Thursday, April 16, 2009

Create Folder Games For Children With Autism

Sight words folder game


Folder games are useful tools for educating children with autism in basic concepts and they allow for repetition of key concepts. Folder games are very versatile and many games can be created quickly, cheaply and easily. To illustrate the simplicity of creating a folder game, follow these steps to create a folder game for teaching sight words.


Instructions


1. Decide the focus of the game. The end goal should be to teach a new concept or skill. Folder games can be used to illustrate a variety of concepts. A game could be created to teach children about animal habitats, numbers, colors, holidays, capital and lowercase letters, or different food groups. The possibilities really are endless. In this example the goal will to be having the child match printed words with the images representing those words. Identifying sight words (words children can read by sight alone) are an important step in the reading process.


2. Gather the images or text needed for your game. In the example pictured clip art found online and text typed on Microsoft Word where used to create the necessary elements for the folder game. Alternatively images from magazines or newspapers could have been used to illustrate the concept.








3. Cut the images and text apart. Glue the appropriate images onto the file folder. For the sight words file folder game the images were glued on one side of the folder and an envelope used to hold the words was glued on the other site of the folder.








4. Cover exposed images with packing tape, laminate or clear contact paper. If you plan on using the game more than once then images will have to be protected from moisture and dirt. Heat set laminate is the best protection for folder games that will be used in a classroom setting or that will be handled by multiple children over a long period of time. Self adhesive laminate sheets or clear contact paper are an affordable option for games that will be handled less frequently. Clear packing tape is a nice way to protect smaller images in folder games and is relatively inexpensive.


5. Play the game. Children with autism often require repetition to learn a new skill or concept. Be patient and encouraging when playing folder games. Focus more attention on correct answers than incorrect ones and give frequent praise.

Tags: folder game, Folder games, that will, clear contact, clear contact paper, contact paper, file folder