Board Games for Children with Special Needs
Play skills are essential for young children with disabilities to practice during early development. Research indicates that play is associated with improved social and communication skills and promotes improved physical and mental health. In addition, play provides opportunities to foster relationships with caregivers and peers. Obviously, there are many different types of play such as dramatic play, toy play, and board game play. There are many benefits of using board games for special needs children although direct instruction may be necessary to improve their play skills.
Board Games for Special Needs – Benefits of Board Game Play for Young Children with Disabilities
One of the primary benefits of board game play for young children is that the games are readily available in early childhood settings, therefore, providing normal contextual play between children with and without disabilities. Most preschool, daycare and home settings have a few simple board games available for play to encourage social interactions.
This type of play can help to:
- teach social communication among peers.
- teach early academic concepts such as color, shape, letter and number recognition and simple counting skills.
- provide fine motor skill practice when manipulating the game pieces.
- offer a meaningful play activity among children.
How to Increase Independent Play for Young Children with Disabilities
The positive benefits of board games for special needs children are clear. Here are several evidence-based suggestions to increase independent play in young children with disabilities:
- use a system of least prompts procedure when teaching board game play to young children (read more on how to use prompts effectively here).
- provide visual activity schedules or pictures during game playing.
- provide peer modeling.
- offer contingent reinforcement.
Once children learn basic board game play, additional skills can be encouraged for more advanced social skills and higher level academic concepts.
Read more on improving play skills for children with disabilities.
Reference: Barton, E. E., Pokorski, E. A., Sweeney, E. M., Velez, M., Gossett, S., Qiu, J., … & Domingo, M. (2018). An Empirical Examination of Effective Practices for Teaching Board Game Play to Young Children. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 1098300717753833.
Suggestions – Board Games for Special Needs
Do you need ideas to get started? Why not try incorporating motor skills with board game play? Check out these great resources:
Read More on Play
Board Games and Learning Numbers
Read more on Inclusive Play for Children with Physical Disabilities