Team Digger

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players need to look around the game board and discuss where to move their dogs next. Additionally, they need to examine each others' cards and discuss trading to that they can make the sequences for moving dogs and digging.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
To help children explore closely, parents can encourage them to through trading cards one person at a time to avoid confusion.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Team Digger is a great way for children to learn collaboration and sharing as they discuss options for moving their dogs and who needs to trade cards with whom.

If you notice that children are not trading cards, encourage them to share their ideas for moving their own dog and ask the other children if they have ideas for better moves to make. Then they can work together to trade cards so the best sequence of moves can be made.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
There is a lot of determining in Team Digger including deciding whether to chase your tail, which cards to trade, the sequence of 5 cards to play, and the value of each object turned over after playing a dig card.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
In addition to the suggestion in the Explore section, parents can remind children about the Chasing Your Tail option. This is a good way for children to explore and determine whether to proceed with digging up or avoiding an object tile.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Team Digger builds sequential thinking and logic as each child, with the help of others, decide which 5 cards to play each turn.

Educators can ask questions such as "Would it help if anyone chased their tail this round?" and "Who has the best chance to dig up more than one spot?" to help guide discussion and decision making.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
As players explore and discuss where to move dogs, they need to evaluate options for which player(s) has best opportunity to get to dig site(s).

How Parents Can Assist Learning
If you notice that children are not making optimal choices for moving their dogs, encourage them to talk about their goals for this round. Then, encourage them to create different sequences of 5 cards. Lastly, have them talk through the different options to determine which are better than others.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Playing Team Digger gives players an opportunity to develop skills in generating and comparing five-step solutions, which is an advanced form of comparison for young children.

To assist children, educators may want to have the players try out their sequences by physically moving their dog or using their fingers to touch the game board while reading the 5 cards in order. This can help children see and discuss the sequences prior to deciding which sequences to play.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Memory is not a skill required in Team Digger. However, there is option in the game that does require remembering what is under a dig site.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
To add memory skill building to the game, any time a player uses "Chasing Your Tail" they will show it to all the other players and then turn it face down. This way, the children need to remember what is under that object card for future turns, otherwise they may miss getting a Wanted Item or Bone, or unintentionally dig up an Unwanted Item.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
To add memory skill building to the game, any time a player uses "Chasing Your Tail" they will show it to all the other players and then turn it face down. This way, the children need to remember what is under that object card for future turns, otherwise they may miss getting a Wanted Item or Bone, or unintentionally dig up an Unwanted Item.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Planning is the primary skill involved in playing Team Digger as the players figure out how to sequence the five best moves for all players during a turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
It may help to encourage children to "Look. Think. Talk." This will help them spend time enough time considering where to move dogs, how to share cards to optimize paths and determine whether any player will chase its tail.

This will also help with impulsivity and decision-making. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play as well as complex life choices.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Children use and develop mental modeling, sequencing and visual spatial reasoning and planning as they conceive of the best sequence of five cards for each player to make.

Educators can create specific goals for children to achieve, such as "Everyone try to get to the closest (or farthest) object tile to their dog" or "At least one player needs to chase their tail this round", in order to guide planning and sequencing skill development.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Team Digger involves a little experimentation because there is so much planning. However, players can experiment with how much they use the Chasing Your Tail option.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
No special parent assistance is needed. If you notice children are not using the Chasing Your Tail option, you can remind them to consider it on the next round or two.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
No special educator assistance is needed. If you notice children are not using the Chasing Your Tail option, you can remind them to consider it on the next round or two.

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players will get better at visual spatial reasoning and planning by playing repeated rounds of Team Digger.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
It may help children to act out a variety of five card sequences before selecting the final set of moves. They can do this by sequencing the five cards they think would be good to play, and then move their dog accordingly to see what happens.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Because the spatial reasoning involves a lot of mental modeling, children may have difficulty selecting the most effective five card sequences.

To assist with learning, have children discuss what worked or did not work after each sequence is played. This also helps with developing cooperation and problem-solving skills.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Team Digger is great for cooperative problem-solving as players discuss moves and sometimes trade cards to help each other create pathways to and dig up Object Tiles.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can encourage children to take turns helping each other figure out where to move their dog and which cards they need to achieve their goal. Additionally, ask the children to try to make trades that help each other achieve the group's goals.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Playing Team Digger gives children an opportunity to develop planning, reasoning and problem-solving skills as they collaboratively generate and compare five-step solutions to develop strategies and approaches for winning the game.

To assist children, educators may want to have the players prototype sequences and discuss how the dogs will move to identify ways to improve the sequence. It may also help to have children help one player at a time to develop a five card sequence.

To help children improve problem-solving skills, educators may want them to talk about what happens each time they play a sequence. Did it go as expected? What have they learned by turning over Object Cards? What would they have done differently?

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Mark an 'L' on the left hand and an 'R' on the right hand of the child, as a cue for movement. After playing the game several times the child will learn the directions

Play with object tiles face up for the first round of play. This will enable the child to learn what are desirable and undesirable objects.

Wanted objects, unwanted objects, and bones all have different colored backgrounds to help differentiate them. Point this out to the child to help them remember the meaning.

Hold each card along with the dog as they make moves, so the child can see the relationship of the arrows to the movement of the dog.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Talk through the moves with each card played to aid comprehension.

Talk through trades one person at a time to avoid confusion.

Encourage the quiet player to describe his cards and his thinking about possible moves. Invite other players to provide options for discussion.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If one player is unable to move their dog, other players can move it on their behalf.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Because it is a team game, helping each other make decisions should reduce frustration.

Encourage asking for help in understanding what to trade or which dig site to head toward.

Discuss how trades should help both players, and discuss options.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
The back of the Object Tiles are the same color as the board, so this may make it difficult for children with low vision to see where to go with their dog.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Point to the cards as visual aids, along with gestures, for making trades.

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

Extra Ways to Play the Game
If you get all wanted objects before the game is over, you only need to collect 3 bones.

Materials Needed
No additional materials are needed.

Developmental Benefits
This modification provides and incentive for the players to use the "chase your tail" strategy so they can peek to ensure they are going for a desired object.