Saturday, August 15, 2009

Autism Toys : Cat in the Hat - I Can Do That!
Cat in the Hat - I Can Do That!

The Cat in the Hat I Can Do That! Game ia a high-energy game that combines balancing, jumping, sliding, giggling, and more to celebrate your child's I Can Do That attitude. Jump into the fun and discover all the new things you can do! Can you limbo under the trick-a-ma-stick while balancing the fish on your stomach?! There are hundreds of hilarious possibilities. The player who earns the most stars wins. The Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That! Game offers hours of out-of-your-seat fun while encouraging reading development, physical activity, and memory skills.

This is not your traditional board game. I Can Do That! comes with imaginative props inspired by the classic children's book The Cat In the Hat by Dr. Seuss, as well as a deck of color-coded cards that provide funny, challenging activities.

To start, a player picks one of each of the three color cards. Taken together, the cards create a fun and funny activity the player is challenged to do. For example, Card 1 could read "Take Four Giant Steps," Card 2 "With the Cake," and Card 3 "On your head!" Each card also has one, two, or three stars on it for score keeping purposes. If the player wants to take the challenge, he says "I can do that!" and proceeds. If he succeeds, he keeps the cards in his own scoring pile. If he doesn't think he can do the activity, he can re-draw until he gets an activity that he can do. But watch out: if he draws a "Stop!" card, he must give up his cards and end his turn. The player with the most stars in the scoring pile wins the game.

The beauty of this game is in its simplicity. Easy-to-follow instructions and super-easy assembly ensure that your family will be playing in no time, with minimal frustration -- a must for the enthusiastic, shorter attention spans of younger kids.

We also love that this game goes beyond traditional board games to get kids up and moving. This is great both for energetic youngsters who lack the patience to focus quietly and for children who need a bit more motivation to get physical. Kids will have a lot of fun balancing, crawling, leaping, and skipping with the whimsical props. They'll enjoy watching each other, and they'll learn to compete in an entertaining environment.

We also love that the game's structure encourages kids to challenge themselves, while the option of drawing and re-drawing cards still gives them the choice to play at their comfort levels. The simple, generalized game instructions are open it to many variations, and the instructions actually encourage families to customize the rules to their children's abilities and desires.

The only concern we had was with the game's durability. The foam pieces definitely won't last as long as your vintage Monopoly set. But on the plus side, the flexible, soft props guard well against injuries or mishaps.

Cat in the Hat Reviews

"Excellent Teaching Game...and it's fun for everyone!!!"

I bought this for my son and I thought it was too good to be true! My son is 4 and has autism. This game is wonderful for any child (my typical 2 year old can do it and LOVES it!) but it is the perfect game for teaching a child with autism to follow directions. We started out just having him do one thing at a time, quickly moved to using 2 cards, and are now on using 3. It has been such a wonderful addition to our therapies that we do with him and he has so much fun playing it. My only complaint is that my two year old easily ripped the foam thing-a-ma-stick (I think that's what it's called) but the toy is recommend for 4 and up anyway. If you are considering this game for your typical child or your child with special needs I would say go for it. I mentioned the game to both his speech therapist and occupational therapist and they have both gone out and bought it to use with kids they see for therapy with rave reviews. A++++

"Super fun!"

I bought this game for my niece (age 6) and nephew (4) and we had a blast playing it over the weekend. The game is infused with Seuss silliness and lots of fun physical activity. What I loved most was that it gives each child their little moment in the spotlight as they act out the activities on the cards and show everyone what they can do. I also loved the reinforcement of numbers, colors, counting, and puzzle solving. I highly recommend this game!

"Great for getting kids with speech disorders to talk"

We love this game. We play it with our 2.5 yo who has apraxia, a speech disorder. We also play it with our 5.5 yo to help him learn how to read.