Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Using games in therapy sessions

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game is a great fun activity that can be used by speech & language therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and special education teachers.  Games can make therapy fun and engaging for the child while the therapist can elicit responses and actions that meet therapy goals. 

Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game from Educational Insights with 1 gameboard (which is the box), 1 Squirrel Squeezer (tongs), 20 colored Acorns (4 each of green, blue, purple, yellow, and red), 4 Logs, 1 Spinner, and instruction booklet. The game can be played with two to four players for ages three and up.

Suggested lesson for Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel

Place all the colored acorns on the game board (bottom of box), and give each player a Log to hold the acorns they collect.

“We’re going to play Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel. You will go first. You get to spin the spinner.”

“The spinner lands on the 1 Acorn. Take the Squirrel Squeezer to pick up one Acorn. Put the squirrel’s hands (paws) around an acorn. Squeeze the Squeezer  to grip the acorn. You picked up a red Acorn.”

“Holding the Acorn with the Squeezer, bring the acorn over to your log. Drop the red Acorn into the red hole on your log.”

“Now, it is my turn. I spin the Spinner and the spinner lands on the color Purple. So I get to pick a purple Acorn for my log. I use the Squirrel Squeezer and I put a purple Acorn into the purple hole on my log.”

“Now, it is your turn again. Spin the Spinner. It lands on 1 Acorn again. You get to choose an Acorn with the Squirrel Squeezer. Because you already have a red Acorn, you can choose Green, Blue, Yellow, or Purple.”

“You picked a blue Acorn. Drop the blue Acorn into the blue hole on your log.”

“Then, it is your turn again. If you spin the Sneaky Squirrel you are allowed to steal an Acorn from any player’s board. If you spin the Sad Squirrel, you skip your turn. And, if you spin the Squirrel Storm, all the Acorn pieces on all the boards go back onto the tree, the game board. 

For children who are able to follow those directions, you can add another step. You can incorporate vocabulary cards or articulation cards. A word with the target sound must be said before picking an Acorn. If you are working on particular sounds, reinforce the correct placement and production of the sounds.

If the child is more proficient with sound production, have them use the word in a sentence. 

Start with a carrier sentence, such as: “I picked a blue Acorn.” As they are successful, go to a more complicated sentence, such as: “I put the blue Acorn into the blue hole on my game Log.”

If the goals are to improve receptive and expressive language, incorporate WH questions about the animal cards.