Secret Square

Secret Square is a game in my cabinet that I have had I think since I started as a speech path in the schools.  It looks like it is out of print, but I thought some of you might have it hiding in your closet or cabinet too! I am attaching a couple of pages of pictures that you could print off and use in the same way as this game.

Basically, this game is a set of 96 tiles with different object pictures on them.  It also has 25 chips.  The directions of the game say to choose 25 squares, at random.  Place the squares face up, in 5 columns of 5 rows each (I used 36 chips in my example).  You then pick a "Hider" who places a chip under one of the squares for all of the "Seekers" to try and find.

Players then start asking "Yes" and "No" questions about the squares to discover which square hides the chip.  Seekers may only ask questions that can be answered by "Yes" or "No".  For example,

Seekers may ask:

"Is it a fruit?"  "Is it an animal?"  "Can it fly?"  "Is it in the top row?"

Seekers may not ask:

"What color is it?"  "What letter does it start with?"  What row is it in?"

After answering, the Hider removes all of the squares that don't match the answer, and places them back in the box.  This continues until the secret chip is found.  The round ends when the Seeker names the secret square.  The Seeker then gets to keep the chip.  The Seeker that correctly names the square then gets to be the Hider with a new chip, and play continues with a new set of squares.  The player at the end of the game with the most chips wins.

There are many other ways to use these squares:

Same or Different

Select 25 tiles and arrange the picture side down.  Students take turns turning over two tiles at a time.  If they are able to perform one of the following tasks, they get to keep the two tiles.

1. state one way in which the two items are the same

2. state one way in which the two items are different

Describe It

Select 25 tiles and place them face up on the table.  Students take turns selecting tiles one at a time.  Students then have to describe the picture.  You can ask appropriate questions such as:

What color is it?

What is it used for?

Who would use it?

"Three for Me"

This game is based off of another game that I have called 3 for Me.  This game is also out of print now (I think it is a sign that I am getting old)!

Select 25 or 36 tiles and place them face up on the table in rows and columns.  Students then have to pick three different tiles and state how they are all similar.

Examples could include:

lion, cow, penguin because they are all animals

strawberry, apple, fire truck because they are all red

balloons, airplane, bird because they all go in the air.

Really, you could use any kinds of small pictures for this game.  Click HERE for a free sheet of pictures that you could use for these activities.