Game Adaptations: Cootie

The "Cootie" (affiliate link) game from Hasbro is often a hit in speech therapy. But, as we all know, sometimes things need modified for our students who use AAC devices or students who are working on developing core vocabulary. I think this game is great for both of those populations. Today I'm going to share 14 different activities I use to target different skills with students who use AAC and/or students building their core vocabulary.

1.) Requesting - The first one is the most obvious - requesting the bug parts. Requesting often helps our AAC users understand that this device gets them what they want, making this a great starting point. It also allows you to target the core vocabulary of "want." Bonus: this activity targets body parts as well. I always think it's important to teach body parts, as I see some medically fragile patients. They need to be able to tell others what is hurting and understand directives from caregivers. 

2.) Labeling body parts as I put them in the bug. 

3.) Commenting - For this I often play the game normally, but have the students comment on what body part they earned for their bug.  Ex.) "I got" + "legs."

4.) Giving directions to others - Ex.) "Put on" + "head"

5.) Commenting on turn taking interactions - "my turn!" or "your turn!"

6.) Identifying and labeling verbs by making the bug do various things - run, jump, eat, sleep, drink, fall, etc.

7.) Pop the bugs body parts off. You can use this activity to target "off" or "uh oh." Make two word combinations (ex. "leg + off"). Then put them back on to target "on" - ex. "leg + on." 

8.) Yes/No Questions - Ask your students if they need a particular body part of their bug. They can work on answering with "yes" or "no." 

9.) Building MLU - As our students begin to request the items they need, we can work on building them by adding descriptive words. Ex. "I want PINK head" or "I want legs with shoes." 

10.) Asking for assistance - the parts of the Cootie game are often a bit difficult for some of my patients to get in the body. This creates a natural scenario to work on asking for assistance. 

11.) Colors - You can have your students work on labeling the various colors of bugs and parts. 

12.) Open/Close - I will often put the bug in a small container (a butter tub or larger sour cream container works great for this) to "trap" the bug. I have my patients work on saying "open" and "close" as they tell me what I should do with the container and the bug. This also works for in/out. 

13.) Counting - If your student can play the game as intended, you can work on counting. When they roll the die, have them count the dots and label the number. 

14.) Asking questions - You can have your students ask each other what body parts they need for their bug or have them ask each other for specific bug parts. Ex. "Do you need a leg?" or "Can I have eyes?"