Fred,
If you're teaching a group that needs to work on Life Skills, Set is
going to be very frustrating for them. None of my kids this year will
touch it after the first try... even when we play the "easy" verison.
We play Fluxx, but only about 3 of my kids will play. I'd hoped that
Family Fluxx, with fewer cards, and more life-skills oriented graphics
would be better and the whole group would play, but my Spanish speaker
has a temper tantrum when he sees me going for the cards, and my other
lower student also dislikes playing it. I think that it is too hard for
them. I also have to admit that although many of my students enjoy
playing it, and have enjoyed it, it is almost always a dismal failure
for my kids with an autistic spectrum disorder. The rules change too
quickly, and that is the biggest problem that kids with an autism
spectrum disorder have; they need things to be structured and the same.
One reason that we do games is because it gives them a chance to
practice social skills, and also some functional math skills.
Magi
Fred Poutre wrote:
The group I am working with plans to have seminar like settings for study
skills, social skills, life skills (cooking, cleaning, sewing). They
mentioned that they wanted a break in the middle to do something "fun",
so I suggested games. Fluxx in particular and Set (non-Looney game) is a
very good one as well.
They are games that encourage thinking that are fun.
Plus as I am tutoring math, I can demonstrate the mathematic properties
of them and the fact that is takes math to make the games. Real life
application of math, that is not as boring to most kids.
That is exactly the thing I wanted to do, in combination with the math
demonstration of how they function as a pattern. Not just Fluxx, but
other games as well. Making games also teaches pattern manipulation
skills (which can be in part mathematical).