Dreaming Dragon

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
The game requires players to examine how eggs and lizards are placed in relation to each other and pick an option likely to result in obtaining a lizard without letting an egg fall.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can ask children to walk around the dragon and look for where lizards are not touching an egg or hooked to a lizard that is touching an egg. This teaches children to explore and think before acting.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
This game helps children think about inter-relationship among parts. How does one thing I do result in something I do not expect. Many fine motor games, including construction and puzzle solving require this type of study. Educators can encourage children to think about various aspects: placement of eggs, position of lizards to each other, carefulness of movement, etc. Ask them to explore the game set up before playing.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players must analyze position of lizards and eggs, connection of the lizards, and likelihood of successful retrieval. Players may be thinking, "I'll try this lizard instead of the areas where more eggs could fall."

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can encourage children to determine the best option for a given play. Encourage study before acting.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Strategy games or activities that require anticipation of consequences all require analysis of the specific aspects of the situation. Educators can encourage looking at more than one spot before determining which lizard to select.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will compare what worked and didn't work on each turn and begin to modify their approach. Parents can verbalize what they saw in each player's turn. For example, Maisie found a lizard that was hooked to another lizard and got two lizards. I tried that too, but my second lizard was touching an egg, so the egg fell.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can encourage children to compare their actions to determine what was successful. Why did an egg fall or not fall on the previous turn.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Educators can ask children to discuss why a move worked or didn't, and how one move was similar or different than another.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Memory of successes and failures will help players develop more successful strategies. Player may be thinking, "I need to look at where the eggs just fell, so I can see if there are lizards without any eggs now."

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Personal experience of success or failure reinforces what to do or not do in future situations. These experiences may generalize to other games and situations. Especially when children make a mistake, adults can ask them to remember the turn where they had more success. "What did you do then?"

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Personal experience of success or failure reinforces what to do or not do in future situations. These experiences may generalize to other games and situations. Especially when children make a mistake, adults can ask them to remember the turn where they had more success. "What did you do then?"

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
With experience with the game, players will be able to predict the likelihood of success on any particular turn. Parents can ask children to predict what will happen on their turn. This will help children think more carefully and be less impulsive.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
The experience with this game may help children think ahead and be more cautious before acting. This is particularly true if adults reinforce the learning. For example, "Remember what happens if you don't think ahead. Your golden egg falls."

Learning Implications and Educator Support
With experience with the game, players will be able to predict the likelihood of success on any particular turn. Educators can ask children to predict what will happen on each turn. This will help children think more carefully and be less impulsive.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Parents can encourage children to watch what other players do, analyze the result, survey the options, and plan their next move. "There are still lots of lizards left. I need to take my time and look for the best spot."

How Parents Can Assist Learning
This teaches children to take their time and make a plan. Parents can encourage children to take their time, look over the whole dragon, and make a plan for what they will do.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Children will often have their eye on a lizard they want to get in the next turn, only to have another player retrieve it first. Educators can encourage children to think of more than one option for their next turn. This will build foresight and confidence.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Each turn gives the player a chance to try a different approach, such as move slowly, move quickly, pull out the end first, and find an area with no eggs.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Children who try different approaches and find what works are more successful than children who are impulsive. Parents can reinforce children's efforts to try something different when the previous approach failed. Prior to playing "for real," parents can let kids try different moves with a "practice dragon."

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Children who try different approaches and find what works are more successful than children who are impulsive. Educators can reinforce children's efforts to try something different when the previous approach failed. Prior to playing "for real," educators can let kids try different moves with a "practice dragon."

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Each turn gives players practice with their strategies.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Leave the dragon, lizards, and tongs out for practice. Children will see the "loaded" dragon and won't be able to ignore it. The dragon will draw them in for practice!

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Practice is needed to learn any skill. Educators can reinforce the child's increasing skill, such as for seeing where to try to get a lizard, using the tongs, or being careful in their approach. This is a game that can be left as part of a classroom play center (such as construction) for children to construct and de-construct at will.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
After several turns the player will be better able to analyze the dragon and choose a place to play. With practice players will conclude that if the eggs are touching any of the lizards they are trying to retrieve the egg will be moved.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can comment on various aspects of each turn to help children focus on different aspects. For instance, "Move v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y!" Or, "If you tip the lizard backwards as you slowly pull it out, the egg may fall on the lizard behind it." Giving tips may help children think of strategies they had not considered.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
This game encourages children to be persistent in their efforts. Drawing conclusions from several tries is important, but doesn't always happen naturally. Educators can help children see what worked by asking questions or by making comments, such as "When you got the lizard before you pulled his tail out from below the lizard above. Will that work now?" Educators should comment on children's persistence and their efforts to try to solve the problem. They can also encourage them to help each other with ideas and encouragement.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Good players will think back on what they tried in previous turns. A player might think, "A couple of turns ago I saw two eggs together and only paid attention to one."

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Reviewing previous actions is important for learning. Parents can ask children to think about what they did before. "What do you need to think about?" "Why did that work so well?" "Tell us how you did that?"

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Reviewing previous actions is important for learning. Educators can ask children to think about what they did before. "What do you need to think about?" "Why did that work so well?" "Tell us how you did that?"

Demonstrate

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will begin to anticipate what will happen to other players in their moves. ("Don't try it!")

How Parents Can Assist Learning
A great way to support children is to say, "Show me how you did that! You were great!" Children love to show off their skills. Demonstrating or verbalizing what they did makes children evaluate what worked.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Learning to be a leader involves learning how to support others. Educators can encourage children to share what they are learning with others. A child might say, "I'll try this instead of the areas where more eggs could fall." in order to show other children how to successfully get a Dragon.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Use fewer eggs so the child has more chance for success and can count more easily.
Use fewer lizards so they are easier to pick up, and the child can have early success.
Show children how to line up the lizards as they come off the dragon. Also, line up the eggs underneath the lizards. This provides organization so the child can see the relationship.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Start with two eggs on the pile of lizards. Give instructions slowly, so the child can understand. After the first lizard is retrieved continue slowly until an egg falls. Add two more eggs and proceed. Keep adding eggs as the child comprehends the process. Then play as intended.
Ask the child to verbalize what they are doing to practice using action words and prepositions.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Use fewer lizards and eggs. Let children use their fingers first, so they understand how to pick up a lizard without the egg falling.
Move to using tweezers when the child can successfully pick up a lizard with fingers. Add a few more lizards to increase the need for the tweezers.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Use a flashlight and shine it on an area where the child can try to pick up a lizard. This will help the child focus.
Use verbal prompts in a soft, slow voice to prompt slow movements.
Ask the child to verbalize what they are doing. For example, "Tell me what you are doing as you do it, so I can learn how you do it." This will help the child focus and be less impulsive.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If child has some vision, place one egg at a time and use a magnifying glass while picking up the lizards.
Describe what is on the card and let children with vision concerns use the verbal cues as a stimulus for their story.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Model how to do the game before starting. Start with fewer eggs and lizards. Line up the lizards that you retrieved and count them. Line up the eggs that fell under the lizards. Remove each egg with a lizard. Count and write down the total number of lizards left. Show the child the number and give a "thumbs up" to indicate this is good. Then put all of the lizards and eggs out and model the increased difficulty.

*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Cook golden eggs to make breakfast for the King and Queen. Mom and Dad are King and Queen to be served "royal eggs" by the "royal chef." Make up a story about where the royal eggs came from. Do they have magical powers if you eat them? Or, even turn your story into a play with the magical eggs.

Materials Needed
Use pretend or real pots and pans and utensils for "cooking" the golden eggs from the game.

Developmental Benefits
This expansion builds children's imagination and creativity through dramatic play. Interaction with the parents can add language skills and practice of social conventions. Having the child develop a story line also builds the foundations of literacy.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Spoon race with eggs. Use a teaspoon, place an egg it it, and let children race in a safe space. If egg spills, they start over. This can be a relay or group race to a finish line.

Materials Needed
Teaspoons and the golden eggs.

Developmental Benefits
Walking or running while carrying the egg in a teaspoon develops balance. The child also needs to think about two things at the same time, namely, running/walking (a gross motor task) and carrying (a fine motor task). This complicated task builds coordination.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Use the pinchers to pick up and hook lizards together. Hold first lizard in one hand, use other hand to manipulate the pinchers and attach it to the previous lizard. See who can make the longest chain in one minute.

Materials Needed
Pinchers and lizards from the game.

Developmental Benefits
This expanded game helps children build the ability to use the eyes to guide the hands (eye-hand coordination) and bilateral (both sides of the body) coordination. The addition of timing adds tension to the game, thus, children need to employ impulse control to maintain their focus.

Extra Ways to Play the Game
Let children make a virtual "game board" path on the floor out of the lizards with the dragon at the end of the path. The lizards are the "spaces" on the game board. Use the eggs as the players' markers. Add one die or a spinner. Let children make up the rules for the game. For example, each colored lizard might have a meaning (Green means go forward one more. Purple means go forward two. Yellow means stay where you are. Red means go back one. Blue means go back two.) Children role the die to move forward. The first player to get their egg to the dragon at the end of the path wins. Have children make a chart, so they can remember the meaning of the colors. Green = +1, Purple = +2, etc.

Materials Needed
Lizards and golden eggs from the game. One die or a spinner from another game.

Developmental Benefits
Making up a game requires planning and working together to make up the rules. This builds cooperation and negotiation skills. Children can be creative by developing a story to go with the game they create. They also can build a winding path that could around a sofa, under a chair, etc. If they decide to assign a meaning to the color of the lizards they are engaging symbolic thinking and using memory skills. Having the game spread out on the floor uses both gross motor and fine motor skills. Parents may need to help children see how they can create a game on the floor, but once it is started the children will take over and make it their own!