"My Story"-Freely Play and Learn

Freedom in the way we learn and discover is not something to be taken for granted. In an age of information people have the ability to inform themselves of anything they desire without limitation. This is an empowering feeling, which unfortunately, in special needs education, is not always the case.

Given that our special needs students have both physical and mental limitations, many of the games and activities they are exposed to treat them as such. Their activities are defined and limited in the functions they can do and usually only have one goal per activity. 

At Ginger Tiger we recognized the lack of freedom in special needs learners online activities and as a result, created a game where students with special needs and their teachers can benefit from the freedom to learn and teach without limitation.

"My Story" is a game that does not have any boundaries. Choose an animal or don’t, use the highway as a background or not, face all the people looking right or face them left, and so on.  In this game we have given the freedom to the learner to use all the game’s features in the way that best suits their imagination. "My Story" is extraordinary as it enables the student  to develop a skill or learn a new idea by playing the game freely.  

For the teachers, this game can be used for any number of topics including math, language arts, cause and effect, and much more. Ask of the students to complete a task, but let them choose how they want to complete it. Do not feel bound by any set standards or guidelines. As well, there are countless activities you can use to have the students engage with "My Story" (See below for "My Story" activity ideas)

At Ginger Tiger we believe in providing a space for special needs students to be free in their learning. We know that with this freedom our Ginger Tiger students will develop their creative abilities while being more engaged in their learning.

"My Story" Activity Ideas

Big and Small – Enlarge or shrink characters and objects, i.e. make the dog bigger. 

Copy the Model Picture – Prepare a model and display it to the students to copy exactly.  

Odd One Out: Individual or Categories - Prepare a sequence of images, one of which does not fit the pattern. The student must choose which one is the “Odd one out.”

Absurdities – Select a background and place several items of which one or more do not match the theme of the background. The student must choose which item/s do not fit the theme of the background.

Matching Pictures - Find two items that are the same.

Other "My Story" Activities:
Phonological Awareness - Place pictures on the screen that starts with a specific letter.
Hide and Seek - Hide one of the characters behind an object. Ask the student to find the character.
Quantities – Place a specific amount of items on the background, i.e.  4 cars on the road, 2 planes in the sky.
More and Less –Depending on where the item is placed on the background the item will have different quantities, i.e. six trees on the left side and 2 trees on the right side of the background.
Colors – Choose items only in one color, i.e. select all the blue items.
Working in Pairs or with the Teacher – A teacher or a student describes a picture while the other student or partner creates the picture through the verbal description and without actually seeing the picture.

Position - Place items in a specific place, i.e. place the car next to the motorcycle or the ball on the table.

Verbs – Choose items depicting a specific action, i.e. choose a picture of a girl drawing.
Patterns – Choose items that illustrate a pattern, i.e. Ball, Dog, Ball, Dog-what is the next item? 
Memory - Place a number of items on the screen with the students watching. Afterwards, the student closes their eyes and the teacher removes one of the items. The student must decipher, which item was removed?
Free Creation - Let the students freely build a picture and choose items for their enjoyment without instruction.
Write a story – The student will build a story using only the pictures provided in the game.

These are just a few of the activities a teacher can use to play “My Story” with their students. Please feel free to contact us with any more ideas to add to this list!


To register for a free trial of Ginger Tiger go to  www.gingertiger.net

Step by Step

Place a switch user for their first time in front of a screen like this:

and ask them to choose the right box, what do you think the result will be?

In most cases, they will be unable to successfully complete the activity. This is due to numerous factors, one being the timing in which they are presented with this type of activity. Switch users need to go through a step by step process to complete cognitive games such as the example provided above, and skipping any steps will hinder their ability to do so.

Ginger Tiger understands that to enable a switch user to succeed in a cognitive computer game it must start with the simple (but very difficult for some) ability to perform a cause and effect activity.

Our newest games focus on the special needs learner’s journey starting with cause and effect games which requires learning how to properly click on a mouse, press on a screen, or eye gaze. Once successful in the area of cause and effect, the switch user will then be able to proceed to the games that require using those cause and effect physical actions as well as their cognitive abilities.

Here is an example of a Ginger Tiger game taking the new switch user on the proper learning journey:

One switch - Cause & Effect Stage 1 (Click on any key and the car will move)

Two switches play – Cause & Effect Stage 2 (Click only on the space bar and the red car will move, click only on enter and the green car will move)

Choose the right one- Direct Cognitive Decision (Click ONLY on the ENTER for the correct response)

***In the short clip below you will see how to configure the settings to use two switches, direct access, in a choosing game with 2 choosing options.

In taking these proper steps, Ginger Tiger ensures that the special needs learner will arrive at the cognitive games armed with the proper tools to succeed.

To register for a free trial of Ginger Tiger go to  www.gingertiger.net