Bruttney Derissaint

LEI 4724
Activity: Simon Says (Mirroring challenge)
Source: Emma (Masters in special education, March 28, 2011. Friendshipcircle.org)
Equipment Needed: None.

Activity Description:
1. Choose one person to be the leader (Simon).
2. Simon stands in front of the players and tells them what they must do.
3. Players obey the rules of Simon only when he/she says Simon says. If Simon does not
say Simon says prior to making a demand and the player does that demand, then
he/she is out.
Leadership Considerations:
For someone with Down Syndrome or any type of developmental/intellectual disability,
it is important to consider their communication problems and difficulty relating to
people, objects, and events. This activity focuses on improving social, communication,
and behavioral skills.
Also, children with autism or children with social skill deficits often have trouble reading
expressions, following orders or being attentive and interacting socially so this activity
would be great to get them more comfortable with situations.
One way to make the game a little more interesting is to make the commands funny.
Rather than just a simple Simon says touch your nose we could do Simon says turn to
the left/right of you, and touch your friends nose. This would not only make it more
interesting but it would also get the participants to really interact with each other.
One way to increase the intensity of the game is to increase the physical challenge.
Instead of having participants play it indoor, we can take it outdoor and maybe have
them jump, run, etc. And it could also be timed if you really want to increase the
intensity.