MimiQ
Promoted Skills
Product Description
This social card game for 2-6 people will have kids making faces until all the cards are gone. Children arrange themselves in a circle and have to collect as many sets of three matching cards as possible, but it is how they get the cards that makes this such an engaging card game. There are 11 sets of three matching cards, and depicted on the different sets are a variety of facial expressions. In order to get a needed card from another player, children have to act out the card they need by mimicking the facial expression depicted on the card. If you have the card they ask for, you give it to them, but if you do not you let them know by sticking out your tongue. With quick gameplay, this is a game kids can play over and over again.
Cognitive
Skills
- Children flex their interpretive and receptive language skills as they work to recognize the other players’ faces as depictions of the faces on the card.
- As players keep track of the number of matches they have as well as the score of the other players, they are learning basic counting skills.
- Memory and recall are used as children remember which players they have asked for cards already, and which ones they have not.
Play Ideas
- For a challenge, kids can look at their hand once at the beginning of each hand. This requires kids to memorize which card they are going to act out.
- Turn all of the cards face down in a grid and turn the game into a memory matching game.
- Create names for each of the card characters. Maybe a card reminds a child of their Grandpa Bill?
Adaptation Ideas
- If the facial features on the cards are too difficult, create your own cards with customized pictures.
Communicative
Skills
- With this being a multiplayer game, children are practicing verbal and nonverbal communication as they interact with the other participants during game play.
- Having to mimic the facial expressions on the cards, children are learning about nonverbal communication—conveying ideas and emotions without words.
- The explanation, setup and cleanup of the game provides an avenue for children to practice communication outside of the confines of gameplay, but still within the structure of the game dynamics.
Play Ideas
- Incorporate basic sign language into the game to make it completely nonverbal.
- Turn this into a partner game, where one partner gets to see the card and the other does not. The one who gets to see the card has to verbally communicate how to change the other person’s face to match the card. At the end of 1 minute, a judge will tell them how well they did.
Social/Emotional
Skills
- Social games like MimiQ allow children to practice good sportsmanship as they gain and lose cards in this quick game.
- With a variety of ages, races, genders and facial features, MimiQ provides ample opportunity to expose young children to diversity.
- With 15 minute game durations, the quick gameplay increases the likelihood that all children have the chance to win over a longer period of playing time promoting patience and turn taking.
Play Ideas
- Take photos of yourselves making funny faces and use those as new cards for the game to customize the matches.
- Make it a full body game by taking pictures of people in whacky full body poses and having the players act those out to complete the matches.
- Kids can match a feeling to each of the card characters and describe their mood based on their facial expression.
Developmental Processes Promoted
- Fine Motor
- Visual Attention
- Self-Esteem
- Memory & Recall
- Hand Grasp
- Sorting & Classification
- Visual Processing
- Cause & Effect
- Turn Taking
- Good Sportsmanship
- Two Handed Play
- Comprehension
- Patience
- Social Interaction
- Categorization
Additional Details
- Approximate Price:
- $6.99
- Age Range:
- 4+
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