Critter Clinic

Product Description

Communicative 4

Skills

• Children can identify the colors and shapes on the keys through verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Incorporate labeling objects and using descriptive and location vocabulary into play with the Critter Clinic.
• The familiarity of real-life object representations promotes imitation skills and provides opportunities for emotional expression about children’s medical experiences.

Play Ideas

• The Critter Clinic can be used as a prop to encourage verbalization and prompt language.
• When played with by several children, the Critter Clinic encourages social play and turn taking.
• Children can use different types of vocabulary words as they play hide and seek or memory games with the compartments.

Adaptation Ideas

• Pictures can be used to label the “doors” to promote receptive communication skills.

Cognitive 4

Skills

• The keys to the doors are differently shaped so each key only opens the door with a keyhole that shape.  This helps develop a child’s ability to identify and discriminate shapes and attend to detail.
• Imaginative play allows children to “try on” different adult roles, which is the beginning of vocational exploration.
• Using keys to open and close doors, choosing objects and placing them in and out of the different compartments promote motor planning, problem solving, and an awareness of spatial relationships.

Play Ideas

• Children can take turns opening the doors.
• Children can make believe the animals are sick and play vet with the Critter Clinic.
• Hide an animal behind one of the locked doors and have the child open the doors to find the animal.

Adaptation Ideas

• The clinic can be used with the doors unlocked for children who may have trouble manipulating the keys.
• The plush animals can be used independently of the clinic.

Physical 3

Skills

• The key/lock component develops eye-hand coordination.
• Fine motor skills are worked on when locking and unlocking the doors and when using the medical tools.
• Using the keys to operate the locks promotes wrist rotation and finger dexterity, as well as directionality and multi-step operations.

Play Ideas

• Playing “vet” with the medical tools encourages fine motor development, coordination and manipulation of objects all while having fun.
• A stopwatch can be used to time children to see how fast they can open all the doors.
• The keys and doors can be used to play color-matching games.

Adaptation Ideas

• If a child has limited fine motor skills, the doors can be kept unlocked. This will allow the child to open and close the doors and access objects inside without needing to use the keys.
• Take the keys off the ring so a child can use them individually.  It is less cumbersome and much easier.
• Place non-skid shelf liner under the clinic to help stabilize it for play.