How I Use "Lucky Ducks" in Speech Therapy

Who's the lucky duck in your classroom?
Parents, speech-language pathologists, and classroom teachers can target color and shape recognition, social skills, and critical thinking skills with the moveable memory game Lucky Ducks ™ (Amazon affiliate link) by Goliath Games U.S. This game is appropriate for children ages 3 and up and includes a motorized pond with 12 ducks.  The game requires 2-AA batteries for the “pond” to rotate clockwise. Players choose which shape they want to look for (circle, square, triangle, star) and take turns picking a duck from the pond to see if it matches the shape they are looking for.

In this post, I want to share with you how I use Lucky Ducks™ in my speech therapy sessions, as well as ways to differentiate instruction to meet students' needs.

Young children can improve their joint attention skills, learn to take-turns and wait their turn, learn to recognize shapes and colors, follow 1-2 step directions, build background knowledge (vocabulary), and develop their working memory skills with this developmentally appropriate game. Fine motor skills and hand dominance can also be indirectly targeted during game play.

Lucky Ducks ™ can easily be differentiated for students needing simplified game rules or for those needing an academic challenge. The game can be played with or without the rotating pond, include fewer than 4 shapes in the game, or target all four shapes with less ducks in the pond.  Early learning objectives such as, knowing shapes, colors, patterns, quantity, and same/different, can be included during play time. Children can also be given the opportunity to verbalize, label and describe their findings (“I found a blue star.”) during play. Do you want to challenge your students? Have them find one of each shape or two of two different shapes.

Whether you play Lucky Ducks ™ in the traditional manner, or adapt the game for differentiation, your students are sure to laugh, giggle, and engage in playful learning for many hours to come.

This site contains affiliate links to products. My Speech Tools receives a commission for purchases made through these links.

Lisa, SLP

Looking for more ways to encorporate games into your therapy? Visit my store for fun interactive GAME COMPANIONS, including, Duck Pond: Preschool Skills Pack and Game Companion.

You may also want to check out the following posts:
3 New Vocabulary Games Using "Apples to Apples"
Try Doodle Buddy in Speech Therapy for FREE
Entertain and Motivate with Button Nail Art




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