Busy Bee's Feelings

Busy Bee's Feelings is an immersive game where the players must find clues to figure out what to get Busy Bee for her Birthday, as they make their way to the finishing positions. They must do so quick as they don't know when Busy Bee will be coming back home from, well, being busy!

Players take turns to roll the dice, answer a question referring to an emotion, which in turn earns them a clue for figuring out what to get Busy Bee for her Birthday. The winner of the game is the first player who's bug or bugs reach the finishing position. When all players do so, then they discuss what to get Busy Bee.

This game offers many opportunities to address and help develop a variety of skills that your child with SEN may have. These are listed below.

TURN TAKING: Your child will be practicing this skill while having fun. This is an integral part of any game that is intended for SEN children and the main inspiration for how SENGO Games started.

EMOTIONAL AWARENESS/ VOCABULARY: The main focus of this particular game is to give children the opportunity to discuss emotions in a positive setting. With guidance via an SEN teacher or parent, these discussions can be as rich as you'd need them to be. The children will be asked to not only refer to and speak about their emotions, but will try and put themselves in other's shoes (including Busy Bee herself!), which brings us to...

EMPATHY/ PERSPECTIVE: By participating in discussion and listening to their peers' contributions on emotional matters, the opportunity to develop empathy and learn about difference of opinions in a safe atmosphere is opened up. If your child with SEN still struggles to participate with their peers in such a meaningful manner, they will still have to practice this empathy and perspective in order to figure out what to get the Busy Bee.

FOCUS/ ATTENTION: As the game is played, your child with SEN will have to follow what is going on. Not only in the case where they may be asked a question, but also paying attention to the clues they collect, as well as those of their peers. This can be developed further with guidance and reminders to anticipate having to think of a gift for Busy Bee.

SOCIAL SKILLS/ FRIENDSHIP: The chance to develop social skills appears in this game in the form of the player vs player challenges. In order for a child to win, they might hav to play aggressively and aim to send their peers back. However, with guidance, they can learn how to do this appropriately and not, for example, gloat about it/ be mean, or, equally ineffective, avoid the conflict absolutely and struggle to win.

For defending their position, they will also have to develop skills in humour, which is an important aspect in forming relationships. This micro-activity can be very effective in persuading children to open up in a positive way, and have a positive impact on others.

Although there is an aspect of invasion during gameplay, it is important to note that ultimately, at the end, all players come together again to discuss Busy Bee's gift ideas.

NOTE: Using the suggested tweaks to the game provided in the leaflet allows the teacher or parent of the child with SEN to tailor-make the experience to their child's particular needs.

However, feel free to try out your own tweaks and don't hesitate to get creative!