Using Apples to Apples for Improving Vocabulary and Writing Skills

Apples to Apples is a game of CrAzY comparisons. It's based on the old adage "that's like comparing apples to oranges," which is used to describe a situation when two unlike things are being compared. My kids started playing Apples to Apples last year and were hooked instantly. Some of the words were a little difficult for them so I bought them the Junior version as a gift. Now the neighborhood kids gather in our garage playing Apples to Apples Junior for hours each week.

While we were playing as a family, the teacher in me had a lightbulb moment. This game teaches vocabulary, synonyms, adjectives, comparisons, and more! It was like they were absorbing meanings of new words faster than sponges. I was elated!

Then I thought of a great idea to use this game for future writing lessons! You know, those quick unplanned lessons usually when you are in between writing units/concepts or when you need to change your plans last minute and need a filler activity. Hand your child a certain number of cards (perhaps 10) and have him write a story using those words. It can be a serious story or it could be filled with humor. He can read the adjectives on the cards to help him learn the meanings. What a fun way to spice up writing!

If you haven't played this game before, it is LOADS OF FUN! My husband and I have played it for years when company comes over. Now that my middle sons are old enough, they join in with the adults. We have the family-friendly edition. There are also several other editions of the game available, such as the Apples to Apples Bible Edition.

If you'd like to see other ways to make learning fun with games, {Click Here} and continue to scroll down to take a peek at several posts on this topic.

This writing assignment is part of 101 Ways to Make Writing FUN!

Enjoy!

A Christmas game your kids will love!

I picked up To Bethlehem, the Christmas Game as a random purchase a few years ago, and this game has turned into a family tradition every Christmas. My kids LOVE it and want to play it with our family, their friends, and any other guests that visit during the month of December (and other months too). I love it because it teaches the Christmas story and is a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. It is also such a special game because it is created by a homeschool family. No wonder kids think it is a blast to play, it is created by kids!

I will warn you that your kids will be running to flush the toilet and other silly things that will have you laughing until it hurts! It is absolutely hysterical!

Teaching Smart During the Holidays

Teaching during the month of December can be quite a challenge. Children have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads while you may be trying to review fractions. Let's see exactly why children are so distracted and then what we can do to make learning easier this month.

First, the curriculum will be different. More units will be centered around the holidays from Christmas around the world to the Christmas story. So substitute your science and social studies units with these units instead of trying to cram everything in, which will lead to frustration for you and your child. After all, the Christmas story is history!

Second, your routine will be different so make sure your lesson plans reflect that. More baking, wrapping, shopping, making crafts, sending cards, looking at lights, serving others, practicing for Christmas pageants, and so on. Do your lesson plans have large buffers of time for these activities?

A few years ago, a homeschool mom of eight told me that December is all about the holidays in her school day. She planned her days wisely carefully allotting plenty of time for all the extras. Her regular homeschool plans completely stopped for one month. This year I am taking her advice and I planned my month out to accommodate all those extra activities so I don't wind up exhausted trying to squeeze in my normal routine on top of the holiday routine. Why did I choose to do everything all those years before? I guess an old homeschool mom can learn new tricks. :o)

For those rare December days where we will not be very busy, I made a few packets of worksheets to review concepts, such as: writing prompts, math facts, and grammar skills. Some worksheets I printed just for fun, such as: wordsearches, mazes, how-to-draw Santa, and crossword puzzles.  Education.com has lots of FREE printables. I just LOVE that site!

We will also be reading lots of holiday books during those days, too. I'm so relieved that I have taken the extra pressure off of myself and have allowed myself plenty of room to breathe and enjoy every second of December without feeling the mad rush.

Third, your environment may be too distracting from the bright lights on your Christmas tree to the Santas and snowmen sitting on your shelves. No wonder children have a MUCH harder time focusing this time of year.

Colors send signals to the brain without us even thinking about it. While the color green increases creativity and can work in your favor as a teacher, the color red can actually increase your child's heart rate and make it difficult to be still and focus. If you find your child having a hard time staying still and concentrating during learning activities, find a space where the distractions are less, such as your bedroom or outside on your patio or deck if the weather is nice (any place away from excess decorations and the color red).

As an educator, it's important to know how color influences learning and what colors are best for specific learning environments. If you'd like to learn more about how colors affect learning, check out this FREE download- The Power of Color in Teaching.

Now if your child is just plain revved up for Santa and can't stop thinking about Christmas morning to focus on spelling words and math facts,  your teaching approach will need to be adapted. Play more games and use more hands-on activities. My homeschool group recently had a Game Day where kids brought their favorite board games and spent a couple of hours playing together (and learning together.)

Here is a television segment I did a few years ago on how games actually help children learn faster and retain more.

Since my kids are completely obsessed with Legos (read more about that HERE), I am incorporating Legos in my December lesson plans by having them complete the FREE on-line class offered by Curr Click- The 12 Days of Brickmas. They also are offering an Advent class, too. Talk about hands-on learning! They can't wait to get started!

Be a little creative with your lesson plans and your kids will be excited to learn. Enjoy teaching during the holidays!

Free Bingo Card Generator Site

Created by my friend Shannon at TechnologyRocksSeriously.com.

I enjoy turning learning activities into games. Research has shown that children learn quicker and retain information much longer when playing games. My previous post explains different ways I have used Bingo to practice skills. I also use Bingo for party games, such as Halloween Bingo using candy corn as markers, Easter Bingo using jelly beans, and Christmas Bingo using red and green M&Ms or gumdrops.

Here is a FREE Bingo generator that I'd like to share with you again because it's simply an AWESOME teaching tool! DLTK  has tons of choices to integrate Bingo with the skills your child is already learning during school. Check it out!

TIPS: I print the cards off on cardstock so they last longer. Every time you click refresh, a new card is generated. That's so cool!

Have FUN playing while learning,

License Plate Game

I love playing the "license plate game” with my children! It is such a fantastic way to teach map skills. We live in Florida and see many different license plates from other states during the winter months. If you live in an area that does not have a lot of tourism, play this when you are on road trips. (If traveling on the interstate, you can usually see a variety of license plates regardless of where you live.)

The goal of this challenging game is to find all of the United States’ license plates (excluding Hawaii & Alaska). Sometimes it can take weeks or months to complete, which keeps the suspense going.

Make an outline map of the United States with just the names of the states labeled or click HERE to print one. Place the U.S. map on a clipboard, and leave it in the car. Use a highlighter or a light colored crayon to shade in a state when your child sees the corresponding license plate. Work as a team to see how many states’ license plates you can find.

My family has found all the states, excluding Hawaii and Alaska. Your family will have FUN learning geography!

Enjoy!

Fun math dice games!

If you have a pair of dice, then you are set for the following learning activities. I love using dice because children automatically relate dice with playing games and having fun.

There are many outstanding math games to play with dice. You can play an addition game by rolling two dice and adding up the total. The first player to one hundred wins. You can later add a third die to practice adding three numbers. You can play a multiplication game by rolling two dice, multiplying them to get your product, and adding up the total. Remember to have your child keep score with tally marks since children often do not get a lot of practice with this concept.

"Circles and Stars" is the best game I have used with children who are beginning to learn multiplication. Roll one die and make that many circles on your paper. Roll another die and make that many stars on the inside of each circle. Write out the multiplication sentence to go with that problem. Have your child count the stars in each circle for the total. For example, two circles with three stars in each circle equals six stars. (2 x 3 = 6) Take turns rolling the dice and illustrating the number sentences. Have your child add all the products (total amount of stars) each person has with a calculator to see who wins.

2 x 3 = 6

If your child takes a long time drawing stars, you can use small star stickers or substitute Xs for stars, and rename the game “Xs and Os.” There are a variety of dice you can purchase to add some spice to your dice. There are large dice, foam dice, colored dice, fuzzy dice, and dice that have many more sides than the average die.

I recently found a dice game on-line to practice addition and multiplication facts- it's so cool! CLICK HERE to play.

Here is a video clip on playing games with dice.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Tic-Tac-Toe Games

Play the classic Tic-Tac-Toe game for Valentine's Day since X's and O's represent hugs and kisses. To play, draw the number symbol #. The first person chooses to use either X's or O's, which will be placed on number symbol. The players take turns until a player has 3 of their symbols in a row, whether it is horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. You can use blank paper to play or CLICK HERE for a printable.

Children can also play Tic-Tac-Toe on-line HERE and they can practice math facts using this Tic-Tac-Toe game HERE. 

Have fun!

Have FUN learning with games- Part II

 Learning with Games- Part II
Learn how to create educational games with items you may already have at home.  
Enjoy!

Have FUN learning with games- Part I

Children can be playing games this summer and learning at the same time.

Listen for the amazing facts about playing chess. Too cool!

Enjoy!

This video clip is actually a couple of years old but Fox just allowed me to post it.

Jelly Bean Board Game

Jelly Bean Board Game

What an innovative way to teach the Easter story! The objective of this game is to collect the most Jelly Bean jar cards by answering questions about Jesus and get to FINISH. CLICK HERE to print the game, cards, and directions. This site also has tons of other Easter activities, too.

CLICK HERE for some more Jelly Bean activities on my site.


Enjoy!

For more Easter activities, click HERE

Easter BINGO Game

CLICK HERE to create your own Easter BINGO cards to print. For some extra fun, use the word BUNNY instead of BINGO and use jelly beans as your markers.

TIP: Every time you click refresh, a new card is generated so you can create the exact number that you need for FREE.

Enjoy!

For more Easter activities, click HERE

Valentine's Dice Game

This dice game is a variation of my absolute favorite dice game to practice multiplication facts- Circles and Stars. For Valentine's math, I call the game X's & O's since those letters represent hugs and kisses.

Roll one die and draw that many O's on your paper. Roll another die and draw that many X's on the inside of each circle. Write out the multiplication sentence to go with that problem. Have your child count the X's in each circle for the total. For example, two O's with three X's in each O equals six X's. (2 x 3 = 6) Take turns rolling the dice and illustrating the number sentences. I usually have each player roll ten times. Have your child add all the products (total amount of X's) each person has with a calculator to see who wins.

The example below has stars instead of X's.

2 x 3 = 6

Family Game Time!

Many parents associate learning with work, but did you know that learning can also be FUN? Some of the best memories with my children include family game night. One night a week we play board games together. Each child takes a turn choosing a game. The television is turned off, the housework is pushed aside, and my husband and I give our three sons our undivided attention.

These are great gift ideas for Christmas and birthdays. There are many board games available, but here are some of my family's favorites:

• Hi Ho! Cherry-O, Connect Four, and Chutes and Ladders- counting skills for little ones
• Candy Land- color recognition for little ones
• Letter Getter and Scrabble Junior- phonics, spelling, and vocabulary
• Monopoly Junior, Pay Day, and The Game of Life- money skills
• Battleship- coordinate points for graphing
• Sorry, Trouble, Clue, Memory, Yahtzee, Uno, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Chess, Mancala, Apples to Apples, and card games- critical thinking skills

You may already have many of these games but never realized your child was learning educational skills while playing them. Your child will also be learning how to follow rules, take turns, encourage one another, and have a positive attitude.
Make sure to visit www.FamilyGameCoach.com for the home field advantage in teaching your child academics, creativity, and healthy competition by using their Game Plan.
You can even create your own board games to review skills your child is learning at school. CLICK HERE for some templates.
Enjoy your time together!

It’s Bingo time!

Children love to play games, so why not use games to teach? I have discovered that playing Bingo is an exceptional way to teach several educational concepts because it has many play options, flexible difficulty levels, and a variety of content.


In the preschool to early elementary years, ABC Bingo and Number Bingo teach children to recognize letters and numbers. My children use a classic Bingo game to learn higher number recognition.

Sight Word Bingo is a great way to practice words that children must master to improve their reading ability. For math, there are Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division Bingo. Your child is never too old to sharpen these math skills. But it doesn’t end there! I have even played Money and Time Bingo with my children, and they really have no idea that they are learning educational skills while playing.

To add an extra helping of fun, use food items as markers. Try candy corn for Halloween and Thanksgiving, red and green gumdrops for Christmas, candy hearts for Valentine's Day, and jelly beans for Easter. My children love using M & M's and Skittles as markers anytime of the year.

To create custom Bingo cards for holidays and themes that are absolutely FREE (the best kind, right?), CLICK HERE.  DLTK is a Bingo player's dream site with so many FUN options. They even have options to use words to help with reading. How cool!


TIP: Each time you click "Print a Bingo card" a different card will be made. I also like to print my cards on cardstock so they are more durable for my little ones.

Enjoy!