Ideas for games with Liam

Here are ideas to try this week for Liam:

1)      Kristen created a poster with Phrases for Liam. There are two options to use this poster. One option is to practice the sentences in scenarios created with characters. The characters could be the pillow pets, or stuffed animals, or plastic animals, or puppets, or vehicles. The phrases are all things that Liam could learn to be able to express himself more accurately, things like:

·         I don’t like it

·         I am bored

·         It’s hard

·         I would rather do something else

·         I don’t want to play this right now

·         I rather tear paper

·         Leave me alone

·         I am tired

·         I am grumpy

·         I want to go downstairs

·         I want to throw

Another option is to go to that poster every time Liam WHINES. You could show him 3 options of sentences and ask him if any of those is what he is thinking or feeling. Like: “Why don’t you want to play?  Is it becase it is hard? Or because you want to tear paper? Or because you want to go downstairs to jump?” Help him with options and help him to see that those explanations are more helpful for us to give him what he wants.

2)      Megan had an idea about using Liam’s vehicles as characters. We could put the 3 houses that we have: the dollhouse, the Barbie house, and that white house, and we could have the vehicles live in the houses and visit each other and do stories with them in a “city of 3 houses”.

3)      I got a vehicle magazine. Megan said we could cut vehicles and create posters of “I like” and “I don’t like” and we could ask him questions such as “Which one do you like?” or if it is related to drawing, it could be “which one would you rather have me draw?” We could also combine the things from the vehicle magazine with the things from the house decoration magazine to see what Liam puts in the “Like” and “I don’t like” posters.

4)      Google and see if you can find vehicle crosswords. We have done this in the past, but it was more with instruments, I think.

5)      Create lots of opportunities for YES and NO answers. He is doing great with them, so let’s make sure he is practicing that a lot to refresh his mind about YES and NO.

6)      I brought out the vehicle domino. Teach him to play domino. Don’t let him throw the pieces. He can throw pillows instead.

7)      I brought out the vehicle memory game. It matches vehicles to their context. Look at the corner for the clue that matches the cards. Don’t let him throw the pieces. He can throw pillows instead.

8)      With the throwing, he can throw light stuff and at the end, tell him to clean up. Don’t let him throw puzzle pieces or small cards because we lose them.

9)      With the wooden puzzles that he loves (transportation), you could be in control of the pieces and ask question such as: how many pieces do you want? So that he practices answering “how many?” type of questions.

I will talk with Megan again in about a week, so let’s practice these ideas and let me know any questions you have for her. She will be coming to Houston in August, but I don’t know the dates, yet.