What are some fun activities to do with a special ed student?

Question

We belong to a club where mainstream students cultivate friendships with special ed students. I'm 15. He's 16 or so, is mentally disabled, and gets distracted easily, yet is patient. Would tic-tac-toe be ideal? We have just plain paper, markers, and scissors. What are some games that would be fun for the both of us? So far, I'm considering tic-tac-toe or I Spy.

Answer 1

It's fun to cut a piece of paper horizontally into three equally-sized pieces, then, separately, one person draws the head and neck of a person/animal/monster on the top piece, someone draws the torso and arms on the middle piece, and someone draws the lower body and legs on the bottom piece. Obviously you do this without looking at what the other people are drawing, so they won't match at all. Then you put it together and see how horrible it looks, haha. It's not much of a "game," objective-wise, but it's endlessly entertaining for me. It's also really open to modification so you can change it to accomodate just two people, or more than three.

Answer 2

Depending on what his limitations are you could play battleships; draw each others portraits; play hangman, make paper airplanes.  I have a 11 year old niece who has developmental delays and she is just happy for someone to hang out and talk to her and listen patiently.  Anything you do is great.

Answer 3

Depends on his mental age.  You have to get to know him first.  If he is non-verbal or very autistic it could be tricky.  Hopefully someone will tell you if he has trouble communicating beforehand so you can avoid frustration.

Start by introducing yourself.

Answer 4

A good card came is "War". It is very easy to do for all but the most involved children. Another good game is dominoes because it only involves matching. "Sorry" is also a fairly simple game that people can play who have limitations. "Slap Jack" is another easy card game.

For higher disabled kids, you can try Uno. I played this game with mentally disabled people at a group home and they just loved it! All but the lowest were able to do it and took delight in giving other people the, "Draw Four" or "Skip" cards. It may take a while to teach, but again most of it is matching.

Finally, "Bingo" is another great game he can play with the whole group.