Zone to Zone

Explore

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
While review is not required, players will often reflect back on choices they made.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Parents can support children by encouraging them to look at all of the pieces on the board. Where are they located? How are they stacked? What are the effects of the stacks?

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Playing Zone to Zone helps children develop spatial reasoning skills, planning, strategic thinking, probability and perspective changing.
Educators can support children by encouraging them to look carefully at all of the pieces on the board and how pieces are stacked, not just their own color.

Determine

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Zone to Zone requires a high level of determining as players examine the board and arrangement of pieces in order to decide what possible moves they can make.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
This game involves examining the board and creating mental models of the consequences of moving different pieces.
When first learning to play, players may think about consequences of the immediate move. As they become more proficient, children will think about multiple moves ahead in order to evaluate what piece would be best to move on their turn. Additionally, there are some instances where a player must move a piece based on what they did in a prior turn. Therefore, they must think carefully prior to moving or untrapping a piece.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Like chess, Zone to Zone involves examining the board and creating mental models of the consequences of moving different pieces.
When first learning to play, players may think about consequences of the immediate move. As they become more proficient, children will think about multiple moves ahead in order to evaluate what piece would be best to move on their turn. Additionally, there are some instances where a player must move a piece based on what they did in a prior turn. Therefore, they must think carefully prior to moving or untrapping a piece.
In addition to determining how to move pieces, children need to determine what type of strategic approach (offensive, defensive or both) to use during the game. Educators can encourage children to discuss their options and to declare whether they want to make an offensive move (ex: move a piece into their target zone) or defensive move (ex: stack a piece to trap another player in a Pair on Top Barrier) prior to actually moving pieces.

Compare

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Like the Determine skill, Zone to Zone requires a high level of comparing. Players will create mental models of the outcomes for moving different pieces. Based on those models, they will compare to determine the best move.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
To help children evaluate different options, encourage them to "Wait. Look. Think." This will help them spend time considering different moves and the consequences of those moves, which is needed for making higher quality comparisons of options.
This will also help with impulsivity and planning. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Making mental models of a space and movement in Zone to Zone is an advanced, complex cognitive skill that supports learning spatial relations, spatial reasoning, probability, pattern recognition and creative problem solving.
To help children evaluate different options, encourage them to "Wait. Look. Think." This will help them spend time considering different moves and the consequences of those moves, which is needed for making higher quality comparisons of options. This will also help with impulsivity and planning. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play.

Remember

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may remember moves from prior games that were successful or not; and they must remember whether they freed a trapped piece because that piece must be moved on the next turn.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
In general, adults can remind children of similar situations from prior games and what happened when a player moved a particular piece.
If a player forgets that they freed a trapped piece on a prior turn, it is likely they other players will remind them.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Zone to Zone is not a memory game. Rather, children may recall prior moves from other games in order to make better choices in the current game. Educators can remind children of similar situations from prior games and what happened when a player moved a particular piece.
If a player forgets that they freed a trapped piece on a prior turn, it is likely they other players will remind them.

Predict

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Prediction is essential to Zone to Zone as players are consistently thinking about what their opponents might do in response to their move.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
To help children predict, ask them to share different moves they are considering and where they think an opponent might move in response. Alternatively, ask them to think about what their opponent might move next. This requires playing non-competitively for the purpose of learning.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Zone to Zone is great for developing prediction skills. Predicting involves cognitive skills like analysis, observation and interpretation, along with emotional skills like empathy and adaptability. Also, children need to learn how to change perspective, imagining being their opponent, in order to have optimal predicting skills.
Educators can prompt children to practice predicting by asking them to share what opportunities they see on the board, different moves they are considering and what they think an opponent might move on their next turn. This requires playing non-competitively for the purpose of learning.

Plan

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Like prediction, planning is essential to Zone to Zone as players think about future moves and how to make choices on their current turn that help advance their strategy on future turns.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
To help children plan their next move(s) encourage them to "Wait. Look. Think." This will help them spend time considering different moves and the consequences of those moves, which is needed for making comparisons of move options. This will also help with impulsivity and planning. Using such verbal cues can give children a model for approaching future play.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Planning is an important skill for developing strategic thinking, persistence and reaching a goal.
When learning to play the game, encourage children to discuss the possible effects of different moves. Will they try to trap a piece, remove a trap, create barriers, move pieces around the game board, and so on? There are many options, and discussing with others will help strengthen planning skills as children discuss and decide on best options.

Experiment

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may experiment with different offensive and defensive approaches to winning the game.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Zone to Zone is good for experimenting with strategy and tactics. Discuss different strategies prior to starting the game and encourage the child to select one. Play the game and discuss. Then, play again with the child trying a different strategy. Discuss again and compare the advantages and disadvantages.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Zone to Zone is good for experimenting with strategy and tactics. Discuss different strategies prior to starting the game and encourage the child to select one. Play the game and discuss. Then, play again with the child trying a different strategy. Discuss again and compare the advantages and disadvantages.

Practice

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
While there are not explicit levels in the game, players will increase mastery and proficiency as they play Zone to Zone

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Like chess or a yo-yo, Zone to Zone has numerous implicit levels of mastery with almost no upper limit on the sophistication of playing the game. Therefore, the more children play the more capable they will be in developing and executing increasingly sophisticated strategies. Also, as they become proficient, they will be able to teach others. Teaching others demonstrates mastery, the final stage of learning, and is wonderful for building self-esteem, confidence and intrinsic motivation.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Like chess or a yo-yo, Zone to Zone has numerous implicit levels of mastery with almost no upper limit on the sophistication of playing the game. Therefore, the more children play the more capable they will be in developing and executing increasingly sophisticated strategies. Also, as they become proficient, they will be able to teach others. Teaching others demonstrates mastery, the final stage of learning, and is wonderful for building self-esteem, confidence and intrinsic motivation.

Solve

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players solve the game, i.e. win, if they are the first to get a majority of their pieces into the target zone.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
Zone to Zone is great for teaching adaptability and creative-problem solving. Additionally, it involves using visual spatial problem solving, directionality and if/then problem solving. After children have mastered the rules and functions of the pieces, they learn new information constantly during game play. This information directly effects how children strategize an approach for placing and moving pieces, and ultimately solve the game.
This fundamental ability to shift strategies based on new information is a great life skill that can help children cope with the stresses of change in other areas of their life.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
Zone to Zone is great for teaching adaptability and creative-problem solving. Additionally, it involves using visual spatial problem solving, directionality and if/then problem solving. After children have mastered the rules and functions of the pieces, they learn new information constantly during game play. This information directly effects how children strategize an approach for placing and moving pieces, and ultimately solve the game.

Review

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
While review is not required, players will often reflect back on choices they made.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
When a child moves a piece and an opponent responds in an unexpected way, ask the child to share how they decided to make their prior move. Help the child examine their thinking, identifying areas where they may be able to consider options and potential consequences more thoroughly on future turns.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
When a child moves a piece and an opponent responds in an unexpected way, ask the child to share how they decided to make their prior move. Help the child examine their thinking, identifying areas where they may be able to consider options and potential consequences more thoroughly on future turns.

Demonstrate

What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players may demonstrate if encouraged. See Implications for Learning and Adult Support.

How Parents Can Assist Learning
During or after the game, replay and discuss moves and what worked and did not work as expected. Thinking out loud is a good strategy for parents to use while playing the game. Children can be encouraged to do the same.

Learning Implications and Educator Support
During or after the game, discuss moves and what worked and did not work as expected.

Cognitive

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Play with 2 or 4 players. Use 8 pieces for each player. Players try to be the first to move their pieces to the opposite side. Dice can be used as in the regular game, withtwo pieces individually being moved for the number on die, or one piece being moved the total of both dice. Players can move pieces any direction on the lines. They can jump any piece, counting the jump as part of the number on the die. Players pieces must end in the same positions as they started, just on the opposite side of the board.

Communication

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Communication is not needed to play, but should be encouraged. Players can discuss why they moved a certain direction or question whether there was a better move.

Sensorimotor

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Fine motor skills are needed to move the pieces and to stack them on each other. The pieces are large, however, so minor fine motor problems should not interfere with the game.

If a player has more severe fine motor concerns, play as partners with a child who does not have fine motor concerns. Each can then contribute to the decision making about moves.

Social Emotional/Behavioral

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Zone to Zone requires concentration and focus, so may be a difficult game for children with attention issues.

Zone to Zone is challenging, so children who have impulse control or behavioral issues may find the game frustrating or overwhelming. Encourage the player to describe the options they're thinking about and let the other players contribute to the decision. This will reduce the stress from having to make too many decisions at once.

Let the other players come up with different moves for the child with emotional concerns. The child with emotional concerns then decides which move to make. This reduces the stress, but also allows the child to feel in control.

Vision

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
If children have color blindness, make sure they can differentiate the colors of the pieces before playing.

Hearing

Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Hearing should not be an issue if the player can read the directions.

Have all the players learn some signs they can use in the game, such as: "Good move." "Are you kidding me?" "You're beating me." "Take that!"

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