Route Games 1

Beginning Route Game

A Route Game is a playful routine where a child moves from one place to another, often doing something different in each location. In the game above, the parents are holding the child's hands to help him stay in the interaction. In these early games, Route Games use a child's interest in moving from one spot to another but make the movement more social, intentional, and productive. This game comes from Relationship Development Intervention with Young Children: Social and Emotional Development Activities for Asperger Syndrome, Autism, PDD and NLD by Steven Gutstein and Rachelle K Sheely

Come to Me!

Sometimes children make up their own running games and run away from adults in order to get the adult to chase them. It can be unsafe if a child decides to play chase in a parking lot or into the street. In this case, teach a Come to Me route game. This route game is from one adult to another and you are teaching the child to come when you call. Hold out your arms and say Come to Me! and, when the child gets to you, twirl him or her around in the air. It is easiest to teach this game by having two people, possibly in a hallway, each taking turns calling the child and twirling while the other urges the child toward the adult who is calling. Gradually, both adults stand farther and farther apart in in more open spaces, until the child will readily come to an adult when called.

Piggy Back Route Games

As simple as it sounds, picking up a child and moving around together on a set route, is a good early language building strategy. Start by saying Ready, Set, Go and moving each time you say the word Go. Walk or march to the next spot on your route and then stop, Again say Ready, Set, Go, and move again. When the child understands the game, say Ready, Set...... and wait for your child to communicate that you should Go. Accept any form of communication that means Go including eye gaze, wiggling in your arms, anything. Over time, help your child learn to use more conventional communication like saying Go or signing or activating a talking button.

For children who like being held, this game is fun. Moving is fun and getting adults to move on command is thrilling. Words that can be taught with this game include: march, stop, go, fast, turn around, up, down, and swing. If kids are too heavy, pull the child in a wagon, set them in a rolling desk chair, drag them in a laundry basket.

More Video Clips of Early Route Games