Kookaburra Takes Turns
Taking turns, with a grown-up or with Kookaburra: turn over two cards, then pass it over.
How it plays
A memory game for two on one device: your child and you, or your child and Kookaburra. The cards start face down. Turn over two: a pair stays up; not a pair, they turn back. Either way, the turn passes, and Ruby Roo says whose turn it is, with a picture of who's playing. It's played together, so the end is "Together you found them all!" When Kookaburra plays, it remembers about half of what it has seen, so it's a fair partner. Three pairs at first, up to six.
What it's for
Taking turns, with a grown-up or with Kookaburra: turn over two cards, then pass it over.. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: Turn-taking tower
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Find some blocks, cups or plastic containers.
- Take turns adding one to a tower. Say "Your turn!" each time you pass.
- When it falls, laugh, and the one who didn't knock it starts the next tower.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Whose turn is it now?
- Can you remember where the koala was?
- How did it feel to wait for your turn?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Whose turn is it now?
- Do you remember where that one was?
- Waiting is hard. You waited so well!
Taking turns on one device: That's the game: you each flip two cards, then pass it over. Say 'Your turn!' as you pass.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
Play with them the first few times rather than choosing Kookaburra: saying "Your turn!" out loud, and waiting with a smile, is the skill. Let them see you not find a pair too. Or try A Match for the Patch first: finding pairs with every card face up, on your own.
A sheet to print
Print the Kookaburra Takes Turns sheet
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
What it practises
- Taking turns. Waiting for your go, saying "Your turn!", and playing a game together with someone else.
AC9HPFP02 (Health and Physical Education, Foundation); EYLF 2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - Holding something in mind. Remembering a word or a pattern for a moment while you use it.
EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Kookaburra Takes Turns lives in The Dusty Red — attention and impulse control. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated