Which one to start with
Start with Social Spark when the goal is about thinking before acting: reading a situation, handling a big feeling, seeing it from the other person's side, resolving a disagreement. Each scenario is a short clip and one or two questions, so it fits in a few minutes and works well as a discussion starter in a group.
Start with Social Scenes when the goal is the words themselves: what to say when joining a game, asking for help, saying sorry, ending a conversation. The child chooses a reply, records it and hears the whole conversation back, which makes it the better fit for conversation and self-monitoring goals.
For younger children, or for a five-minute warm-up on naming feelings, the Feelings & Social Scenes deck covers eight emotions in fifteen cards.
Who made them
Social Spark and Social Scenes were designed by Lori B. Levy, M.A., CCC-SLP, our co-founder and clinical lead. The scenarios, replies and feedback in both games are hers. We describe what the games contain and how SLPs use them; we make no claim that a game on its own changes a child's social skills. That depends on the practice around it: talking it through, rehearsing, and trying it in real life.