Busy Little Bees

‘Designed to develop counting and colour matching skills’

When you are playing with your child at home, do consider the plethora of language opportunities that this game lends itself to as well.

Language

Verbal interactions can be encouraged during the setting up of the game (they don’t have to wait till the game actually starts!). For example, “We need to fix the board”, “Where’s the missing piece?”,

“Now let’s build the hive”, “I need help” etc.

In fact, you could forget the game altogether and create a new one! Use the bees to playfully buzz around the board and annoy the children who are engaging in a variety of interesting activities – great opportunities to talk about what is happening together.

e.g. “The boy is cooking burgers on the barbecue”, “The Teddy is sitting on the bench”, “The girl is playing with her dolphin” etc.

Children with higher language levels could be prompted to respond to more complex questions such as “What do you think the girl will do after watering the vegetable patch?”, “Why does the cat not want to swim?” etc.

Speech

Encourage a buzzzzzzzy sound effect for children practicing their ‘z’ sounds.