DIY Learning Games

Happy Friday!! Boy how good does it feel to say that? This has been a draggy week (is draggy even a word?!) and I am very happy to welcome the weekend with open arms. I am ready to dive right into the weekend and not look back so today's post will just be a round up of learning games that I have created over the years, photographed and then never posted about. Life seems to always get the best of me and I can't say that I mind! Here is a simple alphabet game using water bottle caps, paint chips, stickers and a marker! Easy and saving plastic from the landfills! 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...will there be enough room?? This book is a long time favorite in our house and we must speak about it a lot because at one point we had FIVE copies?! Hardcovers, soft covers, signed...you name it! I am also the mother of fidgety boys that love to wander around while I was reading, so I created a game for them! Taking linking monkeys and then writing letters on their bellies, and a plastic tree turned coconut tree, I created a chick chicka boom boom prop and the kids would search for the letter I was reading about and place it in the tree. There was never enough room for those silly monkeys and just like in the book it would topple over and the letters would scatter about. 

Counting is a simple thing to do, but it gets boring learning the same old way! Using pieces from other games that I saved when parts went missing, I created this matching and counting game when I added in animal counters as well! Remember, anything can be a counter but the brighter and more fun, the more it's like playing and less like learning! 

Teaching simple addition and subtraction? Flashcards can be ever-so-boring! Add in some unifix counters and then the children have a visual tool to use and see the answer. As they configure the problem with the cubes, they are repeating the problem in their head and counting with each cube. This is helping them remember even more!

Remember my friends to take the time to remember every minute! Enjoy your weekend!

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Toob Much Fun Around the World

Yay for Wednesday right?! It means we've made it through the hardest part of the week and from here it's all downhill, but in a good way! When we get busy with so much "stuff", I know it's time for a break from book learning and my kids always think these breaks are just us having fun, little do they realize that there is still a lot of learning going on!

If there is one thing that we love in this house, it is Safari Ltd! I've written about their other TOOBS HERE as well! I love coming up with games to their toys. The kids always love playing and never realize they are learning. Add to that the fact that my boys are tactile learners and they are absorbing this all through play! What mommy wouldn't enjoy that? We keep a majority of our figures in this IKEA bin with a lid that sores perfectly in our massive expedit shelf also from IKEA, in the playroom. There is a photo on the outside, so that the kids know where it belongs and what belongs in it. We've even used their TOOBs in creating a volcano that you can read about HERE!

For today's game, I tucked a brand new World Landmarks Toob in my purse, some index cards and we were ready to hit the library! First I laid out all the landmarks and let them hold them and check them out. We discussed what each was called and then they were told to research where they are located.

 

The kids took off for books, the computer and one even asked the librarian. They were told that as long as they followed the library rules of no running or being loud, they could find the answers in any way necessary, but they would be asked questions about each landmark as well so it was best to be prepared.

I set out the location cards on the table and had them match them up. Once matched, they had to tell me 3 facts about each landmark and ask any questions they may have. 

This game was so successful that I decided to combine the landmarks toob with the Around the World toob and create this game in a more permanent way. I also added the names of each landmark on green cards and then the locations on pink cards. The idea is to find the name of the monument first and place the landmark on that card and then find the location and add that card to the pile. Adding in checked-out books from the library, we can read about each one and make this game last for months! I teach everything to mastery, so it's great to be able to just take it easy learning everything about these locations and pieces.

Everything tucks away into this small container for portability and the ability to take it with us wherever we go!

Exactly! Enjoy every single minute my friends, it goes by all too fast!

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