Playing a Game

Today's gift is playing a game.

Last week Mimi brought the kids a new game to play.  She is always on the lookout for new games my daughter can play and games which can travel easily.  The newest addition to the game cabinet is Tenzi....a dice game.

Tenzi is really fun.  But what makes it really fun is the fact the whole family can play it...all five of us...even my daughter with special needs.

I played it yesterday with my son for the first time to understand the game.  There really isn't too much to understand as the directions are really easy to follow.  It was a fast moving game too, which is always good for my daughter.  She doesn't like waiting around...it needs to keep moving.

This afternoon we had some down time before dinner, so I thought it would be a great time to introduce Tenzi to my daughter.  Granny was over too, so I was able to introduce it to her as well.  I also used this time to play the game using her iPODD.  I started off my telling her through PODD I had something to show her...a dice game.  Then I asked her through PODD what color she wanted to be (yellow, orange, green or blue) to which she picked blue.

The three of us played the game.  She truly enjoyed it and sometimes she would get our goat and throw the dice in the opposite direction, which required Granny to get up and get it and she would laugh (my daughter....not Granny!).  While we played I would say using PODD it was her turn to roll or she was done or it was my turn or it was Granny's turn.

My daughter was also enjoying a snack while playing.  She had been watching and hearing me say "another" through PODD for it was " her time for another roll".  Well, she took that icon today to indicate a different reason for wanting "another".... It was to tell me he wanted another pretzel!
How incredible was it that she was communicating to me using an appropriate word on a new page in her PODD book while playing a game!  She has always used the word "more" either verbally or through her iPad to indicate she wanted "more" to eat....never has she used the word "another"!

So in reality, even though she didn't say it verbally, she definitely gained a new word to add to her vocabulary list as she proved to me today she clearly knows the meaning of the word "another"!

And the best part of the game...was telling her through PODD, that she won! She was so proud of herself!  It came down to my daughter having one die left and me and Granny having two.....and the luck of the roll.  It must have been the good luck kiss my daughter gave her die right before she rolled it into Granny's hand.....to get her the lucky number she needed to win!

What a fun way to end our afternoon. We are big fans of Tenzi and can't wait to play again!

Here is a quote for today....

Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn- Vernon Howard