Need a project for your kids that is creative, logical, and fun? Have them create a board game!
Sometimes it can be difficult for eager preschool aged children to enjoy family game time, because they can’t yet read. One way we found to include our little ones was to create Picture Charade Cards. We found pictures of animals in old magazines, cut them out, and and glued them to index cards. But the pictures don’t have to be of animals and you may find it easier to find them online, print, and cut them out. You could also write the word on the card to encourage word recognition, but the picture itself is what makes it possible for the child to get to independently participate by acting it out.
A “Yahtzee” score card can be a little too complicated for little ones to completely understand. To help my kids play more easily by themselves or with little assistance, I created a simplified score card for playing Yahtzee.
Time to work on colors! There are so many ways to sort and play, but the main point is for you and/or your child to be saying the color names aloud. My son wasn’t a big talker, so just getting the shapes sorted was a fun task for him, too. First gather or make small/flat items you have of each color of the rainbow. (I chose to stay away from shades like teal and coral, for example.) Items can be found or made from about anything – paper, fabric, felt, buttons, lids, etc. These can be sorted into and out of color-labeled plastic bags, and we then stored those in a wipes container. Besides having the small colorful items, you will also need sheets of construction paper, a poster, or some other surface onto which your child can place the small items as he matches the colors. Besides using it for storage, the wipes container is also used for more focused play by dumping in all or some of the items and covering it with the lid. Then he can pull out one random item and place it in the correct spot while saying the color name. Simple and versatile! Here are some photos and description of ways we play our color sorting game:
Here is a game we made up to give us another way to practice phonics. I affectionately call it the “Alphabet Cake Game” because it looks a bit like a cake or brownies if using brown paper, but you can use any paper in any pan and call it what you like. Notice I omitted the letters “X” and “Z”, because of the mathematical logistics of my grid. Also, to reinforce letter recognition, you could use all uppercase letters on one side of the paper and all lowercase letters on the other side. Then you can just flip it over for another game.
“The Rules” are easy. Have your child:
- Roll something (we used a lifesaver) into the pan
- Say the name of the letter
- Say the sound that letter makes
- Come up with a word that starts with that letter
- Repeat for as long as you want
Of course, you can adapt this to fit your child and what you are wanting them learn or practice.
Here is a video of me introducing the game to wiggly Ava. You will see why I suggest sitting at a table or on the floor, but the bed (unlike the rest of the room) happened to be clean at the time! 🙂
While family was visiting for Ava’s birthday, we pulled out our roll of brown packaging/craft paper and laid it out on the table along with our crayons and colored pencils. Then everyone (even Landon) took a seat and began drawing/coloring a picture. After a few minutes had passed, we all got up and shifted to the next chair over. Then for the next few minutes we added to the picture in front of us. On the activity went until we made it around the table and back to our original seat. It was a fun and calming activity for everyone. Plus, some surprising artistic talent emerged (go, Dad 🙂 and there was a fair bit of artistic humor involved, as well!
If you don’t have a roll of brown paper, you could also use the back of some wrapping paper. Or you could simply give everyone their own piece of white 8.5″ x 11″ paper for their drawing and when time is up, simply pass your paper to the next person!
This activity really was fun for all of us and great for when we were ready to sit for a while but still interact.
I know you remember glow-in-the-dark stars from when you were a kid! Tonight, instead of sticking them on the ceiling, I sprinkled them on the floor to make a game for Ava…
Before she went to bed, I made Ava hide away while I sprinkled glow-in-the-dark stars (without sticky backs) all over the living room. Then I turned off all the lights, handed Ava a basket, and told her we were going to go star hunting. She had fun finding and picking up all the stars, and it was rather pretty. I think I’ll keep them hidden away to pull out later so we can do this again.
Ava and I made up a new version of hopscotch. Instead of the traditional hopscotch layout, we drew random squares on the pavement and jumped from one to the next. After this picture was taken, Ava wanted numbers in the squares, so we added them and called out the numbers as we jumped on them.
You could do the same thing with letters, or for older kids you could make it a math game by having your child jump on a number, then you jump on a number, and then have your child add/subtract/multiply/divide the two numbers you are standing on. Lots of possibilities…
When I saw Ava playing with a postcard my brother sent her, I decided to laminate it with contact paper so it would stay in good condition a little longer. And then the idea grew into a little set of play mail, which turned out so cute and has been enjoyed over and over again.