Remote Control Impulse Control

game Description

Recent research strongly indicates that impulsive children have difficulty (1) learning from past mistakes, (2) reflecting on the potential consequences of their actions, and (3) inhibiting dominant responses (impulses) in order to initiate subdominant responses (appropriate behavior).*

The Remote Control Impulse Control™ game is a set of four card games that address these findings by focusing on three essential skills for inhibiting impulsivity:

• STOP and redirect behavior.
• REWIND and learn from past mistakes.
• FAST FORWARD and think ahead about potential consequences.

The game uses remote control symbols (see game photo) to facilitate learning the skills. There are both competitive and cooperative versions for grades 1–5 and for grades 6–9. The two age groups have separate sets of cards. During the game players read brief case studies adapted from the impulsive behavior of real kids. Players then practice one of the three essential skills: They STOP and say what they would do instead, or they REWIND and tell about a similar impulse that they had and learned from, or they FAST FORWARD and describe the possible negative consequences of the impulse. All players practice all three skills during the course of the game. In addition to practicing the three skills, players practice planning ahead and social skills as well as exercising frustration tolerance.