Snowflake Bump Game

C is in 4K now and is sent home a simple homework activity every week. This past weekend she came home with a game I hadn't heard of before - a math bump game. After a quick search on Teachers Pay Teachers I found the exact game she brought home. She loved it so much we created a version she can play at home since she had to return the Gingerbread Bump Game back to school. (click on the titles for the printable)

3 Dice Addition Game

 

2 Dice Addition Game

2 Dice Subtraction

Directions

Each player needs 20 makers (ones that are stackable are preferred) - each player needs a different color.

Players take turns rolling the dice. Add (or subtract) the dice together and cover that number on the game board (if subtracting tell child to find the larger number and subtract from that die)

If that number is already covered by another player, they can bump that marker off and replace it with their marker.

If the number is already covered by your marker, you can place another one of your markers on top of the one already on the board. Once a number is "doubled up" it is locked and cannot be bumped off.

If a number is rolled that is locked up,  that player skips their turn.

The game is over when all numbers are covered.
The winner is whoever has the most numbers covered with 2 markers.

Candy Cane Song

When I was a teacher I loved Dr. Jean,  I still own most of her CDs. I even went to one of her workshops years ago (so fun!)

I have even introduced a few of the songs to my own children. A favorite this past summer was "The Gummy Bear" song from the Is Everybody Happy CD.

I came up with this Christmas version of the song and C loves it.


The Candy Cane Song
(Tune: "Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew")

Down at the candy store, what did I see?

Seven little candy canes hanging on a tree.

Along came child's name with a penny one day.

They bought a red one and they took it away. 




Down at the candy store, what did I see?

Six little candy canes hanging on a tree.

Along came child's name with a penny one day.

They bought a blue one and they took it away. 



Continue by counting down and using the different colors you use. If using in a classroom you can attach paper candy canes to a tree and pass out the pennies to a several children. As you sing, those children can come up at buy one. Sing more than once so everyone gets a turn :)

I just quickly cut candy cane shapes from construction paper, nothing fancy. And some brown circles for the pennies. 

Color the Christmas Lights

 For this activity you will need

~Crayons (red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple)

 

~Christmas Lights printable
(from Lisa Morrow on Teachers Pay Teachers)

~Color and Number Cards 

Draw 1 number card and 1 color card. Find that number on the Christmas Light worksheet and color the light the color on the card. Continue until all lights are filled in.

I didn't make as many color cards as numbers. When you run out of cards in your color pile, start over with the discarded pile.

Quiet Time Activities

I started doing quiet time activities again for C.
She started 4K 2 weeks ago and needs some quiet time to herself in the afternoon.

 

1. Art Dice
2. Cards she enjoys looking at (for sorting or reading the words)

3. Zoo animal foam beads for sorting by size
4. Number magnets
5. A personalized puzzle she recently received as a gift, (her name is blacked out for the picture --  puzzle from here if interested)

 6. A peg actvitiy

7. ABC sticker upper/lowercase match

8. Make faces using pieces cut from magazines and various sizes of lids 

9. Viewmaster

10. Spell family names with beads on pipe cleaners

I use these drawers for storing the items.
I did not pay that much for them though!!

Mix & Match Easter Egg Puzzles

  I cut out a several Easter egg shapes from different scrapbook paper patterns. Then I cut each egg into 4 sections, making sure I used different lines (straight, zig-zag and wavy). On a piece of cardboard I traced the egg shape and the different sections I made.

 

Then C was free to make her egg however she liked

 She made one that was all the same

Other ideas:

*Make patterns

*Adult makes one egg and the child has to make one that matches
(or take pictures of eggs you make, print them and child makes an egg to match picture)

Blog Note: This may be my last post for awhile - we are expecting baby #3 within the next 2 weeks or so and who knows when I will get around to posting something again :)

Last Minute St. Patrick's Day Activity

C and I made this "card" to bring to her Grandma later today.

 She glued together groups of 3 hearts I cut out using a heart hole punch.
I put dots on the paper where she was to match the point of the heart to the dot.
She made one 4 leaf clover that she wants Grandma to find.

 She added stems and wrote "Happy St. Patrick's Day"

 Can you find the 4 leaf clover?

This could be a teacher/parent made project, where the child has to find the 4 leaf clover.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Apple Sandwich

I don't usually post recipes on here, but I thought I would share what we made for snack recently. It is healthy and was a big hit, even for the pickiest eater in our house!

It was a combination of 2 ideas I saw on Pinterest -- the No Bake Energy Ball recipe from Smashed Peas & Carrots and this Apple Sandwich from Keep your Diet Real

We made the Energy Ball recipe (which I have made a few times before - very yummy. This time I used almond butter instead of peanut butter, not the same, but still pretty good) and put it between some apple slices. When I asked C if she liked it, she said, "We should have this for snack everyday!"   She has been pickier than usual lately, so i was glad she liked it.
J just liked the middle, she isn't always a big fan of apples that are cut up.

 (Sorry about the picture quality. My iPod was the only thing handy for picture taking, and C wanted to eat it right away!)

 

Snowman Math Game

C is really into math right now, so I made this quick snowman game for us to play together.

I cut circles for the bottom, middle and head of the snowmen.

Then wrote numbers on them so the top and middle circles would equal the number on the bottom circle. I made them reversible as well and made a few sets, using different colors.

Dot Marker Counting

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This was a pretty simple activity to set up and play.

First I took our dot marker set, which includes 6 colors, and dotted each side of a 1 inch wood block with each color.

Then C and I took turns rolling a number die and the color die. If we rolled a "3" and a "teal" then we would put 3 teal dots on a piece of paper. We weren't making any special pictures, we were just going to play until the paper was filled up (or until C was done with the game) But you could play with any dot marker printable out there, or make a picture as you go.

We ended up filling up almost the entire paper.

Color Matching Snowmen

Here is a simple and quick color matching game to make. I just cut out circles of different sizes and colored them with markers. Then cut the hats out from construction paper. Children can match the hat color, eye color, button color and the color word.