BusyBoard Games for Child Development
Developmental games with BusyBoards for children
How to play with the elements of the BusyBoard?
Despite the fact that the BusyBoard is designed for independent play and study, teachers use various didactic games. They will help to use the toy more effectively, as well as a great way to spend time together with the child. Here are some exercises with different elements:
Acquaintance. Show the figure and say its name clearly. Repeat this several times, and then ask the baby to show you a circle, a square, a triangle. In the same way, you can study the colors if the figures are made in different shades.
Study of properties. Point to the circle and ask to show its angles. Emphasize that there are no angles, that the circle is smooth and the same on all sides. Study the square, count its sides and angles, look at it from different angles, rotating the board. How does a square differ from a rectangle? And from the trapeze? Let the kid think and give answers. Encourage independence.
Goal. Show the child where he/she should put the chip. Put a figurine there or stick a sticker.
Navigator. Let the child move the chip in the direction you name. For example, right, left, up, down, forward, backward. So he/she will remember the names of the directions, learn how to act according to the algorithm. Then switch roles and drive the chip as directed by the kid. Complicate the task by setting a goal to reach. The child must learn not only to determine the route, but also to divide it into segments, to build an algorithm of actions.
Blindfold movement. Blindfold the baby so that he/she moves the chip, following the voice commands.
Exploration. Run your child's finger along the zipper blades. Show how their position changes when they are zipped and unzipped. Blindfold your baby. Let him/her feel whether the zipper is up or down.
Secret. Hide a picture or candy behind a snake. Your kid will find it when he/she opens it.
Fairy tale. Make up a story about zipper blades who are tired of living together, and they called the magic doggie, who disconnected them. After a while zipper blades realized that they feel bad without each other - everything falls out of the pocket. And then the wise doggy came running and connected them. Let the child come up with his/her own version of the tale.
Exploration. Examine the buttons, ask your child to count the holes in each button, tell what material it is made of, what it feels like. How can a button hold two pieces of fabric? Let the child guess for himself/herself.
Surprise. Put a small gift in the pocket so that the baby will find it when he/she opens it. Suggest to play this game the other way around: baby hides things in pockets, and an adult unzips them and discovers them.
Button up blindly. Blindfold your child and suggest that he/she fastens all the buttons or unbuttons. This actively develops sensory and tactile senses.
Learning the numbers. If the phone has a screen, the game will be more visual. Invite a child to find the button with the number 1 and press it. So learn all the numbers. Then call numbers in any order, and make the task more difficult by using two-digit numbers.
Rhythm. The game is suitable, if the phone has sound accompaniment of buttons. Press the button several times. The child should repeat the rhythm, observing the duration of pauses between button pressing. The task can be complicated and varied by blindfolding your baby. In this way, he/she will concentrate only on auditory perception.
In this way it is possible to explore each element on the BusyBoard , inventing new activities with the things fixed to the board.
Examples of exercises with a BusyBoard
There are several varieties of Activity boards that can be used to teach a child. Let's look at the most common boards and options for their use.
BusyBoards
Identify the item. An adult thinks of an object on the board and describes it. For example, this object is shaped like a rectangle. It has buttons with numbers and a small screen - a phone. Looking at the Activity board the child should guess the object. Then it is possible to switch roles: the child thinks of and describes the object, and the adult guesses. This develops speech and communication.
Memory. If the BusyBoard has doors with pictures hidden behind them, you can test your child's attention and memory. The adult asks: "Which door does the bunny hide behind?" The child should remember and point to the door.
Colors. The adult is on one side of the board and the child is on the other. The adult says, "I see something green." The child should name all objects of green. Then roles change.
Visual memory. The child looks at one side of the BusyBoard. Then an adult turn the toy with the other side and the baby should call as many elements as possible that he/she saw from the hidden side.
Counting. Your baby should count all the red or round objects. By doing this the kid learns counting, remember colours and shapes.
Who's there? Hide a toy inside the house. The child has to find it when he/she unlock the doors. Thus, fine motor skills and intelligence are trained.
Who lives in the house? The child has to think up a story about a character who lives in the Busyhouse. An adult can help by leading questions about the character's appearance, character and habits. You can draw or make the character and place it inside the house. Thus, imagination and creative thinking are improved.
The Blind Secret. After a child has mastered the locks and clasps, an adult may offer him/her to open the house blindfolded. The child should not only unlock all the doors, but also guess by touch what is inside the house. Thus, tactile sensations are developed, the child learns to voice what his/her hands feel. In this way the kid´s intelligence is being improved and horizons is widen.
Studying a cube and its properties. An adult explains what a cube is. Together with the child, they count the sides, angles, and edges. Try to roll the toy and do other experiments with it. At the end, the kid should tell what kind of figure it is and how it differs from the ball.
Hunting. An adult should put a candy or a small gift inside the cube, which the kid can get only when he or she unlocks everything. This stimulates interest in the play and curiosity.
Remember! The adult names an object, and the child has to find it on the Busy Cube. The object can be on every side of the cube. It is possible not to name the object, but to describe it. This is a more complicated version of the game.
BusyBoard is a universal game aid, which can be used in training sessions with children of different ages, physical and intellectual level of development. It is suitable for group and individual sessions, independent and with the help of an adult. Some manufacturers offer panels with fastening to the wall. They can be used to decorate the children's room and play area. In this way a space is formed which encourages comprehensive development.
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