Recently, as I was looking on the internet for games to play with my kids on the autism spectrum, I came across autismgames.org, a wonderful site engineered by speech pathologist, Tahirih Bushey.
Her site and blog encourages parents and specialists to learn about how to use games to teach children on the autism spectrum. According to her website it includes:
- Games that will engage young children with ASD in play
- Videos of kids and families playing the games to model play and imitate
- Tips on how to make the play more fun and educational
I decided to check out her blog more closely today and found a recent video on the game, “Monster, Monster, Please Come Out.” I loved watching the simple game of one of the participants pretending to be the monster and hiding behind a bean bag chair, while the other players used different emotional voices to call out the monster. They worked together to decided whether to use a happy, silly, scary or mad voice. Finally the monster emerged from behind the bean bag and gleefully chased after the other players.
I tried the game today with one of my kids on the autism spectrum and his mom. We had a hilarious time trading places and calling out the monster. There was collaboration by the remaining players to decide what emotion to use as we called out the monster and lots of interaction as the monster surprised us with a friendly scare.
Before the game even began, I had a good laugh as my little client “hid” himself under the bean bag chair. At least he thought he was hidden.
Check out this site for more fun games to play with kids with ASD.
