Getting ready for the new school year!!
At the end of each year we have to pack up our classrooms and all of our fun stuff goes into storage. Yeah...yeah..I get it..They need to paint the walls, work on the floors and so on over the summers but MAN...what a pain this process is!!
But now we are at that time of the year where we got UNPACK everything AGAIN! This is also not a fun process. However, it is fun to get reorganized and have a fresh start. We will be back in the classroom on Monday and will be creating new centers, games, activities and so much more!
Here are some things that we have put together over the past couple of years...
DIY games for preschoolers!
I hate hearing that children don't have any educational games around the house because it costs too much..Well here are some things that you can do on your own. You can pick up things from the dollar store, print pictures online or even draw them your self. We picked up a lot of these materials at teacher stores, target, dollar store..etc!
This color car game is a great game for those young preschoolers learning their colors and even learning their numbers! You just need to make a road, pick some colors and a car for each color! This book has about 5 cars and different colors in it and the first page of this book says, Who's in first? Here comes brown. Driving fast, he better slow down. You can have the child look for the brown car or look for the brown car with the number 1 on it! The second page goes on to say the same using different colors...
Ten Little Daisies is a great game for your older preschoolers! Counting backwards from 10. You need 10 flowers and as you turn the page it takes one away, allowing you to count the remaining daisies on the pages that are left.
Ten little daisies playing in a meadow, 2 walk off and now there are...Let you child count how many flowers are left and finish the story!
A couple of Christmas books that we have made also! Five Little Gingerbread and Five Little Snowmen.
Color Match! Like the others, super easy to make on your own! You can crumble up some color paper if you do not have any pompoms around. But I took some colored pompoms, a close pin and colored spots on the spider! Let your child pick up the pompoms with the close pin and match them with the correct colors on the spider! Great game for working those fine motor skills that your kiddo will need to write their name and so much more! I like to store a lot of my games in these awesome zip bags!
You can find cards like these in the dollar section in the summer months before the start of the school year!
Again I used some clothes pins, wrote out a letter on each one to match with the letters below the pictures on the cards!
Here are a few other games we have made up! We took the 5 Little Monkeys book and put some monkeys in a tree for the kids pull off as we read the story! Just used a little Velcro tape! An ABC book where you can match the ABC's with the cup cakes by putting the cherry on top!
A couple of counting books! Both books go up to 10. These books are great for helping kids to recognize their numbers. You pull the paw print or popcorn pieces off at the bottom corners, again WE LOVE VELCRO TAPE, and lay them out for the kid to see. Let them count the number of sticks on each page and find that number on the pieces, matching them up!
Here are some great things that I just picked up and target in the dollar section to make up some games for this school year! I also picked up some great books at Deals. All for just $1! You can't beat it! I laminate books that I find and use them with dry erase markers with all of my kiddos that I work with so I can use them over and over again!
I am also always on the hunt for great games that I can print up and make in the home with the kids I see too! I plan for my visits and pull from a collection of activity add on's. Last couple of years I have tried a few different ways of organizing these...My first year I tried to boxes that I found at target. I can use hanging file folders in these and move them around with me. My collection got too big and It became difficult to bend down under my desk to dig out hand outs and add on's!
Last year I used a folder organizer on my desk. It was just too much!!
Over the past couple of days I spend a few hours organizing all of my add on's/activities sheets in 3 inch binders! Each labeled and contains different things like actives for ABC's, numbers, colors, rhyming, classifying, matching, early cutting skills, early writing skills, animal sounds, etc.
I think I can place these next to my desk and grab a binder as I need something, find the hand out and grab a copy! Let's hope this is easier than the past two years!
And look!!!!! I found these cute pens while I was on a hunt for organization supplies!!
I think these will go just nicely with my NEW ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNER!!!!! I think I have another week before this bad boy will arrive in the mail. I am going crazy waiting. I love all things organization and her stuff is amaze-balls! (Yes, I love Giuliana Rancic too!)
If you haven't seen these awesome life planners then you are missing out. It took me hours to pick out my planner! You can see them here at www.erincondren.com!
Well, that is all I've got for now. I have about 100 other games that I might add here and there. But wanted to share how easy it is to make some great educational games for your kiddos!! :) I'll be sure to post the great things we make up in the next couple of weeks!
Karah
