Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

With times being the way they are, a lot of us are trying to save money. Here are some inexpensive pre -school games you can make yourself, and the kids really like to play them. Egg Carton Counting Game: I used: an egg carton, scissors, printed numbers (writing them works too), glue stick, and dry beans or beads. I cut out the numbers and glued them to inside of the egg cups. Now count the beans and place them in the correct egg cup. My kids love using my kitchen utensils to play. They used a small ladles, measuring spoons and measuring cups. The second game we made was Egg Carton Color Matching We painted a egg carton different colors in each cup. To play, we used kitchen tongs to place colored pom-poms in the correct matching egg cup. The key to these games is allowing your kids to use fun things to move the beans and pom-poms.

I was reading Her Cup Overflowth and she did a fun file folder, so it made me think I should do some for my class. Here is a cute Halloween file folder where the kids have to match the pumpkin faces. Matching Colors: Matching Shapes:

Here are some more craft stick puppets. 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate and 5 Black Crows. Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate. The first one said, Oh, my it's getting late! The second one said, "There are witches in the air. The third one said, "But we don't care. The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run! The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun? Then Woooooo went the wind And OUT went the lights. And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight I know the crows look a lot like bats with beaks. That is what is nice about preschoolers, they won't know the difference, but if they do they will tell me. Five Black Crows (5 Green and Speckled Frogs" tune) Five crows all shiny black, Sat on a scarecrow's back. Eating the most delicious corn. Yum! Yum! Scarecrow winked and shouted,"Boo!" Scared a crow and away he flew Now there are four black shiny crows. Caw,Caw! Repeat verse until no crows are left.

This is an easy game to make with the Apple theme. This game is to help teach kids to put numbers in their correct order. We used construction paper, glue, markers and scissors. Cut out apple shapes, and write the numbers on them. If you want the apples to last longer, laminate them with contact paper. Now have your preschooler put them in order.

Here is a fun number recognition game that goes along with this time of year. This is a simple and inexpensive game that the kids will like playing, while learning. To make this game I used: 10 plastic Easter eggs, 55 small Easter stickers, a label sticker, scissors and a marker. I cut the label sticker into 10 pieces and numbered them 1-10. I stuck the written # on the top of the egg and the corresponding smaller stickers on the bottom of the egg. Separate the egg, and let the kids match them.

Here is a simple number recognition project we did today. I found stickers on clearance, so this is how we used them. We used: Stickers Paper Makers I separated the paper into 10 sections and wrote the numbers 1-10 in each section. Cheyanne put in the corresponding number of stickers. Not a new idea, but Cheyanne enjoyed playing with the sticker.

First, don't forget to link to We Made It, Showcase Saturday!! tomorrow.( I know it is Friday,but I am going to leave it up all weekend.) I can not wait to see all your projects you did this week. This is an easy game that little ones will like because they get to paint while they are learning. To make this game we used: White paper, scissors, a white crayon and water color paints. I cut out hearts. Then with the white crayon I wrote a letter or word on the heart. Cheyanne painted the heart and the letters appeared. She had to guess what letter was on the heart.

This is a simple game to teaching counting and number recognition with a Valentine's theme. Plus it is something to do with all those heart shaped message candies. To make this game we used: Half a sheet of poster board, heart shaped cookie cutter, red sharpie and candy hearts. To decorate the game I cut out hearts from construction paper. Trace the cookie cutter to make 10 hearts. Write numbers in the hearts. Have your child put the same number of candies as the heart says.

Today, I made this great game for Cheyanne, it is perfect for pre-schoolers. It is easy, inexpensive, portable and incorporates a lot of skills young ones need. You will need: Popsicle sticks, construction paper, hole punch, glue, 3 ring binder and a plastic baggie. Punch holes in the paper, so it will fit in the binder. Glue sticks into shapes and letters that you want your young ones to copy. For younger children you can draw a pattern for them to lay the sticks on. I also made pages with letters that you could make with the sticks. Then I cut out pictures from a magazine that started with the letter on the paper.

I was going through a closet and I came across this game I had made for Colton when he was learning his letter. This is such and easy and inexpensive game to make for you children to learn their Upper and Lower case letters. Take you child's favorite cookie cutter and trace it on to a piece of cardboard to make a pattern. Then trace the pattern on construction paper or poster board. Trace and cut out 52 shapes. Then write the a letter on each shape. One set of upper case and one set of lower case. Now match them. For my 2 older kids, I cut out 52 mittens and put the letters on them. Then I hung a clothes line in the house and had them match each set. They would the hang the set on the clothes line with clothes pins. They loved this game.