Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

I am excited to introduce a new game designed to help children who tell lies.  Over the years I have worked with many children who have been in trouble for telling lies, but there are many different motivating factors for their behavior.  I have found that talking about it directly often leads to more lies, as they are either ashamed to talk about it or they fear being in trouble.  Naturally, the children who are in the habit of lying tend to lie about their lying habit. 

I scoured the internet looking for resources but didn’t find much related to lying.  I figured it was a good time to make a new game.  This game plays like Old Maid.  There are 10 different characters in addition to the Liar, Liar Pants on Fire card.  You pass out all of the cards to the players.  It’s likely that one person will receive more cards than the others due to the odd number of cards.  Each player will hold up their cards and one player will select a card from another players hand. If they get a match, they will lay it down on the table.  This will continue with players taking turns until the Liar, Liar Pants on Fire card is the only one that remains.  The player left with this card loses.

Each character has a different motivation for lying.  The game comes with a description for each character and questions that can be used to generate discussion about motivation for behavior as well as encouraging the child to think of possible consequences for the behavior. The goal is to open discussion, normalize feelings, and to help identify the client’s motivation for lying.  The therapist can segue in to talking about alternative behaviors that would work better than telling lies.

One reason that I am so excited about this game is because my daughter illustrated the game.  All characters are original pieces of art.  I may be biased, but not to shabby for a 12-year-old!  I’m extremely proud of her hard work. Once I figure out the logistics, I plan to open a Teachers Pay Teachers account for her to sell her artwork. 

This game is now available on my website, www.pathwaystopeacecounseling.com.

It is also on my Teachers Pay Teachers store at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Liar-Liar-Pants-on-Fire-3716967.
You can also find our games on Amazon, Ebay, and Teachers Pay Teachers
Stay tuned!  I have a couple more games that I am working on.  I'm hoping to have them available soon.

Game Review: Baking up a Friendship

I recently bought this game on Teachers Pay Teachers and I love it!  The creator took a lot of time to come up with creative ideas of how to help children learn communication and social skills.  I have played this game with several clients, and they are asking for it.

If you purchase this game, be prepared to use some ink.  There are TONS of cards and handouts that go along with the game.  To save some ink, I printed the cards on "portrait" instead of "landscape" mode and I laminated everything so that I can use dry erase markers rather than printing handouts for each time I use it.

What I love about this game is that there are so many different aspects to it that you can play it again and again and not go over the same cards repetitively.  I will also use aspects of this game in other counseling activities, such as the proper apology examples, the reflective listening script, and the script for honest communication.  I enjoy having visuals when I work with kids, as I think it helps them remember the concepts better.

Here's the link to the game: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Baking-Up-A-Friendship-Girls-Role-Playing-Game-for-Keeping-Friends-1790143

Putting a Stop to Stealing

Stealing seems to be a common problem I face in counseling.  Many kids struggle with the urge to take things that do not belong to them and I have found few resources online that address this issue.  It seems that there are many reasons that children steal, some who simply want what they do not have and others seem to be trying to fill a deep need.

Today I created a new game to help children identify their motivation to steal, identify alternative ways to have their needs met, to develop a plan of action when tempted, and to have empathy for others.  I also included thankfulness to help children remember how much they already have.  Through combating irrational thoughts and identifying emotional drives, children can overcome the urge to steal.  

You can find the game on my website www.pathwaystopeacecounseling.com or in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Also look for this game and our other resources on Ebay and Amazon.