read and share the information on their cards with the other players. As most of the information on the game cards will be new to the players, the game can generate discussions about the meaning of the information on the cards and changes in society from one century to the next.

The directions for Time Jumpers are complicated. Illustrate how each of the sections is to be completed by laying out cards in a demonstration. Also demonstrate the use of the bonus tokens and the jump cards. Watch the video on the SimplyFun site.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with fine motor concerns may find placement of the game cards in the rectangles on the Dashboard challenging. Other players can assist by following the child's pointing or verbal commands.

Children who need to move frequently due to attention issues or motoric needs can be allowed to move around the table studying each player's dashboard. This encourages comparison and thinking about strategy, and also enables the child to get needed sensory input and maintain attention to the game.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children who find time concepts or basic math difficult, may find Time Jumpers frustrating. Focus on the discussion about topics the cards elicit. Eliminate the final counting of points. Instead, vote for the most interesting fact.

Play as partners so one partner can help the other think about choices and explain the rationale. Jointly decide on which card to pick, and discuss the rationale. Also, discuss other player's dashboards, and what they cards they might want.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with low vision may have difficulty seeing the difference between the orange and red cards. Add a star or other symbol to one of these sets of cards.

The description of the facts on each card is in very small font. Provide magnifying glasses.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with who are deaf or hard of hearing may have difficulty hearing the cards being read or any discussion about the topic. Play in partners, so one can read the card aloud, and the child who is hard of hearing can add comments.

If the child who is deaf or hard of hearing can read their card, have the other children write comments about the fact on paper or a whiteboard to share.

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