OurWanderingAdventures : Learning Games

Monday, November 3, 2014

Learning Games

Oh Happy Day! How are you doing today? The weekend was wonderful and the weather is right as it should be for Autumn. As I organize the classroom for a new tour post coming soon, I am finding so many things that I have yet to blog about but are already ready to move on to a new home. I have a small online resale shop that I sell items to locals and I know they are going to homes that will treasure them for the time being and then they too will pass them on. Even though most of the stuff I make is upcycled in some way, it still pains me to just toss it in the trash. Are you like that? Anyway, this was supposed to be Friday's post, but I got distracted by something else in the blogosphere, you know when you wish you could spin your own yarn like SouleMama or be as fashionable as TwoBirds or have the eye that the Goodwillista has or of course the shoe collection over at the Tote Trove...then you combine that with the emails that come to me wishing for similar traits...well I knew it was time to set people straight on the world of Bloggers, so that was FRIDAY and this is now Monday and my schedule is a mess as it should be Menu Plan Monday...which I will just have to reschedule for later today! Anyway...Above you will see the easiest playroom storage EVER that also looks so cute! Clear glass jars are perfect for small odds and ends that seem to always end up in the corners of the room!

Colors, Colors, Colors! This game was a simple one that the kids and I made up together with an old palette. I had them paint the palette in rainbow order, gather up some random color pegs and we raided our dice collection for one that was all about colors. Then I had them color blobs of color on cardstock flashcards and they were labeled. This can be played so many ways, that I hope it's a reminder of just what you can do when you look around your home! Learning toys do NOT have to be expensive and should not be limited to just 1 thing. I teach each subject to mastery and DO NOT only have 1 way of doing that. I figure if I change it up often, it will eventually catch on and be fun along the way!

Vacation is ALWAYS learning time, no matter where we go! My older 2 always have notebooks on them and are able to take notes on what is important or things that caught their eye. I hope that this is teaching them to keep their eyes always open and is giving them an eye for detail. My youngest is still in the wandering stage, which is quite alright and why I help him out with this worksheet. He knows what is on it and what to prepare for as we explore new places, but it does not require him to take notes. Get your own copy HERE!

Clothespins! What can't you do with them? I always have several hundreds of these on hand, just like popsicle sticks, they are one of my go-to game makers. When flashcards lose their mates or their box begins to get warped, I know they need a new life NOT to see the end of their life. This simple game is a matching one that can be tossed in a pencil pouch and taken on the road. We are always waiting somewhere, are we not? Pulling out pouch games was how the children kept entertained!

Alphabet Soup was a longtime favorite and one the kids recently began playing again when I took it out to sell. They love the fun there is to the games, even if they already know and understand the material. This is all I ever want for my homeschool, to know that learning is fun. A bowl of magnetic alphabet uppercase letters and spoon are what draw the eye into the game. Use a dry erase marker on the recipe card and the kids are all set. The teacher/parent calls out a letter and the student/child must first circle it on the recipe card and then take a spoon full of soup out. They hunt for the matching uppercase letter through the soup and then continue on to the next letter and the next. This is great for learning letters and fine motor skills. Being as the letters are magnetic, they can also be used in many other ways!