Thanksgiving is a time for family, food and fun! A great way to enjoy the holidays while working on social communication is by playing games. Give your tummy a break from turkey overload and fill your plate playing this enjoyable holiday themed activity!

Materials:

• Construction paper or cardstock
• 6 different pictures of food (you may choose to draw your foods)
• Markers
• Velcro
• Scissors
• Glue

Making the Game:

Glue or draw a picture of a plate to your construction paper. You can align it on the left side of the paper or center it; make sure to leave room so that each food image can fit on the page as well.

Use an additional piece of construction paper or cardstock to make a game spinner. Draw a large circle, at least 4 inches in diameter on your page.  Divide the circle into 8 even pieces—it will look like a sliced pie. Draw or paste a food item in 6 of the 8 slices. In the remaining two, create a “players choice” option as well as a “put one back” option.  Cut out an arrow from the cardstock or construction paper. Laminate each piece separately, then attach the arrow to your game spinner using a brad fastener.

Laminate and cut out your food pieces.

On your placemat (the construction paper with the plate on it), place hard Velcro on the plate as well as on around the plate. Place enough pieces for each food item. Place soft Velcro on the backs of the food pieces.

Now you are ready to play! Take turns spinning and placing foods on your plate. The object is to be the first person to fill your plate with food! This activity is a great way to work on: turn-taking, joint attention, following directions, identifying objects, and more!

Change it up! Use your placemats to work on addition and subtraction! You can use dry erase markers to write the equation on the placemat as you work. This is a great way to build on your child’s emerging math skills and higher level math concepts.

Enjoy!