Grill Party

Grill Party is a good game for children who have a strong conceptual understanding of the meaning of basic math concepts "more than," "less than," and "none." These concepts are stated in terms of algebraic statements, such as "no X ;" " Most X;" and "More X than Y." The game uses visuals of four pieces of food at a time, so children who are concrete can easily make comparisons of amount. The challenging part of the game for children with autism is paying attention to what food other players have in front of them so that they can play strategically. Even without the strategic aspect, however, the game will enable children to enjoy exchanging their food pieces to match the equation on their cards.

Autism Strengths & Interests

Short Summary of Strengths & Interests

• Likes food or cooking.
• Is good at relative math concepts like "less than".
• Likes to make matches between ideas and visuals.

Is good at matching visual items

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
Grill Party requires visualizing what was read on the cards and being able to match the meaning to what is seen on the grill. This is not a visual match, but rather a concept to visual match.

Children who understand what they read will be able to identify a visual match.

Has a good memory for sensory details, including visual, touch, taste and smell

This game is not appropriate

Has a good memory for words, phrases and dialouge

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
The child has to remember the meaning of the words on the cards, such as "more" and "than" and relate them to the phrase on the card, "More X than Y", and then relate that to the visual of the objects on the grill. The child who has a good memory for these concepts will do well with the game.

Has a good memory for pictures, numbers and patterns

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
The players have to recreate the pattern listed on the cards they select. Using real pictures of objects will enable children with autism to have a concrete way of demonstrating meaning.

Likes to put things in order or a sequence

This game is not appropriate

Learns through visualizing or "replaying" actions in their mind

This game is not appropriate

Likes activities with rules, such as math and phonics

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
Grill Party requires players to understand relative values like "more than" and "less than". Many children with autism enjoy math because of the underlying logic and rules. Children with this preference will be able to use those skills to great advantage while playing the game.

Is very concrete and literal

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
Some children with autism prefer concrete or literal activities. Grill Party is good for children with this preference and skill, since players need to trade pieces every turn in order to maximize the amount of cards they can discard. Also, the images on the cards clearly relate to the game pieces.

Learns in small "chunks" (for example, phone numbers are 3 chunks of number xxx-xxx-xxxx that are combined together)

This game is not appropriate

Is good at nonverbal reasoning and logic

This game is not appropriate

Likes spatial problem solving

This game is not appropriate

Can read well with good vocabulary, though may not fully comprehend content

Is This Game Appropriate? Yes

Description
While the Grill Party is not a "reading" game, players do need to be able to read the directions on the card, such as More Corn Than Fish, and understand what the card means.

Likes to use and has good fine motor skill

This game is not appropriate

Likes established routines or set ways of doing things

This game is not appropriate

Likes manipulating, constructing or building things

This game is not appropriate

Likes to use and has good musical abilities

This game is not appropriate

Likes to use and has good drawing skills

This game is not appropriate