November 14, 2016

Jacks is a classic game. Bounce a ball, scoop up the correct number of jacks, and be sure to catch the ball again! Playing jacks is a great way to sneak in eye-hand coordination skills, grasp, and motor planning. So when we read the book, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems this week with the Virtual Book Club for Kids, we were excited to try a dinosaurs version of the classic Jacks game!

Get ready for a FUN kids’ book and an even more fun active game with Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Jacks Game!

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Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs Jacks Game

Have you read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs? This book is completely FUN!

My kids are huuuuuuge fans of all of Mo Willems’ books and this one was no different.

This is definitely a book to grab at the book store or add to your library request list.

So, read the book this week and then have fun with this dinosaur themed activity:

You’ll need just three items to play dinosaur themed jacks:

Mini dinosaur figures

Dice

Small rubber ball

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Use plastic dinosaurs in this Goldilocks and the Three DInosaurs jacks game based on Mo Willems childrens book.

RELATED READ: Dinosaur Themed Gross Motor Game

Then it’s time to play.

How to play Jacks

This game is just like the classic game of jacks. Do you know how to play jacks? It’s pretty easy.

Scatter the jacks on the floor.

Toss the ball into the air. Scoop up one jack and let the ball bounce once before catching the ball in the same hand.

Collect all of the jacks in the same way. This is called “onsies”. Then start another round called “twosies” where you will pick up two jacks at a time until all of the jacks are gone.

So, playing Dinosaur Jacks would be the same exact way. Scoop up one dinosaur at a time until they are all gone.

RELATED READ: Dinosaur Themed Proprioception Game

How do playing Jacks help with development?

Jacks is a fun and active way to work on so many skills.

Catching a ball is a skill of motor planning. Without a plan to adjust to the way the ball moves, it would be impossible to catch or dodge a ball. It can be quite difficult for children with a lack of body awareness or sensory processing issues to move and create a plan in response to a stimulus such as a moving ball.

Jacks is a game of visual motor integration. Scattered dinosaurs (or jacks) need to be gathered up while the bouncing ball is moving in different planes of vision.

There are many visual processing skills that are used when playing jacks: visual attention, visual memory, visual spatial relationships, and visual figure ground.

Playing jacks requires the hands to move in response to what is perceived and is a challenge to eye-hand coordination skills.

Try using the game of Dinosaur Jacks to help with any of these skills that interfere with handwriting, reading, math, or other functional skills.

Looking for more ways to play and learn with a dinosaur theme? Try these ideas from the Virtual Book Club for Kids team:

Dinosaur Themed Learning Activities

Dino Babies Letter Game ~ Rainy Day Mum

Preschool Dinosaur Name Activity from Preschool Powol Packets

Dinosaur Pre-Writing Tracing Pages from Sea of Knowledge

MATHS ACTIVITIES FOR THE DINOSAUR THEME

Dinosaur Number Maze from Inspiration Laboratories

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Jacks Game from Sugar Aunts

Clothes Pin Dinosaur Count Tray from School Time Snippets

Dinosaur Shape Matching Game from Powerful Mothering

Build a Shape Dinosaur from Adventures of Adam

Dinosaur Maths for Preschool and Kinder from Chickadee Lit

We have quite a few activities and crafts that use recycled materials here on the blog. Why not use those items that will otherwise get tossed out? I am going to admit that almost all of the crafts that we create do end up getting thrown away at some point (You simply can not keep every.thing.)! However, I love to use recycled items in crafts and activities with my kids before they meet the recycle bin! These bottle caps are a tool that we LOVE to use in play, learning, and crafts! Today, I’m sharing a fun Bottle Caps Holly Craft that my preschooler made with me. You can make a few and add them to Christmas trees, wreaths, and even as a gift topper!

Check out these Christmas Fine Motor Activities for more creative ways to work on fine motor skills and address development of skills this Christmas season.

Bottle Caps Holly Craft

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You’ll need just a few materials to get started:

Red plastic bottle caps

Green felt

Green cardstock

Scissors

Marker

Ribbon (if you make yours into an ornament)

Glue (We go through so much glue that I love to have a glue in bulk on hand to save money, storage, and shopping.)

Hot glue gun

RELATED READ: Christmas Tree Counting Activity

This is a pretty easy Christmas craft for kids to make. It’s a creative process craft and if you make them with friends or in a classroom setting, there will be no two that look exactly alike.

I love this craft for the fine motor development that occurs: Scissor skills, bilateral coordination, eye hand coordination, and more.