Every moment set aside for structuring language is precious to a person's development, at any age. The Dans ma valise... game has been designed to give you plenty of opportunity to do just that. So, when you have the chance to indulge yourself, you can take advantage of these entertaining moments to stimulate some of the essential elements of language development. Here are a few guidelines to get you started.
1. Using determiners in front of a noun:
Show the child how to use a determiner in front of a noun. For example: "I'm taking THE apple", not "I'm taking apple" or just "Apple". When giving the example aloud to the child, accentuate the tone of the determiner "LA" to stimulate auditory memorization. As often as possible, without discouraging the child, insist on the use of the determiner when naming things, animals or characters. N.B. For the above example, simply take each child a plastic suitcase and take turns filling it with the suitcase cards.
2. Use of « I » :
Stimulate the use of the personal pronoun "I" when it's you who's speaking to take a suitcase card. In this way, children will integrate the use of "I" to talk about themselves, and not just their first name. For example, when it's your turn to play, say out loud: "'I' am going on a trip and 'I' am packing my cotton candy." Some children tend to use only their first name to talk about themselves. In this case, you need to gently encourage them to use the pronoun "I".
In passing, push the child to go a little further and get them to use other personal pronouns, such as "tu" ("Tu" prends la barbe à papa) or "elle" ("Elle" prend la barbe à papa).
N.B. For the above example, simply take each child a plastic suitcase and take turns filling it with the suitcase cards.
3. Use of rank-related terms :
Suggest that the child select a few suitcase cards and ask him to place them one at a time in his suitcase. While he's doing it, show him how to use the terms "first", "second", "third"... We can also show him by doing it ourselves with our own travel suitcase: "FIRST, I put the cotton candy; SECOND, I put the dentist; THIRD, I put the slippers..." Of course, we take care to arrange them one after the other, so that they stack up, to facilitate learning the concepts of "first", "second" and "third" as part of a sequence.
4. Inventing riddles :
The skill of creating and solving riddles can be very stimulating. It calls for the management of several elements at the same time: logic, deduction from clues, vocabulary, evocation of images and words, and so on. Here are a few suggestions for playing guessing games with Dans ma valise... :
One player picks a suitcase card at random, and the other players try to guess it.
The player with the suitcase card in hand can give clues. Alternatively, the other players can ask for clues. Let's take the example of Player 1, who picks the "Stinky Socks" card. He can give clues such as: "clothing, small, can be several colors, often comes very dirty at the end of the day, can be long or short, is appreciated especially in winter, etc." The player making the guess can give a single clue or several.
The first player to find the answer wins the card.
At the end of the guessing game, the player with the most cards wins.
5. Category formation:
The ability to form categories is an essential part of many of life's learning processes. Here are a few examples of categories that can be formed using the suitcase cards from Dans ma valise... You can simply use the suitcase cards from the game and have fun sorting them. You can also use the memory tricks described above.
Things you can eat: cotton candy, popcorn, toasted marshmallows, canned fish, gum, etc.
People: the dentist, Cousin Gontrand, my grandmother's portrait, etc.
Things that make noise: the scooter, the alarm clock, the ukulele, the snowmobile, etc.
Things you can put in your feet: slippers, skates, sandals, smelly socks, flippers (scuba gear), etc.
Things you can use outdoors: snowmobiles, sunscreen, kites, etc.
Things you can wear: shirts, Hawaiian skirts, smelly socks, sandals, skates, etc.
Things that can get hot or scorch: iron, snowmobile, toaster, etc.
Things that can be used in the bathroom: sunscreen, comb, toothpaste, etc.
Things with red: MP3 player, bikini, slippers, etc.
Words beginning with the letter "G" (as in Gâteau): "Gontrand", "gomme", "marshmallows", "toaster", etc.
Note: Items can belong to more than one category; it all depends on which categories you decide to form.
TIP!
Using the categories already constructed, you can ask the child to form sub-categories. For example, the category "Things you can eat" could be subdivided into "Things you can eat hot" (marshmallows, popcorn, canned fish, etc.) and "Things you can eat cold" (gum, potato chips, etc.).
6. Use of terms related to order and seriation:
The ability to put things in order is essential for understanding many everyday concepts, especially in mathematics. Here are a few examples of how to work with the notions of seriation in the game Dans ma valise... :
Sorting items in order of size, e.g. from smallest to largest, or vice versa.
Sort items by weight, e.g. from least to heaviest, or vice versa.
Order items alphabetically: dentures, combs, scooters, etc.
Order items by color, e.g. from lightest to darkest,
IMPORTANT*
First and foremost, the game should be fun and entertaining. At the outset, it's advisable to set easy play objectives to keep the child motivated, and to make them more difficult little by little. We don't want them to get discouraged! To respect the child's development, we recommend giving him a few tricks here and there, and not imposing too many. Just a few tricks shown to the child during a game can make a big difference.
Enjoy the game!