Qualities

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players explore the Values, Traits and Activity preferences of other players.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can support children by making sure to use positive reinforcement and celebrating when children share their preferences, values and traits.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Qualities provides a emotionally safe space for children to explore and learn about the Values and Preferences of other players. It also allows them to share what they think about themselves (e.g. their Traits), as well as their preferred Activities and Values.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players determine how to vote by playing a number card.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents may want to remove cards that are not relevant to children.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Educators may want to remove cards that are not relevant to children.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Player compare their votes with each other and the Active Player.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
While no special parent support is required, encourage children to discuss the votes and why some people matched and others did not. This will help children learn how to use language to understand and share personal information with others in a safe environment.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
While no special educator support is required, encourage children to discuss the votes and why some people matched and others did not. This will help children learn how to use language to understand and share personal information with others in a safe environment.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
This game is primarily about remembering what they know about the Active Player.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Qualities involves a range of memory skills such as emotional, visual and narrative memories.Allow children to ask one or two questions if they have no idea how to vote. After that, encourage them to make their best guess. Making informed guesses is equivalent to hypothesizing, which is important to mathematics and scientific examination.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Qualities involves a range of memory skills such as emotional, visual and narrative memories. These skills are encompasses in explicit autobiographical, explicit semantic and explicit episodic memory categories.Allow children to ask one or two questions if they have no idea how to vote. After that, encourage them to make their best guess. Making informed guesses is equivalent to hypothesizing, which is important to mathematics and scientific examination.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will try to guess what the Active Player will select.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children are having difficulty making a choice (for example, would the Active Player prefer Yoga, Reading or Shopping), give them clues to help them understand or remember what they know about the Active Player. The more they know about the Active Player, the better they will be able to predict what the Active Player will choose.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Qualities involves a range of memory types, including explicit autobiographical, explicit semantic and explicit episodic memory.If children are having difficulty making a choice (for example, would the Active Player prefer Yoga, Reading or Shopping), give them clues to help them understand or remember what they know about the Active Player. The more they know about the Active Player, the better they will be able to predict what the Active Player will choose.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players solve the game by having the most successful voting matches, and using tokens to obtain Qualities cards that they need.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special parent support required. However, if you notice that a child has more than 2 of a card, suggest that they think about options for obtaining purple coins.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special educator support required. However, if you notice that a child has more than 2 of a card, suggest that they think about options for obtaining purple coins.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may review if encouraged. See How Parents Can Assist Learning.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Children will not need support to review. However, reviewing the voting can be great way to enhance learning. For example, prompt children to talk about the votes that surprised them.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Children will not need support to review. However, reviewing the voting can be great way to enhance learning. For example, prompt children to talk about the votes that surprised them.

Demonstrate

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may demonstrate if encouraged. See How Parents Can Assist Learning.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
After the game is over, ask children to share something new they learned and talk about what interested them about it.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
After the game is over, ask children to share something new they learned and talk about what interested them about it.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
A simplification for children with cognitive delays is to make the goal to gather six tokens, not cards. This eliminates the need for getting two of each quality card. Also, allow players win tokens if 3-5 players match each other, not just the active player.
Play the game in stages to learn the various parts. Start with the easiest cards first, namely, the Intensity cards. Then add the Players Choice cards, and, finally, add in the Group vote.
Line up the dominoes in sequential order from 2 to 14, then back down to 3. Then knock them down to make a domino run. This give children with cognitive delays practice in identifying the numbers in sequence as well as counting backwards

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
After each turn, ask players why they voted the way they did. This will encourage a deeper discussion of actions, feelings, and so on that are perceived by players and led to their conclusions.
It is important that all players have a similar understanding of the meaning of the terms. If a player doesn't understand a word, ask the other players for a definition. If there is no consensus, look up the word. This is a good way for children to learn new vocabulary.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Assist children who have difficulty manipulating the cards.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
This game is all about social and emotional traits. Care should be taken with children who are emotionally fragile so they do not feel they are being judged critically. What may be perceived by some children as a positive comment may be perceived by others as negative. Make sure to frame discussions of traits associated with each player in an affirmative way to build self esteem.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Read the trait, value, and activity cards to children with low vision.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
All players would need to use sign or the hearing impaired person's communication system for discussion. No modification should be needed for taking turns, as the cards in the game are used for voting.

Autism Special Considerations

Appears to ignore other's communication and/or has difficulty giving eye contact to a communication partner

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Although eye contact is not technically required, the game does required players to pay attention to each others comments.
Sit at an angle to the child, so direct eye contact is not needed.
Look at the game instead of each other.

Has difficulty understanding complex verbal directions

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Qualities is inappropriate for children who have difficulty understanding complex directions.

Uses vocabulary inaccurately or demonstrates echolalia (repeating another's speech)

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Children need to be able to read the cards and discuss their thinking compared to others'. For this reason may be difficult for children with special needs who have difficulty producing accurate communication.

Gets stuck repeating a verbal topic or physical actions and/or has difficulty attending to others' actions or topic.

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Children need to pay attention to other player's thoughts and understand their reasoning. For this reason Qualities is not recommended for children who have difficulty listening to and understanding others' thinking.

Has difficulty producing speech/communication

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Communication during play is required in some form. If augmentative communication is not possible, the game is not appropriate.

Has difficulty sequencing multi-step actions and/or doing complex abstract tasks

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Qualities is not appropriate for children who have difficulty comprehending abstract ideas. Many of the topics, such as Values, are abstract in nature.

Demonstrates difficulty initiating and maintaining social interactions

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Qualities is a social game requiring understanding of others thoughts and feelings, turn taking, and communication. For this reason, the game is not appropriate for children with these concerns.

Acts out or demonstrates avoidance behaviors when frustrated, overwhelmed, or needs more sensory input.

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Reduce extraneous noise.

A weighted vest worn during the game may provide additional pressure input and thus reduce fidgeting due to sensory needs. Pressure can be calming when used for no more than 20 minutes at a time. Practice a phrase to ask for help and role play situations in the game where it is needed.

Provide techniques for self-calming, such as holding a special toy. Allow time for movement. For example, a child who needs to move frequently can be given an opportunity to 'celebrate' their turn by running around the table or jumping up and down 10 times.

Has short attention span for non-preferred activities

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Not recommended for children who have a short attention span with regard to abstract conversations.

Needs sameness or consistent routines and/or has difficulty with transitions from one activity to another

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Play games at the same time every day, so the child anticipates the game routine.

Change the location of the game, so the child may play in different rooms, at the table, or on the floor. This will build tolerance for variation.

Prepare the child ahead time for the introduction of a new game. Talk about aspects that will be motivating for the child, and let them explore the parts of the game before setting out the whole game.

Provide choices for how the child can be involved in set up or clean up. For example, you might ask, "Do you want to set up the board or set out the game cards?"

Involve the child verbally and with actions for the transition to the game table or at the end of game play. For example, you might say, "Here's a game card. Let's find where it goes?"

Has difficulty understanding others' feelings, intentions, and the reasons for others' actions.

Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No

Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification?

Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Qualities is not recommended for children who have difficulty understanding others' feelings, intentions, and reasoning. Children need to anticipate other players' thinking and respond by voting accordingly.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Don't use the board. Player One draws a card and shows all the other players the card, but doesn't look at it. The other players, in turn, have 30 seconds to try to get Player One to guess what is on the card. The player can use gestures, act it out, or use words (but not the word on the card). If Player One guesses the word or words, both Player One and the person who prompted the guess get a token.
A similar version would be to do the same game, but in a collaborative version, where all players work together to get the active player to guess the card. No tokens are given, it's just for fun!

Materials Needed
No additional materials needed.

Developmental Benefits
The benefit of this modification is that actions add another element to the game. Players have to try to communicate abstract concepts in concrete ways. Adding movement and gestures also contributes a silliness factor that can lighten up any serious topics.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Add a die. On your turn, after selecting the question card, roll a die. If an odd number comes up, do the opposite . For example, "To which player does this trait apply the most?" You would change it to "To which player does this trait apply the least?"

Materials Needed
Add one die.

Developmental Benefits
This modification makes players do reverse thinking.