Global Ranking
Global Ranking
1-6 players • 15 min • 10 & up
Focus: Geography
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Tap into your knowledge of geography and demographics to predict the ranking of 51 countries across 10 different categories.
Skills: Geography Facts, Demographic Information, Comparing
Game Includes
Game Includes
- 1 Global Spinner
- 51 Country Cards
- 21 Ranking Tiles
- 70 Point Tokens
- 1 Storage Bag
- 1 Rules Booklet
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How to Play
Educational Standards
Core Standard*: None
Skills
Determine
What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players think about the which of their cards is most likely to match the category on the spinner.
How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category.
Learning Implications and Educator Support
Global Ranking draws on a child's memory of facts or ability to logically eliminate countries that do not fit the spinner category in order to increase odds that a guess will be a successful. If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category
Compare
What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
On each turn, players compare the 3 countries to the spinner category.
How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category.
Learning Implications and Educator Support
Global Ranking draws on a child's memory of facts or ability to logically eliminate countries that do not fit the spinner category in order to increase odds that a guess will be a successful. If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category
Remember
What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Global Ranking is primarily a memory game or, in the event a player does not know the winning fact, it becomes guessing game.
How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category.
Learning Implications and Educator Support
Global Ranking draws on a child's memory of facts or ability to logically eliminate countries that do not fit the spinner category in order to increase odds that a guess will be a successful. If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category
Solve
What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Players either know the which country matches the spinner category best, or need to think logically to make best guess, if they don't know other facts about the countries.
How Parents Can Assist Learning
If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category.
Learning Implications and Educator Support
Global Ranking draws on a child's memory of facts or ability to logically eliminate countries that do not fit the spinner category in order to increase odds that a guess will be a successful. If children are having difficulty picking a Country Card to vote on, ask a couple of questions that will help them deduce what the most likely Country Card will match the spinner category
Demonstrate
What Does Child Do To Use Skill In The Game?
Children may demonstrate if encouraged. See How Parents Can Assist Learning.
How Parents Can Assist Learning
Encourage children to share more information about the countries that they know. Also, if they made a successful guess, ask them to explain their thinking that led to the success.
Learning Implications and Educator Support
Demonstrating knowledge, skills and abilities is an important step in the learning process because it 1) allows a children to show their mastery, i.e. that they have learned something thoroughly enough to share and even teach it to another, and 2) is the beginning of the next level of learning. Encourage children to share more information about the countries that they know. Also, if they made a successful guess, ask them to explain their thinking that led to the success.
*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards
Special Needs
Cognitive
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with cognitive delays can play the game, though probably through guessing rather than knowledge. Even though they might not understand all of the concepts on the country cards, it is an opportunity to introduce different countries and talk about them. After all, many of the players will be guessing too!
Communication
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Although communication is not necessary, learning will come from discussion about the different countries. Players should be encouraged to justify their votes and give the logic behind their responses. It may be eye-opening to discover smaller countries have greater population size than larger countries, etc.
Encourage children who have difficulty communicating to play with a partner. This will allow the child to hear the partner's thinking and contribute ideas through choices requiring little language and nonverbal communication.
Sensorimotor
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Global Ranking does not require much movement. Players need to place a number down to indicate which country they are voting for to match the criteria on the Global Spinner.
If children have difficulty with sorting an moving the markers, lay the numbers 1,2,3 out in front of the child and let him/her push their vote forward.
Social Emotional/Behavioral
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
The child who lacks self confidence may feel insecure playing this game, especially if they know very little about geography. Reassure the child by confirming that no one know all of the answers, and the child needs to think about what would be logical. As the game proceeds, players should talk about why they voted for different countries. This will demonstrate that all players lack knowledge of all of the various facts. Use the game as an opportunity to discuss why the various facts presented are important for the country.
Allow the child with behavioral issues to be the game coordinator, setting out the Country Cards, spinning the dial on the Global Spinner and comparing the answers. After doing this job for several turns and hearing the discussion, the child may be more willing to try taking a turn.
Vision
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with vision problems will not be able to read the Country Cards or the Spinner, but may be able to see the outline of the countries on the cards. They can listen to the countries being named and the category identified on the Global Spinner, then choose the number they think is most likely correct. They can verbally identify their vote if they cannot see the tiles.
Hearing
Suggestions for How to Modify Play Experience
Children with who are hard-of-hearing can play the game if they can see the Global Spinner categories and see their options for Country Cards.
Allow children who cannot hear the discussion (as well as other players) to read each of the country cards before they are discarded. This will ensure that each player has an opportunity to learn something related to each country.
*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards
Autism
Autism Strengths & Interests
Short Summary of Strengths & Interests
- Likes geography and is familiar with many countries.
- Can use basic knowledge about a country to make a inference about unknown facts.
- Can read well and understand lists of facts.
Is good at matching visual items
This game is not appropriate
Has a good memory for words, phrases and dialouge
This game is not appropriate
Has a good memory for pictures, numbers and patterns
Is This Game Appropriate? Yes
Description
Players need to understand the vocabulary on the country cards and the spinner. And, the more facts they remember about countries, the more likely they will bid correctly on each turn. This game is not appropriate
Likes to put things in order or a sequence
Is This Game Appropriate? Yes
Description
Global Ranking requires comparison of countries across various traits. If children are familiar with some facts about a country, they may be able to infer a pattern that will help them give an accurate response.
Learns through visualizing or "replaying" actions in their mind
Is This Game Appropriate? Yes
Description
Global ranking does not require physically sequencing items, but does require players to mentally rank countries on certain characteristics. Thus, children who enjoy activities like making lists or trivia games will enjoy Global Ranking.
Likes activities with rules, such as math and phonics
This game is not appropriate
Is very concrete and literal
This game is not appropriate
Learns in small "chunks" (for example, phone numbers are 3 chunks of number xxx-xxx-xxxx that are combined together)
This game is not appropriate
Is good at nonverbal reasoning and logic
This game is not appropriate
Likes spatial problem solving
This game is not appropriate
Can read well with good vocabulary, though may not fully comprehend content
This game is not appropriate
Likes to use and has good fine motor skill
Is This Game Appropriate? Yes
Description
Children who read well can use that skill to read the many facts and information on the Country Cards and Global Spinner.
Likes established routines or set ways of doing things
This game is not appropriate
Likes manipulating, constructing or building things
Is This Game Appropriate? Yes
Description
Global Ranking is played the same way each time, but cards drawn and answers to be determined change with each turn.
Likes to use and has good musical abilities
This game is not appropriate
Likes to use and has good drawing skills
This game is not appropriate
Autism Special Considerations
Appears to ignore other's communication and/or has difficulty giving eye contact to a communication partner
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Players do not need to give eye contact or communicate with each other to play Global Ranking.
Has difficulty understanding complex verbal directions
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Directions for the game are not difficult to understand. However, players need some knowledge of different countries to make educated or logical guesses in the game.
Uses vocabulary inaccurately or demonstrates echolalia (repeating another's speech)
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Although echolalia may be distracting to players during the game, players can still observe the Spinner and vote on their choice of country for the best match of characteristic. Play with the child as a partner until the child understands the process.
Gets stuck repeating a verbal topic or physical actions and/or has difficulty attending to others' actions or topic.
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Although a player's comments on an unrelated topic or perseverative actions may be distracting to players during the game, players can still observe the Spinner and vote on their choice of country for the best match of characteristic. Play with the child as a partner until the child understands the process and model making comments relevant to the topic.
Has difficulty producing speech/communication
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
No communication is needed to play Global Ranking.
Has difficulty sequencing multi-step actions and/or doing complex abstract tasks
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Global Ranking involves a simple set of instructions.Knowledge of different countries is abstract, but most players will not know many discrete facts about specific countries.
Therefore, the game requires abstract logic based on what the player does know about the country and that part of the world.
This may make this game too difficult for some children with autism.
Demonstrates difficulty initiating and maintaining social interactions
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
No social interactions are required to play the game.
Acts out or demonstrates avoidance behaviors when frustrated, overwhelmed, or needs more sensory input.
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
If the child needs to engage in a more sensorimotor activity, these can be built in after several rounds of play. Provide opportunities for gross motor movement (ex: do 5 jumping jacks between turns) and playing with preferred toys or objects.
Has short attention span for non-preferred activities
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? No
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? No
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Children who have no knowledge of or interest in geography may not be able to maintain interest in Global Ranking.
Needs sameness or consistent routines and/or has difficulty with transitions from one activity to another
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
The game is played in a straight forward way each time.The process of play is routine. To help the child transition to playing the game, let them pick a favorite country card to add to their first set of cards in the game.
Has difficulty understanding others' feelings, intentions, and the reasons for others' actions.
Is This Game Appropriate for Child with Characteristic? Yes
Can Child with Characteristic Play Game w/o Modification? Yes
Strategies for Developing Compensatory Skills:
Players do not need to anticipate or understand others' thinking or feeling to play.The game requires no strategy to play.
*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards
Extended Play
Extra Ways to Play the Game
Play the game under normal rules, but add one additional. After the round, each player can earn an extra point if they can provide a new piece of information about the winning country. Examples include singing the national anthem, the country's official animal, name of famous natural landmarks or foods that the country is famous for.
Materials Needed
No additional materials needed
Developmental Benefits
This variation helps children strengthen their memory skills and demonstrate their mastery of information regarding geography and social studies. It will also encourage children to start attending to facts about countries that they hear during their everyday activities.
*Data compiled from CCSSI ELA Standards, WA Science Standards, and Washington Social Studies Standards
Collapsible content
How to Play Video & Transcript
Today you’ll tap your knowledge of geography and world-wide demographics to predict how countries stack up against each other with Simply Fun’s Global Ranking.
You can play Global Ranking all by yourself or with up to 6 players.
Global Ranking is best for people ages 10 and up.
Global Ranking helps people practice their knowledge of country locations by asking questions like “What is the distance of a particular country from the equator?” while also helping players to understand key demographics of the country in comparison to other countries like GDP per capita, population and life expectancy.
In every Global Ranking game box, you’ll find:
One Global Spinner disk that will indicate the category – one of ten – and criteria to be considered on any given turn.
You’ll also find 51 two-sided Country cards representing all the countries to be ranked. The front side of each card shows the country’s flag and a zoom in look at the location of the country. The back lists all the ranking statistics of that country.
Additionally, there are 21 Ranking tiles – in values of 1, 2 or 3.
Finally, 70 Point tokens round out the contents of the box. The tokens are kept in the storage bag, shown here, throughout the game.
To set up the game, place the Global Spinner in the center of the table. Place one each of the 1, 2 and 3 Ranking tiles in a row under the spinner, as shown.
Deal a single Country card, face down with the details hidden, in front of each Ranking tile. Place three Country cards in total, so all players can see which country is identified as number one, number two and number three. Like this.
Now, deal each player a 1, 2 and 3 Ranking tile, so each player has 3 tiles to use to vote with.
Keep all the Point tokens in the storage bag and place it to the side of the spinner and the cards.
The player who most recently traveled to another country goes first. If no players have been to a foreign country, the player who last ate Mexican food goes first.
To begin play, the first player spins the Global spinner. When the arrow stops, the player will read the category out loud and tell all the players how to answer the question based on where the arrow is pointing within the category.
For example, if the arrow stops on the Population category, it may land on either high or low. Here, since the arrow stopped on high, players will be instructed to rank the countries based on which one has the highest population.
Other categories offer options like near or far, big or small, or new or old.
Once the category and criteria are chosen, players secretly consider which of the three countries selected in the round best fits the criteria and then match the country they think is correct with their Ranking tiles.
For example, if a player thinks the country ranked 2 by the global spinner actually has the highest population, he will select HIS number 2 Ranking tile.
When all players have chosen their Ranking tiles, they reveal their votes simultaneously. Then, the player who spun the Global spinner turns over all three Country cards, finds the correct category on each card and reads the answers – shown here – out loud to the group. All players who selected the correct Country card receive one point token from the bag.
The three Country cards in play are then placed in a discard pile and three new Country cards are placed, face down in front of the Ranking tiles. Play continues, clockwise, with the next player.
The games ends with thee first player to earn 10 Point tokens.
If more than one player earns his 10th token on the same round, it’s a tie. To break the tie, each of the tied players still in the running draws one Country card and a neutral player spins the Global spinner and reads the category and criteria aloud. The player holding the winning Country card wins the game!
If you know your geography, you’ll rank number one yourself, with Global Ranking.
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.
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