Name of in Class Activity: Jenga Blocks

Name of In Class Activity:Jenga Blocks

Type of modality /

• Active game/Table Game

Type of play /

• Shared cooperative

Interaction pattern /

• Extra individual

# of participants required /

• One or more players

Equipment/supplies /

• Jenga blocks
• Toy detonator
• Stacking sleeve

Facilities required/environment /

• Requires stable environment (table or floor)
• Adequate space for pieces to fall and pick up.

Precautions /

• N/A

Task Analysis

1.Choose the amount of people desired to play (must be 1 or more), and the setting (floor, table, etc.).

2.Open the game, stack the blocks away from the detonator in three by three’s. The timer must be OFF during this procedure.

3.Place stacked blocks on top of detonator; raise the platform, put the Jenga blocks on top, then pull the “fuse” to set off/ start timer.

4. On your turn, press the orange button to start the timer for your turn.

5.Using only one hand, andOne by one, remove the blocks from the stack without knocking it over; one player per block.

6.The blocks that are removed are to be re-placed on top of the stack.

7. When you have placed the block on top of the stack, press the orange button again to turn the timer off before the next player takes their turn. (Repeat Steps 4 to 6)

8.Continue re-stacking until the timer goes off (timer will explode and force blocks to tumble)and the blocks are knocked down.

9.Once the blocks are knocked down, the game ends. The player who successfully placed a block on the stack the last, is announced the winner. (If there is a winner, the game is a competition.)

8.The cycle may continue until players no longer wish to play.

Activity Analysis

Category / Skills
Primary body position / Sitting
Part of the body required / Upper extremities.
Movement / Bending (when played on table), Carrying in the hands, catching (when blocks are blown in the air), grasp: 3-jaw chuck grasp (to build blocks), moving around obstacles, picking up, putting down objects, reaching (all categories areblock-handling related).
Physical / Balance: dynamic sitting (reaching for blocks), bilateral integration (holding and placing blocks with both hands), crossing midline (sharing blocks), fine muscle coordination, flexibility, active range of motion; upper extremities (to handle blocks), speed (to place blocks on toy detonator as soon as possible), visual-motor integration (coordinating where to place blocks).
Cognitive / Arousal/Alertness (to respond to timer), attention: alternating attention (to check timer while placing blocks), attention: focused attention (to direct and orient block-stacking), attention: sustaining attention (to maintain attention during block-stacking), calculating (to calculate how much time until toy detonates), concentration (to stack blocks), initiation, insight, reading (to read instructions), recognition: number, size and shape/form, and time management.
Social / Conversation: starting, sustaining and ending, heterogeneity, homogeneity, interpersonal interactions, maintaining social space, relating with equals, regulating behavior, self-expression, social conduct, social cues, showing warmth and respect, showing tolerance.
Perception / Auditory function (to hear timer from toy detonator), tactile function (to feel blocks), visual function (to see blocks)
Communication/language / Reception to spoken language (to understand instructions/communication), expression of spoken language (to be able to give the instructions).
Self-care / N/A
Psychological/emotional (possible) / Excitement (for participating), joy (for completing the stacking of blocks before timer ends), guilt/frustration possible also (for dropping/knocking over blocks).

SIMPLIFYING AND COMPLICATING THIS ACTIVITY:

Ways to SIMPLIFY demands / Ways to make more COMPLEX
Cognitively / Increase time span to stack blocks, remove the timer. / Decrease time span to stack blocks.
Physically / Assist person with stacking blocks every time they fall. Allow a person to use both hands at the same time when trying to remove a block. / Play standing so that you stand, and then have to bend if needed to reach and maneuver blocks.
Socially / To simplify socially, a person could be encouraged to play with people they know, and play without competing. / Increasing members would increase the need for more social interaction and thus making “socializing” more complex. Playing in teams, competing, joining a tournament, playing with people you don’t know, would be ways to make this game socially more complex.

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