Name of Activity:. Decorate the donkey

Category:. Show Me

Props: A Donkey picture with a Velcro face, hat, cactus and saddle. A blindfold

Your Role: Travel guide and historian

Directions: Coach your child to observe the picture of the donkey, particularly where in the picture the various parts of the donkey are that they are going to replace (i.e. the hat, the tail, the saddle, the face, and the cactus). Encourage him or her to feel so confident of location that he or she could find these places in space, even if he or she couldn't see. Show him or her the replacement pieces. Ask him to put his or her hands where the placement of the pieces are. Then blindfold him or her and coach your child to replace the pieces. Unblindfold him or her so that your child can observe how successful his try has been. It's important to note that this is not a party game in which children are pitted against each other like in "Pin the Tail on the Donkey." Rather, children are encouraged to prepare to accomplish the blindfold.

Goals for You: Your goal is to help your child form kinesthetic and tactile images as you observe the donkey so that he or she can utilize them when accomplishing the here-and-now task at hand.

Goals for Children: Your child will be developing an understanding of spatial, tactile images and how he or she can use them when necessary. Your child will also be learning to develop senses other than sight. Finally, your child will experience what it is like to work without the sense of sight.

Possible Strategy:

What to say "I would like you to observe this donkey very carefully. Don't just use your eyes and sight. Also use your hands in space to really know where every part of the donkey picture is. Let's try putting all the pieces off and on so that you can get a sense of where they are."

What to do Encourage your child to know every part of the picture, as it were, so he or she is prepared for the task.

Possible Shaping:

What to say "Okay, now I am going to blindfold you and I'd like you to replace these pieces. Work carefully. You can do it. No peeking!"

What to do: Encourage your child to keep trying and not peek. Make it an exciting challenge.

Possible Ending:

What to say: "You were really close. Wonderful memory skills. You could really see the picture in your mind."

What to do: Carefully put away the props.

Material on this site created by Helane S. Rosenberg, Ph.D. and Yakov M. Epstein, Ph.D. in conjunction with their forthcoming book titled Play for Success. All material on this site is copyrighted and may not be reproduced or cited without written permission of Helane S. Rosenberg, Ph.D.. Dr. Rosenberg is Associate Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education of Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Epstein is Professor of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Science of Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, NJ. He is also Director of the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education of Rutgers University.

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