One of the things I scored recently was a six pack of game spinners for 50 cents and a Dinosaur Bingo game (with dinosaur spinner!) for 99 cents. I didn't really know what I would do with them, but I knew they were worth picking up.
It occurred to me that the colors on one of the spinners mostly matched the colors of the giant bin o' pit balls Bear got for his 2nd birthday. And I recalled that his OT often has the kids go up and down the hall to perform some activity at either end.
Thus was born the ball game.
1) Spin the colored spinner at one end of the room/hall
2) Run down to the bin to retrieve a matching ball
3) Run back to other end and deposit ball (another bin, box, etc)
Bear thought it was great. He also thought it was the height of comedy to bring back the wrong color on purpose (while insisting orange was blue), or to bring back two balls instead of one, so he was in a good mood and easier to direct. He got a kick out of spinning the spinner, and when we were done his reward for following directions was to sit in the big bin while I poured balls over his head.
Next goal is to play the game with multiple kids and work on his turn taking. And I hope to incorporate a scooter like his OT does as soon as I get around to ordering it.
I'm definitely looking for ideas for other spinner based activities. I already realized I can use the three color one to play Red Light/Green Light (though he's not ready for it yet). I was also happy to notice we can swap the 6 number spinner out for die in some games (he can handle things like Cooties and Candyland, but isn't really clear on counting dots yet. Plus, he tends to throw dice around the room).
Any suggestions?
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