Suggested Activities and Games to Supplement OLSAT-8
Suggested Activities and Games to Supplement OLSAT-8
Activities that highlight the thinking skills measured by the OLSAT-8 are listed below.
Verbal Results
Some games and activities that stress Verbal Comprehension skills include, but are not limited to:
- Word searches – if child has trouble with reading, avoid puzzles with words listed backwards.
- Sequencing pictures from a story or cartoon frames.
- Finding words inside a larger work: vacation = at, it, on, cat….
- Upwords
- Hangman
- Scrabble, unless child is experiencing difficulty; then; begin with Scrabble, Jr., and build on successes to move to Scrabble.
- Synonym/Antonym games and simple analogies using synonyms and antonyms, etc.:
Red is to stop as green is to __________
Frown is to smile as sad is to _________
- Sentence Scrabble
Games and activities that stress Verbal Reasoning include, but are not limited to:
- Mad Libs
- Crossword puzzles
- Scrabble Sentence cubes
- Matching antonyms, synonyms, rhymes
- Adding dialogue to picture completion cards or frames from the comic strip
- Understanding proverb and idioms
- Boggle or Boggle, Jr.
- Clue or Clue, Jr.
- Leap Frog Turbo-Twist Spelling
Nonverbal Results
Activities and games that help develop Figural Reasoning skills include, but are not limited to:
- Simon
- Connect Four
- Legos
- Rubik’s Cube
- Yahtzee
- Puzzles – wood frame and jigsaw puzzles
- Many of the children’s puzzles in the newspapers
- Leap Frog math games
- Checkers, Chinese Checkers
- Chess
Activities and games to help your child develop Quantitative Reasoning skills include, but are not limited to:
- Dominos, Tri-Ominos
- Attribute Blocks
- Substitution Puzzles – codes, numbers, symbols
- Cryptograms
- Children participating in family trip planning: mapping, mileage, costs, etc.
Brain Tips
Parents/guardians should note some critical findings from the most recent brain research:
1. Physical activity is necessary to stimulate brain growth.
2. Eating habits either promote or impair brain development and performance.
3. Music lessons – instrumental or vocal – positively impact brain development.
4. Play that involves creativity and imagination improves school success.
Reducing TV-computer time and emphasizing the above will help your child to reach his/her maximum potential.
