Brain Savvy Review

Brain Savvy

Brain Savvy Includes:
Erasable Flexible Magnetic Game Board • 6 Magnetic Pawns • 36 Sorting Chips • A Number Die • A Color Die • A Timer • 6 Color Dry Erase Markers • And a Helpful Teachers Guide with Many Options for Play

I reviewed Brain Savvy at home with my son. I also sent it to school for his teacher to use in the classroom. My son is in a contained classroom of six students with different skill levels and disabilities. The game itself is a teaching tool designed to be used in a regular classroom. I was asked to review this game and to give my opinion on how it would be relevant to the special needs community, especially a child with autism.

I am big on adapting items to meet my son’s needs. The basic instructions of this game are to divide a classroom into groups. Each group gets one magnetic pawn game piece and each member of the team takes turn playing for the team. The teacher asks a question and the student has a time limit to answer.

I didn’t use the timer with my son. For me, it was more important that he do the task I request, and the amount of time it took wasn’t important. I set one goal that I wanted to use this game to work on. That goal was to independently circle answers to questions on a paper. After he did that, he was able to roll the die and move his game piece. I also let my daughter play to. Every time my son got to roll and move his game piece, she was able to do so too.

The first day doing this, I had to get him used to what we were doing, and why we were doing it. He picked up on what we were doing really quickly. After a couple of days, we were having fun with the game. When my daughter wasn’t in the room, he would move her game piece a few spaces behind his. It was only fair, because she would go in the room and move her piece ahead of his.

I really loved the magnetic game board. I placed it on our freezer door, within easy reach of the kids. I loved the fact that I could have it out all the time, yet it was never in the way. My son loved the game pieces. His fingers are super sensitive, and the resistance between the magnetic pieces and the game board was an enjoyable sensory activity for him. He has gotten really good at moving his game piece independently on the board.

While we were playing with this game (I spent a week reviewing this before giving it to my son’s teacher), I observed other skills that he was learning. He learned to take turns and to move his game piece a set number of spaces. He is great with math, but because of his OCD, he tends to want to keep moving the piece until he has finished the path on the board. He overcame that compulsion by the end of the week.

The following quote is my son’s teacher’s opinion of Brain Savvy:

"Brain Savvy worked GREAT for a diverse group: (with modifications). Example: I had 3 students playing together. One had to ID letters of the alphabet to roll the die and have a turn. Another had to tell the time on picture cards for his turn, and D. (my son) had to circle correct answers on a paper. The magnetic feature really helped with students that were physically challenged (cerebral palsy and other conditions that causes shaking/jerking)."

Brain Savvy meets my approval and my son and his teacher. I recommend this for a fun learning tool to have at home or in a classroom. You can check out this product at their website.