Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Inexpensive Game to Learn Any Subject!

I have to share with you some fun we've been having around here! At the beginning of our homeschool journey last year, I racked my brain for all kinds of ways to make learning fun for my kiddos. One thing I came up with is still such a hit, I thought I'd share it with you. I got about 20 sheets of foam in various colors from my local craft store. Then I kinda "bubble-cut" the edges all the way around to make the game board 'squares'. My kids were the game pieces that move around the "board".  On about 5 of the pieces, I used a marker to write things like, +4 or -2. Then if they land on these places, they do as it says. We use this as a quiz tool for any subject from vocabulary words to history and science facts. If they answer correctly, they move up a space, if incorrect, they stay where they are. The first one to the end wins or we put them in a circle if I don't want the game to end till we get through all the information. The kids love it!
Tonka: mid-jump to a sight word
Well, now I found a new way to use them! Sight Words. Ok, I admit it, I hate flash cards. I don't deny they can be effective, but trying to keep my wiggle worms focused AND sitting still for those is next to impossible! So, I wanted to get my little guy moving and learning so I borrowed the idea of the game Hullabaloo. I laid out all those foam pieces I mentioned above and laid a sight word flash card on each of them. Then I'd say, "Hop to said." or "Walk backwards to this." Then when he got tired, he would read the word and have me "move" to the one he chose. This helped him practice reading the words and he got quite a giggle out of being the boss! 

Go grab some inexpensive foam sheets and see your kids BEG for learning games! Enjoy!

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