Why Twister is Fun for Kids

 

Take off your shoes, and get ready to have some fun!  The game Twister, by Hasbro Gaming, is fun for kids and a family game night.  These girls put their stretching, colors, and positional words to the test, and here’s how it went.

 

The Twister Game

• A classic game of colors, stretching, positional words, and is fun for kids and family game night! 
• Simplicity allows for kids to play without adult leadership.
• For 2-4 players, ages 6+ (This would be a great game for 5-year-olds who are learning left/right)
• Reinforces color recognition, and directional words (left/right)
• Promotes stretching and movement which supports brain-based learning

 

 

How to Play Twister

• 2-4 players face each other, standing on the outside of the mat
• A referee spins the spinner, then calls out the body part and the color the arrow points to (“Left foot, blue,” “Right hand, yellow”).
• All players, at the same time, follow the directions, placing the appropriate body part on an open circle.
• When a players elbow or knees hit the mat, they are eliminated.  The last player left standing is the winner!

 

 

 

The Twister Game Spinner

I’ve seen various versions of the Twister Game Spinner.  The vintage Twister game spinner calls colors by left foot, right foot, left hand, and right hand.  The spinner we used, however, had variations on each category including a cloud for “in the air”, and a symbol for spinners choice.

Learning Standards

• Color recognition
• Positional words (left/right)
• Problem Solving – having to locate a vacant circle, and decide how to move your body parts to land appropriately.
• Self-awareness of body parts
• Taking turns
• Speaking clearly (referee calls out colors and body parts)
• Following 2-step directions (body part then color)

 

 

Printable Worksheets to Extend Color Recognition

The game of Twister emphasizes color recognition.  After playing the game, your little learners can complete these interactive color word worksheets.  This Making Words resource also reinforces color word recognition.  Students read, build, and write the color word printed at the top of the page.  To complete the activity, they draw a picture that represents that color word.  For example, if they are working on red, they could draw strawberries.

A Mom’s Twister Review

Twister is hands down so much for kids!  They are incorporating movement, turn taking, color recognition, and positional words all while having a little fun competition.

 

Twister is also a fun activity to promote brain-based learning into the classroom.  Adults, too, can have just as much fun playing this game.  In fact, I highly recommend using Twister for your next family game night!

 

 

If you’re child does not know their left from right, the game is somewhat challenging.  There are simple strategies you can do to help your child quickly distinguish their left from right. For example, prior to playing the game, I had the girls raise their left hand and right hand to do a quick visual assessment of positional words.

 

 

Another way to teach your kids about left and right is to simply put a dot on his/her right hand.   You could also use a red marker, or draw the letter R (right).  This is a visual clue that will remind them of their right hand while playing the game.

 

 

Before you go, here are some blog posts you may enjoy:

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