Connect Four Provides Independent play for my autistic son
Written: Jun 14 '02 (Updated Jun 14 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Easy set-up, pieces are interchangeable with checkers game
Cons: The side levers are flimsy, when tipped over the retaining lever is released
The Bottom Line: There are many variations to utilize this game for your home
|
|
|
| bonniesayers's Full Review: Connect Four |
Traditionally Connect Four is played with two players for children aged seven and older. I initially purchased this game with my seven-year old in mind since he enjoyed Checkers and Bingo. We are matched in a program with a UCLA medical student that is similar to Big Brothers/Sisters type of organization, although geared with families who have disabled children. Every Sunday Rebecca comes over for two hours of games, puzzles and reading with the seven-year old.
Each Monday the father of my children comes over for his supervised visits with the boys, so I have many games that can be utilized for these visits and alternate on a weekly basis to avoid boredom and repetition. What happened instead was the almost six-year old was dumping the bingo pieces and checker pieces all over the living room and making it difficult for his brother to concentrate and play games. Sometimes stacking books and trains all around the house would work for my younger son but I wanted to get him involved with the visits and at least do some parallel play. With that in mind I started storing the other two games in an overhead closet and introduced Connect Four to the younger son.
Actually the oldest did not show any interest in Connect Four and only utilized it a few times so this worked out well having at least one child play with the game. In the past I have purchased toddler type products for my younger son due to his disability and just overlooked the beginning age requirement for Connect Four. Since we keep the game in the box the only set-up needed is to slide the end supports onto the slots. They have Connect Four on the outside part so it is easy to know which side to face inward. The retaining lever stays secure and is fastened by sliding over the yellow slot underneath.
The grid contains seven rows with six round slots to fit the checkers. There are twenty-one black and red checkers with the logo, Connect Four imprinted on one side and MB on the other. The retaining lever is not locked into place until both side end supports are in position. Before the first player drops a checker into a slot check the lever to make sure it is secured, otherwise the checkers will drop right through to the ground.
When playing with two players the choice of red or black is made and each player takes the collection into a pile. Each player drops a checker into any slot in the grid and alternates with the other player, otherwise known as your opponent. They alternate turns until one has mastered four in a row in either a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. This became confusing for my older son because there are six in a column or row and he preferred to get all six to be a winner. There are no points to accumulate in Connect Four and to play another game you can either slide the retaining lever and let loose all the checkers or turn it over and dump them all back into the box.
When it came time to show my youngest son how to use this I placed a random checkers into slots and placed the box with the remaining checkers in front of him to follow suit. For one week he has been utilizing this in a positive fashion and no longer dumps other game pieces on the floor. Instead of allowing him to continue dumping the regular checker pieces or bingo pieces I redirected his behavior and taught him something worthwhile he can do on his own. He is making nice colorful grids and enjoys watching the pieces fall into place. He can dump the finished grid into the box but than groans repeatedly until I fix the lever so the checkers do not fall through the grid.
We have just signed up for a play-based therapy called Floor Time, which is the brain child of Dr. Stanley Greenspan. We should be receiving about two to three hours of in-home therapy and I hope this will be incorporated and used as an example of how to initiate play with my son. I have been instructing him to place a red checker and then black checker and see he is following directions. I hope at one point we can do some counting with them as well.
If you need to contact Hasbro they are at 1-888-836-7025 or www.hasbro.com
For more information on the Floor Time philosophy –
http://www.coping.org/earlyin/floortm.htm
http://www.stanleygreenspan.com/
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 12.99
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
bonniesayers
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 843
Trusted by: 1188 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.