Posted in Learning Games
Toy Assembly Game
Today, when asking the kids review questions for Bible, I let them put a body part on Mr. Potato Head for every correct answer (actually, if they didn't know the answer, I let them look it up and then answer correctly). They assembled one relatively normal Potato Guy (but how normal is a potato man!) Then they put together a completely mixed-up version and had a good laugh. I took a picture, but will have to post it later after it's developed. For a future variation of this game, I want to let them assemble some LEGO vehicles that they've been given.
By the way, have you seen this version of the toy?! (Please, dear relatives, don't take this as a hint and buy it for my kids... Maybe I should be more clear: DON'T BUY IT!)
Don't have a potato head? How about a virtual one! THIS ONE has even more features.
Or what about a Mr. Apple head?
You can even use Spud Head to learn about the five senses.
Want to learn the history of this American icon? Click HERE.
I could have posted a link to a site showing pictures of a certain Mr. Potato Head traveling the world, but apparently he/it is quite profligate and I don't approve of his lifestyle.
I also could have purchased the rights to display a funny potato head cartoon for 43.95 USD, but I'm not that obsessed with my blog as yet.
~ 2 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 23, 2005
Friday Game Day
Posted in Learning Games
We decided to have another Friday Game Day today. Again, we focused on math games. One of the moms had the three girls in the living room (We didn't segregate by gender on purpose. The girls are younger.) and they played "Run to the Answer" (already posted under Learning Games) to review number bonds as well as Sum Swamp.
The three boys played a place value card game from the Singapore Home Instructor's Guide and then all the kids together played Dino Math Tracks.
Next week, maybe we'll play a geography game as well as a math game.
~ 1 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 20, 2005
Adding More Games to the List
Posted in Learning Games
Bible Baseball - This game can be used with review questions of any subject. With a small number of kids, it is not exactly like baseball, because there are not enough people for teams. I drew a baseball diamond on the board and for each correct answer, I drew a different colored stick figure on a base. (I'd just erase the figure and move it to the next base with each correct answer.) With just three kids, more than one "man" could be on base at a time. I kept score of the number of runs.
Games like this seem kinda silly to me, but for some reason it is more enjoyable for the kids than just answering the questions.
Concentration - I used this with phonograms. I laid out phonogram cards upside down on the floor (two of each that we are reviewing this week). The kids took turns trying to find matches. They had to say out loud each phonogram that they turned over. I suppose this could work with other subjects as well: A set or match of cards could be the question card and the corresponding answer card. The kids would have to turn over cards and read them out loud until they matched the right question and answer team. This could probably work with math facts as well.
"Hopscotch" - We haven't done this yet, but I intend to make a trail of phonograms outside for the kids to hop to and say. When they are done saying all the phonograms, I'll let them run around our cul-de-sac once or twice. (Other options: Hop on a bike and ride to a given point and back or climb a tree, etc.) I might try this with math facts sometime. I'd make a trail of simple equations and the kids would have to hop to each card and answer it. It would be fun to time how fast they could hop to the end of the trail and then they could try to beat their own time.
Mini-Chocolate Chips - This is not a game, but an incentive. This week, I'm going to ask my daughter to write some sentences with her spelling words. I'll reward her with a mini-chocolate chip (I've done raisins in the past, but that just won't motivate my daughter, the carb queen!) for each spelling word that she includes in her sentences. I'll ask her to try to include more than one spelling word per sentence.
~ 0 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 16, 2005
Friends' Game Day
Posted in Learning Games
On Fridays, our piano teacher comes to our house to give our three kids lessons and then two more children come over for lessons. (One of the kids can't be at the piano teacher's house due to dog/cat allergies which is why the lessons are at our canine and feline free house.) Today, I invited the two other families to bring their own lunch to eat with us following the lessons and then stay to play math games. One boy couldn't stay today, but the first grade girl and her younger sister and mom stayed.
After lunch, we had all the kids play the place value game (see the bottom entry under the Learning Games category), the older kids competing to the thousandth place and the younger kids competing to the hundreds place. The younger kids then played a number bond card game: Mix up two sets of number cards 0-5. First one child or team puts down a number card. The next child puts down her number and if the two numbers together make a 5, the child gets to keep the combination. The kids go back and forth until all the bonds that add up to 5 are made. The child with the most combinations wins. The kids also played games with different sums.
I worked some with the older kids on adding or taking away from numbers requiring regrouping while the other mom led the younger kids in a game of Sum Swamp , an addition and subtraction game for ages 5+ from the company Learning Resources. The game won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award gold seal. My five year old used Math U See blocks to build the problems so that she could solve them in order to know how far to move the game piece. Fun game! All the kids played the last game together.
For a final activity, I gave them all a sheet of paper and pencil and showed them step-by-step on a white board how to draw a simple horse (using the drawing book Drawing Horses That Look Real by Don Mayne). The kids enjoyed it.
These activities were an enjoyable learning experience for the last two hours of the last school day of the week. We may have a Game Day again next week.
~ 0 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 15, 2005
King of the Mountain and the Floor Board Game
Posted in Learning Games
To add to the Learning Games category in the sidebar (and by the way, most of these games I've found in other sources)...
King of the Mountain
We used this game with Bible review questions. I had the kids stand at the bottom of the stairs. When they answered a question correctly, they could move up a step. When they could not answer a question, they had to stay put and look up the answer in the Bible. The first child to the top of the stairs became King of the Mountain.
Floor Board Game
I used phonogram cards to review, but any facts could be written on 3x5 cards. On some other 3x5 cards, I wrote the folowing instructions: Lose a Turn; Move ahead three spaces; Move back three spaces; Rub your head and pat your tummy and sing "I'm a funny monkey"; Give your mom a hug and a kiss; Do five jumping jacks. I interspersed the instruction cards with the fact cards and set them up on the floor to form a large game board. The kids took turns rolling the dice in a container that I held for them. They moved the number that they rolled and said the phonogram or followed the instructions. After playing the game for awhile, I told them that they would lose a turn if they touched each other!
~ 1 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 12, 2005
Today's Games
Posted in Learning Games
Instead of typing a list of learning games, I've decided to write short entries here and there about the games or activities we do on certain days and categorize them under "Learning Games" (see sidebar). Most of these will be be very simple, maybe even silly, but I guess my kids like silly!
Today:
Quirky Questions
For Bible, I had the kids take turn answering the review questions. If they knew the answer they could do a short goofy activity such as... 5-10 jumping jacks, running down and up the stairs once, patting head and rubbing tummy, hoedowns (a short ttapp exercise involving both right and left brain; see sidebar if you are curious about ttapp), singing a short segment of a song, somersault, etc. If they didn't know the answer, they looked it up in the Bible instead of doing an activity.
Run to the Answer
For spelling, I spread out phonogram cards all over the floor. I called out a phonogram and the kids ran to it. The first child to touch the card could keep it. I made a rule about no grabbing or shoving. I reserved a few of the cards for the 5 year old to race to by herself. This game could be used for math facts with number cards. Call out a problem and the kids run to the answer.
If you'd like to share a learning game, feel free to post it in the comments section!
~ 0 Comments
~ Post A Comment!
~ Permanent Link
Date: Sep. 8, 2005
Games
Posted in Learning Games
I try to use a variety of games while teaching my kids to spice up the learning process. Today we've played three different games.
Tic-Tac-Toe
Instead of just having the kids take turns answering the Bible review questions, I divided them into teams. Evan was a team unto himself, being the oldest, while Matthew and Sophie were allowed to collaborate. They played tic-tac-toe, earning the right to make their mark on the white-board grid if they answered a question correctly. If neither team could answer the question from memory, I allowed the team which first had the question to look up the answer in the Bible. Today the game ended in a draw; the best way to end tic-tac-toe.
Place Value Game
During math time, the boys were learning about place value up to the thousandth place as well as comparing number values. The Singapore Home Instructor Guide (sold by Sonlight) provided a fun game which the boys enjoyed. They each had a sheet of scrap paper with 4 lines representing place value. Each boy got to take a turn rolling the dice and writing the number wherever they liked on the lines (once placed, the numeral could not be moved). When all the lines were filled, the boys read their numbers to each other, and at first the boy with the highest number (later I changed it to whoever had the smallest number) won the round. In the first round, the boys placed the numbers indiscriminately on the lines, one of them losing the game due to poor placement. They caught onto the strategy by the next round. This method was certainly more interesting than just going over the text.
Musical Facts
During spelling, we made two circles of phonograms on the floor: single-letters for Sophie and multi-letter phonograms for the boys. I sang goofy songs while they walked around the letters. When I stopped singing, they had to stop and take turns saying the phonogram beside which they stopped. THAT game was more fun for the kids than for me, because they got too silly
and weren't listening! 
Sometime I may compile a list of games I often use and post it here .