Family fun! Free games to teach etiquette, good decision-making, financial stewardship and more

November 11, 11:43 AMAutism & Education ExaminerL. Mae Wilkinson

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What if a kid you like says that if you steal a candy bar, you can be his friend?....or... What if you are impatient with the person in front of you that is slowly getting into the elevator, so you push them out of the way? Scenarios like these are all too common in a child's life, and can be particularly perplexing for children with autism.

Grace Hopkins, a special education teacher and mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome, has created a number of fun activities and games the entire family can enjoy while teaching children how to make good decisions. The games are free of charge, and can be downloaded and printed out from a home computer.  Each game has its own game board, game cards and directions.Game topics include telling the truth, doing the right thing and managing money wisely. 

Illustrated here is the Sink or Swim social skills game.  Players roll a die and move (swim) that many spaces. If they land on a drowning picture, they draw a card and read it out loud. On the cards are life problems, such as "you find a wallet with money in it, and keep it' or "your friend made you mad, so you wrecked his bike."   Players must state what  they should do to rectify the situation. If they respond correctly, they receive a life saver token. If they are not correct, they do not receive a token. Players work their way to the life saver at the end of the board. The player with the most life saver tokens wins.

Grace (more popularly known as Amazing_Grace on Twitter and in the autism community),  has stockpiled a number of other games and activities on her website,  Moms of Special Needs. Here are a sample of other games available from Grace's Website,:

• Backtalk to help children learn to demonstrate respect for their parents
• Christianopoly to teach children about the value of money, including how to manage money and how to make decisions about spending, saving, and giving.
• The Golden Rule File Folder game to promote good manners and everyday etiquette.
• Liar, Liar Pants on Fire to promote truth-telling and other good decisions.