Animal Mastermind Towers Therapy Idea

I found another game at Goodwill recently!  I absolutely love the treasures I find there! I may have to make a weekly trip....

Anyway, today I wanted to show you Animal Mastermind Towers. You may be familiar with the game Mastermind. Traditionally, you put colored pegs in a certain order and your opponent has to guess what order they're in.

You can get this game here:

For this game, lay the plastic tiles on the table face up so both players can see them. Do the same for coordinating solution cards.  Player one takes one of the plastic tiles and places it near them; player 2 takes the matching solution card and places it near them. Then player 2 does the same. Go back and forth until each player has the desired number of tiles for the round (4, 5, or 6 tiles). THEN, each player picks up all of his/her animal cards and secretly decides which order they should be put in their tower in. They can put them in any order, from bottom to top, that they want. The only thing is the animals must be facing YOU, and your opponent should not see them!

To play, Player 1 asks Player 2 a yes no question. The question must have 2 animals in it and include the word "above" or "below." An example would be, "Is your giraffe above your fish?"

In order to guess the order,  the player reads aloud the order of the solution cards (or can arrange them on the table). If they get the order correct, they win!  If not, play resumes. Each player may guess the order 3 times!

Why my preschoolers and I love this game:
-It is a GAME that's engaging. They love animals and love guessing the order! 
-It focuses on both asking AND answering yes/no questions
-It focuses on the concepts of above and under (or on top/under could be used)

How you could do this without having the game:
You could laminate pictures of animals. Make two copies of these cards. Place velcro on the backs of the cards and attach the other piece of velcro to a piece of paper. Then, instead of stacking them in towers, they place them in order on their sheets. These could be hidden behind clipboards or played as a barrier game!

Hope you and your students will enjoy this activity as much as mine do!!