Make it Easy... to pick up and hold

We play group games daily in my class.  Common games you may find us playing are Bingo and Memory.  These games are easy to create for any theme/topic you are teaching.  During a Bingo game, calling cards are placed face down on the table and the game caller gets to pick any card to call out to the players. To play Memory, all cards are placed face down on the table and students take turns flipping 2 cards at a time to find a match.

THE PROBLEM: The problem my students have with playing these games are being able to pick up the cards from the table. They just do not have the fine motor/finger control to be able to pick up thin objects from a flat surface.

THE SOLUTION: My simple solution... clothespins! I found these large clothespins pictured below at Ikea but I'm sure they can be found elsewhere too! I simply attach a clothespin to each card, place them face down on the table and now my students are easily able to lift the cards from the table during game play.

Large clothespins attached to a bingo game from the Unique Learning System curriculum.

During a bingo game, this student easily picks up a calling card from her tray.

Another student picks up a calling card during bingo and flips it over for everyone to see.

This simple adaptation has made many of my games accessible to my students with fine motor difficulties.