Example plays:

The player might say: “Peppermint candies are made from mint, the herb, which only grows if you water it.”
Or instead: “The peppermint and the watering can together remind me of my mom’s beautiful herb garden.”

“I’m a fan of the ballet.”

“Telephones and bells both ring.”

“The swirly rainbow marble is what you’d get if you combined all the colors in the gum ball machine into one gum ball!”

The first half of this play: “the Chinese coin and the button are both round and have holes in the center.”
The rest of the play: “you button buttons with fingers.”
(Note: you can combine all 3 with one association, or you can make two 2-piece associations. Either way counts!)

If you play a piece and it connects to more than one other piece (via the dashed lines), you come up with an association for each link!
The player might first say, “You might use a watering can to water both the carrots and the watermelons in your garden.”
And then to connect the watermelon and carrot, they might say: “They’re both sweet and often sliced!”

If the starfish is the piece being played, you must connect it to the pearl earring, the raccoon, AND the salt shaker. So:
“The sea star, pearl earring, and salt shaker all relate to the ocean — the source of salt, oysters, and sea creatures.”
“To connect the sea star and the raccoon, I’ll say that raccoons like to rummage through my trash can at night, when the stars are out.”

The dinosaur was just played, so it needs to relate to all the other objects it touches via dashed lines:
“In a natural history museum, you’ll find fossils of many types, including snail-type animals and dinosaurs.”
“Dinosaurs and antique coins are both old.”
“Cars are powered by gas, and plastic is made from petroleum, just like this toy dinosaur.”