Spelling Words

We're always trying to find fun ways to learn.  Big Guy LOVES to play games. We created this game from items we already had in the house to help him with our goal of learning to read!

This is what we did:

 

 

1. We have the game "BANANAGRAMS".  It was given to our family as a Christmas present but I think its available at any game store for about $15.00.
2. We separated the letters into like piles.
3. We had a deck of cards with pictures and letters.  I think we picked it up at the Dollar Spot at Target.
4. We choose a card, look at the picture, sound out each letter, and READ the card.
5. We race to spell the word!
6. The first person to spell the word gets to keep the card.

Its a super simple game but a great way to practice letters and reading.  It keeps the process fun instead of memorization.  Have fun!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Scavenger Hunt

The boys were fighting and it wasn't even 7 a.m.  How was I going to make it through the day???  AAAHHHH!  Then the answer came:  We are going outside for an ABC scavenger hunt.  The boys LOVED it!  We've had a great day since the big hunt!

This is what we did:

 

1. The boys "waited" in the garage while I hid the letters in the yard.
2. I hid some in difficult places (hard to reach or hard to spot) and some in simple places.
3. The boys ran around the house finding the letters.
4. After they found one, they had to place it in the correct spot on the driveway (chalk letters), say the name of the letter and then look for the next one.

The letters are made of foam.  I found mine at a thrift store.  We've many  simple games using them.  If you find them somewhere for cheap - buy them!

The boys were so excited about this game.  They could hardly wait for me to hide the letters. Actually, they didn't wait!  They found the letters in the front yard while I was still hiding them in the backyard.  Have fun!

Game to Help Kindergartners Identify Numbers 1-30 "OOPS"

Last week, Big Guy attended "Kindergarten Round-Up".  He's so excited to go to school next year but it makes Momma a little sad.  Wow!  They grow up so fast.  Tear.  Anyway, the teachers sent us home with a card game called "OOPS".  The purpose is to help children learn to identify numbers 1-30.  Big Guy thinks the game is fun.  I lost the original instructions (Oh, well) so I'll share the directions we made up!

This is how we play:

1. You need a deck of cards with numbers 1-30 and 3 cards that say "OOPS".
2. Spread the cards out on a table face down.
3. Take turns choosing a card.
4. If you are able to correctly identify the number on the card you get to keep it. (We usually get two attempts).
5. If you aren't able to identify the number, you must put it back on the table face down.
6. If you draw an "OOPS" card you must return one of the cards from your save pile facedown on the table.
7. The first person to correctly identify 5 numbers and put them in numerical order is the "Winner".

Have fun playing!

Alternative Science Experiments for Kingdom Rock VBS

I've been working on alternative science experiments for Kingdom Rocks VBS.  I found some at Steve Spangler's website:  Cool Science Experiments.  You can use this link to get directions for his science experiments.  Maybe you will find more that will work even better!  Leave me a comment if you do!

I created another blog post with what I think are BETTER alternative science experiments.  Make sure you check it out!  You can find it by clicking on the category:  Sunday School Lessons on the right hands side of this screen.

This is what I found:


Day 1:  God's Love Helps Us to Stand Strong
- Instead of puchasing the tumbler (with the marble choking hazard) we may use Exploding Art.  Fill a film canister with paint and alka-seltzer tablets.  They should explode leaving a colorful mess on the paper. I liked Spangler's quote:  A canister at rest stays at rest until "pop".  God's Love = Pop!   I found this experiment/art project on Pinterest.  Here is the link: Exploding Art

Day 2:  Family and Friends Help Us to Stand Strong
- Instead of purchasing the aqua boosters kids can make their own Diving Ketchup.  I'm hoping the kids will be able to draw stick people with sharpie markers on one side of the ketchup packet (which I'm going to ask a fast food restaurant chain to donate).

Day 3:  Prayer Helps Us to Stand Strong
- Instead of purchasing the balancing birds I will set up a station of Balancing Nails.  I think the balancing trick is a bit more impressive than the birds and will take the kids longer to figure out how to do it!

Day 4:  Trusting God Helps Us to Stand Strong
- Instead of purchasing the Anti-Gravity Tube kids will do a simple Huff and Puff Challenge.  The air inside the bottle represents God.  Even though we can't see it (the air) it is always there.  Even though you can't always see God, He is always there for you.

Day 5:  The Bible Helps Us to Stand Strong:
- Instead of puchasing Way-to-Glow Pens I hope to do Black Light Secret Message.  If I'm not able to get mini-black lights donated then I'll purchase a black light for a couple of dollars from Menards (they sell industrial black lights - those long tubes).  Another thing to know - Tide Laundry detergent glows in the dark under a black light.  You might be able to figure out something fun with that.

I hope this helps you plan for a God-Inspired week for your kids at VBS!

6, 5, 4 adding dice game!

Our family LOVES to play games.  We've been playing the game 6, 5, 4 a lot lately to help cure our winter boredom!  Its a great game because it moves quickly, helps our Big Guy work on adding, and because of its competitive nature its exciting.

Here is how you play:

1. You need 5 dice.
2. You need 5 chips (for about an 1/2 hour game) for each person.  We've used other objects instead of chips - such as bow tie noodles. (You can also play without them, it just wasn't as fun for our family)
3. Everybody throws a chip into the "pot".
4. Everybody gets one turn to try to score the highest number.
5. Whoever gets the highest score wins all the chips in the pot for that round.
6. Continue to play until someone is out of chips.
7. The winner is the person with the most chips at that point.

Here is how you score:

1. Each person gets three consecutive tries to roll the dice.
2. You must get a 6, 5, and 4.  If you roll one of those numbers you set it off to the side.
3. If you get those three numbers within 3 shakes, you get to add up the remaining two dice.  That is your score.
4. If you get a 6,5, and 4 before you have shaken 3 times, you can re-roll the remaining two dice (up to 3 times) in order to get a higher score  BUT if you get a lower score that's what you get....RISK.

The player's score in the above picture would be 5.

This is a fun game to play as a family.  We're at the stage where games are becoming more fun.  Our Big Guy is able to play more complex games than CandyLand and his losing doesn't result in an hour beneath the table!  LOVE that!  (In our house,the losers have to shake hands with the winner and say, "Good Game".)

Preschool Math at Home

My Big Guy attends an awesome preschool.  He's learned a lot and LOVES going to school.  Yesterday, as we pulled up to the door, he asked if I would just drop him off!!  What?? When did he get so big that he doesn't want his mom to walk him in? (tears) Like all moms, I want the very best for my kids.  I've been supplementing his preschool curriculum at home each morning with fun stuff  that is helping my son learn core skills he will be expected to master in kindergarten.  One part of our morning routine is to complete two pages in his numbers book.  For the most part, he LOVES doing the worksheets.

This is what we do:

 

1. I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble.  I wasn't really sure what to choose (there are a lot of options).  This one costs less than $10.00.
2. Each morning, my son sits at the kitchen counter while I'm preparing breakfast and completes at least two pages.

There are several reasons I really like this book.  It is fun!  The book is sequenced from easy to difficult.  It mixes fun pages with more traditional styled worksheets.  So, after my son has completed a "hard" page (writing all the numbers in order without being able to see an example) it is followed by a connect the dots.  I appreciate the large print and numbers.  My son isn't overwhelmed when he looks at the page.  I've seen improvement.  We are a little more than halfway through the workbook (about 3 weeks) and I see a noticeable difference in his ability to recognize numbers (out of order) and to write them correctly (his ability to write them smaller is improving too).  I will definitely purchase the next level once we have completed this one.

Next time, I will slip the pages into plastic sleeves and use a dry erase marker so that we can re-use the pages!

Here is a link to the Barnes and Noble website:  Kumon Workbook

Fizz!

Fizz?  We LOVE it at our house!  We took a drab MN too cold to go outside or even get in the car kind of morning from frightful to delightful!  We decided to test out the old scientific volcanic eruption experiment.  It was fun!

This is what we did:

 

 

1.  I covered the counter with a disposable tablecloth.  It made clean up way easier.

2.  Each boy got a muffin tin.

3.  They spooned baking soda into each of the muffin tins.  My little guy thought the baking soda should be shoveled like sand! :)

4.  I put a little food coloring into each muffin tin.  That part was fun...later.

5.  The boys each had a little measuring cup and they poured vinegar into the baking soda.

6.  We laughed and screamed as the tin overflowed with colored fizz!  (the more vinegar, not baking soda, produced the greatest result!)

 

We did this activity for about an hour!  They seriously LOVED it.  We went through a gallon of vinegar and 2 boxes of baking soda!