The Best Educational Games for SEN Support | From Orchard Toys | AD

The Best Educational Games for SEN Support – In Collaboration with Orchard Toys

In England there are nearly 1.5 million pupils with special educational needs, SEN. 13% of children in primary school require SEN support and the percentage of pupils is continuing to rise. It’s so important that all children get the support that they need at home and when at school.

What children with SEN find challenging varies. Some children with SEN struggle with literacy or number-based activities while others find it a challenge to process and remember information. Generally, it’s true that pupils with SEN find it harder to learn how to spell words, how to tell the time and how to solve maths problems compared to children without any additional needs.

Orchard Toys offers a wide selection of educational games that help children learn through play in a stress-free way. They have lots of brilliant games that help children develop their literacy and numeracy skills and children playing these will have so much fun that they won’t realise that they’re learning. Orchard Toys games are always designed to be both educational and fun, have colourful illustrations and are made with thick, durable, high-quality card pieces.

There are many games from their wide range that are especially well-suited for children with special educational needs. We will look at some of these educational games for SEN support below so read on to find out more.

Games that support children with reading, writing, phonics and spelling (dyslexia)

• Wiggly Words: this is a brain teasing word game where children practice their literacy and language skills with words they already know and new ones too. With this game, children have fun joining together the letter on a wiggly worm’s head with the letter on a wiggly worm’s tail to build words. This game is suitable from 6 years onwards.
• Alphabet Lotto: this game is an Orchard Toys best-seller that features four fun ways to play. It’s suitable for a wide range of ages (3-6 years) and abilities. Children playing this game will have fun learning the alphabet using pictures, letters, and words. A great game for memory, speech and language skills too.

Games that support children with maths skills (dyscalculia)

• Catch and Count: is a great game for practising both number recognition and counting skills. The game has a fun fish theme that kids will love. An ideal game for children aged 3 years+ to get into maths as they’ll have lots of fun while they’re learning.
• Times Tables Heroes: this is a 2-in-1 game all about times tables. It’s suitable for children aged 6-9 years old and especially helpful for Year 4 children who are practising for their Multiplication Tables Check. One of the games is a hero city board game and the other game option is a fast-paced multiplication bingo. You can read more about this game in this blog post here.

Games that support children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)

• Match & Spell: is a best-selling Orchard Toys game that teaches young children phonetic word building, spelling and first reading as children are encouraged to sound out the letters of the words. There are two ways to play – either use the side with letters or the side with blank spaces to make it more challenging. This version is suitable for children aged 4 years+. You can play on your own or with others. You can read more about this game in this article too.
• Match and Spell Next Steps Game: is the perfect progression from the above. This version is aimed at children aged 5 years+ and features more advanced words to help children develop their next level of reading and spelling skills using both sounds and blends. This game also has double-sided boards and is played in the same way.

Collaboration. Features some gifted games.