Halloween Matching Game!

I have become more of a digital scrapbooker, therefore my large scrapbooking supply has mostly been relaxing in a box, a few pieces being used as cards when I find the time to create them.  Well I decided to throw together some of my cute halloween paper and some die cut packs I had and create this Halloween Matching Game

I decided to go against the norm and use two different papers in order to make it a little easier for kids to play.  Therefore they choose one candy corn card and one spooky night card, thus narrowing down the choices a little more.

Not only is it adorable but it is so fun to play and a cinch to make.

A little added bonus is that you can piece the parts together to make a puzzle so its more like 2 games in one.  Seems like the perfect activity to keep the kids occupied when they ask you at 2pm if its time to go Trick or Treating yet!!

How I made it.

1. Cut the 12x12 paper into 6 equal pieces (I did this with 4 pages, 2 of each- a total of 24 cards)- You could put them all on the same paper of course!

2. Glue die-cuts to the backs one match on candy corn and one match on spooky- you could draw pictures or print out clip art if you didn't have die cuts or cut your own with your cutting machine!

3. I laminated it to make it nice and sturdy to keep year after year

4.  Then We played!

Parts of a whole!

I thought this was a great way to teach parts of a whole and beginning puzzle skills.  One of the great teachers, Deb who I worked with created this with one of her students.  She took books that he loved and was very familiar with and used their covers to create simple puzzles for him to complete.  She would use the book or a picture of the cover as a model at the beginning and over time allowed him to re-create the puzzle from memory.  I think she did a fabulous job.  Using the books was a genius idea....what a smartie pants!  Thanks for sharing Deb!

P.S.Yes I know I have been MIA for a while but it doesn't mean I am out of ideas to post.  Things have been busy but I have lots to come so stay tuned!!

Song Chart

 

So here is my-very well loved song chart-on so many levels.  As you can see the cards are bent, wrinkled and curled up but it was also "Well loved" in many other ways!!

 I used a few different shapes and colors and laminated different favorite songs on the back.  Then I had velcro on the back and had them all attached to a poster....the poster did not make the trip out east-but they easily stick to carpet and other soft fabrics.

My students would pick a card, flip it over and we would sing the song.

This was one of their favorite activities.

It was also nice to be able to test some of their skills by saying, choose a blue one or choose a diamond.

The other reason I like this setup is because it prevents you from singing the same song over and over and over again because its hard for them to find it!! hehe!

When its all over we can even use the cards to sort by shape and color!  Double Bonus!

*I pulled these out and  my little 8 month old and I sang the songs he would pick up.  He LOVED it.  So theres your proof that this is not just for school aged children!!

Speaking of Catie

Speaking of Catie I thought I would share one of her creative teaching ideas that I found a few weeks ago on one of the walls at my parents house.  Every Monday our family has "Family Home Evening" its a time to study the gospel, spend time together, learn about our Father in Heaven and just have fun.  Everyone in the family has a job and I guess Catie must have had the game.  When I asked her wjhat it was called she said "Matchmaker."  She made it the week of Valentine's Day!  I think it is adorable and feel like you could do something very similar very quickly for the things your students or children may be learning, weather they be sight words, shapes, colors etc.  Make your own matchmaker game!  Thanks Catie!!!

Valentine Bingo and Memory

 So in honor of Valentine's Day.  Heres a little Bingo game I created for my students to play at a center during the week of Valentine's Day.  We had three different boards (so they couldn't all win at the same time).  It also allowed for them to have to find the pictures on their own-which was a little more difficult for some students than others. 

 I had all the pictures on individual cards so that I could show the picture to the students who needed a little extra help or whose goals involved matching.  If I had a more advanced group I would say the word and wait for them to find the picture.  Then I would show them the picture and ask if they found the right one!

I made two sets of the cards so that we could play a memory game if we wanted to.  They really enjoyed this as well plus I figured if I was going to go through all the effort to find the pictures in the first place I might as well use them for two different games.  Both games were good because it allowed the students to learn words they might be hearing around the Valentine's Day holiday.  It helped them build up their vocabulary and associate specific things with the holiday.    You might also notice that each child has all the pictures.  Bingo doesn't always work like that but since we weren't just playing for fun but to learn as well, I wanted each child to have all the words and need to find all the pictures.  After we were done we would take off the candy on each square one by one and repeat back the words that were paired with the pictures- a little extra review of the new words! Oh how I love making learning fun and so nicely disguised. 

Just a little fun and basic activity- I think I might be playing either memory or bingo tonight with my little family for valentine's day.  I figure I might as well.  Does it surprise anyone that today is one of those days when I miss being a classroom teacher!  Oh I loved holiday themed centers.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A great site!

So lately I have been thinking about things I used as a teacher that I want to use with my children....which is pretty much everything I used as a teacher but thats beside the point.  I realized that I am forgetting so much and bit by bit something reminds me of something I have forgotten or pushed to the back of my mind.  While trying to remember starfall.com I kept saying in my mind shutterfly.com and saying wait thats where I do my photobooks, whats it called again?  I finally remembered and decided that in order to not forget I should post it to this blog to see at a later date.  I hope it can benefit someone as well.  Heres why I like it:
Its Free- lets be honest free stuff rocks! My students loved it!  They enjoyed playing the games, singing the songs, and learning the letters and sounds.  They talk about lots of different holidays and have activities for each one.  The songs really are hard to get out of your mind once they are there (Which isn't such a bad thing).  One of my students loved them so much that I decided to memorize a few so I could reward him for good behavior by singing one of his favorite songs.  I love that they are catching and teach something as well.  This and the song at the end of the letter z (in the ABC section) were two of his ( and my )favorites.  There  are all sorts of games include sorting and matching.  I also really liked that the site was easy to use.  There are little stars that twinkle around the button you need to push when you need to push it and it really only requires the use of the mouse.  The site was perfect for all of the children in my class, each one could find something they could work on.  Even the students who were on the lowest end developmentally loved the pictures and songs-they would usually require an adult to help at times but eventually were able to do a lot on their own.  I would sometimes set the computer up on a certain book or letter that matched something that student had been working on.  I would have them complete the task and then allow them to explore on their own.  It was a very motivating site.  It also helped English Language Learners a lot. If you have children old enough to begin learning letter sounds and/or need to get some basic computer use before they head to school then go on over.  Its pretty fun.  It can help with those fine motor skills and reinforce previously learned letters, sounds, chunks, or basic reading skills.
Head on over to starfall.com for your own fun time!!

Hat and Mitten Match

So while I was teaching I made this fun hat/mitten match game.(I thought it would be appropriate considering the weather most of us are experiencing at this time!)

 Its just like memory only a little bit more modified.  

I went to a teaching store and grabbed a package of these little hats and mittens.  

Then I got two copies of some cute winter stickers.  I put one sticker on a hat and its match on a mitten.  This made for a very fun winter center in my classroom. Each one had velcro on the back and stuck to one of my center dividers.  This was very convenient.

It was easier than your typical memory game because instead of having all the pictures to choose from they knew that a match consisted of 1 hat and 1 mitten.  I usually lined them up with all the mittens together and all the hats together to help the students remember where everything was. 

It was a hit.

Other Benefits and Uses: This did a lot for my students vocabulary. We would ask them to tell us about the picture and verbalize what they saw. For some students, depending on their abilities we would expect a one word description while we would have others create a sentence. It was also a great game to learn the social skill of taking turns.
Make Your Own: Weather you are a teacher, Mom, Grandma, Babysitter or Friend. This can be very simple to make. I was just looking through my scrapbook stuff and found lots of things I could put to use for future memory games.Go look through your own stash.  You could probably whip one up right now for yourself or as a gift. I also thought about matching games I could make for my sunday school class..hmm!!

*In fact since I had them all laying out on the table, my husband and I took it upon ourselves to give it a little try.  He and our little guy beat me bad but it was very fun!!  Enjoy!