The Bloglish Game Zone

Welcome to the Bloglish Game Zone. This blog is intended to put together games for groups of kids. My focus, however, is on special education rather than typically developing children. Why I try to find group games that are aimed at the groups in the school where I work, I don't find a lot that is specifically aimed at our population. Most just aren't appropriate for our needs. Many of them also seem like they're no fun. So, I'm going to see if I can get together a set of games that are appropriate specifically for special education groups, and could probably used with groups of typically developing children.

Your group is really only as advanced as its weakest member. In this respect, you really need to know a group and be willing to make changes for everyone. For purposes of this list, I'll try to group games into three group levels. Of course, each game could probably be adapted for every group, this is mostly just a template.

• GROUP ONE - This is our lowest functioning group. The group dynamic is good for them to develop social skills that are not quite where they should be for the age level. This group requires a lot of prompting, and games should be very simple. Concepts such as social skills, sharing, teamwork, cooperation, sequencing, and following directions are very important for this group.
• GROUP TWO - This group is higher functioning, but not to the point where they are completely independent. This group is more competitive, but still need to work on their social skills. Games should be less about winning, and more about achievement. Some prompting is still necessary, and rules can be more challenging, but not too complicated.
• GROUP THREE - This is our highest functioning group. The students are generally independent, and very good at following directions. Rules can be more complex, and competition can be emphasized. Other things to work on are teamwork, strategy, and cooperation to achieve a common goal.

You'll know your children better than I will, but this is the basic setup of the groups at the school where I work. Variations that you can think of are appreciated. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy.
-Dr. Worm, Gamemaster