Multiplying Domino Fractions

Fractions can be challenging for kids. I thought I'd see how my 10-year old son would do multiplying fractions.

I made some fun game cards, which I laminated, and got out our set of dominoes and two dry-erase markers. I put the doubles aside (i.e. six six, four four, etc.) and turned the rest of the dominoes upside down on the table.

Download a free one-page PDF with two game cards from Google Drive here.

He drew two dominoes from the pile and placed them on the game card. 

Then he multiplied the numerators and the denominators, writing the numbers on the card with a dry-erase marker. Stumped? Watch this great video from Khan Academy.

Lastly, my son reduced the fraction to its lowest terms, if he could.

Now it was my turn. I did the same thing with my game card. Lastly, I asked him to compare our final answers. Whose fraction was bigger?

If it's not readily apparent, we looked for a common denominator. Confused? Watch another Khan Academy instructional video; this one is great!

The player with the largest fraction takes the four dominoes. With a limited set of double six dominoes, we were able to play three rounds.

With the cards laminated, the dry-erase numbers you add can be wiped clean with a paper towel.

The player with the most dominoes in the end wins. My son really enjoyed this and asked to play it again; it's fun skills practice!

Four Before Three (Free Printable Exponents Game)

Our 10-year old participated in a summer camp for kids who love math. What I love about this camp is that they care less about what grade level each child is at, and more about where their abilities are. This enabled my soon-to-be fifth grader to complete some sixth grade math concepts, like exponents.

He's a whiz at multiplication so it's no surprise that he found base numbers and their powers to be a fun challenge!

I devised a fun game for us to play together.

I made two dice - one with base numbers and the others with powers. Printed on heavyweight cardstock, folded, and glued, these two dice will be rolled with each turn.

Players roll the dice and calculate the exponent (e.g. If you roll a base number of 3 and a power of 4, determine what three to the fourth power is. Cover "81" on your card if you have it). If a player rolls a six, they place a game piece on one of the grey circles at the bottom of the card. 

The goal is to get four in a row in the colored grid before all three grey circles are covered at the bottom of the card.

Need help with the calculations, use scratch paper, a calculator, or this handy grid.

This game can be played with multiple players or just one. It's a game of luck so it can be played over and over without becoming boring.

Download this game for free from Google Drive here.

You're on a Roll - CVC Dice Game

Our almost six year old is starting kindergarten in less than a month. Where oh where did the summer go? We're still working on sounding out letters and words to reinforce his phonics knowledge.

I made a fun CVC activity for him to practice phonics, blending sounds, and early reading skills.

The game has three DIY dice, two with consonants and one with the vowels.

He rolled them all and with help we checked to see if he'd made a real CVC word or a nonsensical word. If one die rolled "YOU CHOOSE," he could use the other two letter rolled and choose the third letter to form a word.

My son is a long way from thinking of words on his own or knowing their spelling. I gave him a list of words for him to reference. 

We made a game out of it and took turns rolling to see which one of us (him or me) could make more of the CVC words on the list, circling each as we rolled it.

This free download is the third iteration of the activity. The first two ways to play were WAY more complicated than they needed to be. All you need is a kid to show you how to take the game you designed and play it the best way - the easiest, most fun way. I should have consulted him first!

Download the game here. Print on heavyweight cardstock, cut out, score the lines and fold your dice. I used a low-temp glue gun to glue the tabs together.

Sea Turtle Sight Words Game {free printable}

We're still working on sight words with our 5-year-old. To make it a little more fun, I designed this BINGO-like game to play.

This beats the pants off of flash cards any day. Who wouldn't want to play a game with a turtle named Ollie, Netty, Timber, or Ziggy right?!?

The game I made contains eight turtle playing cards, a set of hatchling call cards with the sight words, and one blank turtle template for anyone who wants to customize the game for their child's learning level.

Download the 9-page PDF for free from Google Drive here.

To get the game ready, simply cut everything apart and grab some small items to use as game pieces. We used small flat glass baubles, but pennies or buttons would also work great. Each player will need a maximum of 13.

Place all the hatchling call cards face down in a big "go fish" pile. One player (or a parent) will select a card from this pile and read the word. 

Other players must scour their turtle card and place a game piece over the sight word if it's present. 

Play continues this way until all the sight words on one player's card have been covered; they're declared the winner!

Want a great book to extend the learning? We read The Green Sea Turtle by Isabel Muller. It taught my son all about the long journey of one sea turtle and its return to the beach where it was born to lay eggs. 

History of Flight Printable Board Game

One of the learning themes I planned for us this summer was flight. We've had a LOT of fun making gliders and airplanes and parachutes, but now it's time to put the science aside and focus on the history of aviation.

To do this we could (of course) read books, but I think learning history through a timeline game is WAY more fun.

This game was a labor of love. I hope your kids will enjoy it as much as mine have. Note: It's a lengthy game with lots of reading; I recommend playing with kids 8+. (While our almost-six-year old played along, he grew tired of the slow pace.)

How to Make the Game
Download the PDF of the game, milestones, and game pieces from Google Drive here.

This game would not have been possible were it not for the excellent record-keeping and timeline reporting by The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Print the game pieces and game board on heavyweight cardstock. (Print milestones on office paper.)

Assemble the game board with tape. Since your home printer doesn't print full-bleed (i.e. all the way to the edge of the paper), you'll have to trim the white edges.

Don't worry about cutting the milestones apart; it's easier to leave them as pages and clip together with a binder clip.

Cut apart the game pieces and fold each. Insert the folded end into medium-sized binder clips. (We used small clips and were constantly righting our fallen game pieces. Larger clips will be more stable.)

How to Play
Put all game pieces on the words "START." Player 1 rolls a die and moves their game piece the number of spaces rolled. Whatever number they land on on the board, they should read the event that corresponds. 

The card may provide additional instructions - Fly into the Future (i.e. move forward) a noted number of spaces, Go Back a certain number of spaces, or You're Grounded (i.e. stay put). The player must move forward or back after reading the event. 

It's up to you whether you then read the next event that the player eventually lands on or just move and don't read. (We played this way to speed up an already lengthy game; gauge your child[ren]'s attention span.)

The first player to the finish wins.

Read
We've read a bunch of great books that would be perfect to pair with this game. For a relatively quick picture book, I'd recommend Gail Gibbons' Flying. It provides an illustrated snapshot of the history of flight. The others were also our favorites.

CVC Words Hunt

Those little consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words are a great way for kids to practice phonics, listening for beginning and ending sounds, early reading skills, and spelling.

I snapped some photos and made several cards for my son to hunt, sound out, and spell.

The words I used are:

hat

pot

pen

car

jar

box

map

can

Download the cards I made for free from Google Drive here.

How to Play

I cut the cards for four words and scattered the cards throughout our living room, using scotch tape to secure them to the tv cabinet, ottoman, fireplace mantel, etc.

Here's the instructions I gave our 5-year-old.

You'll be making four words. Each word has four cards, one of which is a photo. Find a photo first, then find the letters in the word by looking at the color on the cards.

Once you find four cards of the same color, try to put the letters in order to form the word for the object in the picture.

Listen to the beginning and ending sounds to put the letters in the correct order.

Note: The pink- and red-bordered cards may look similar, depending on how your printer ink. To avoid confusion, don't use those words together.

When my son was done, I gave him four of Trader Joe's sour gummies. Our kids rarely get candy so this was a special treat, and because the gummies come shaped like the letters T and J, they seemed to be the perfect prize for all his word work!

Bugs on Parade {Printable Game to Practice Color Words}

Before the summer began, I jotted down a number of themes to explore while the boys were off school. Bugs was at the top of the list.

This fun little game helps kids begin to associate actual colors with the color words, and can either help familiarize kids or practice color sight words for those that are already learning phonics and have some early reading skills.

Bugs on Parade was a blast to make and just as much fun to play.

What You Need

PDF of the game board and die (download it here)

4 pieces of heavyweight cardstock, onto which you'll print the game board and die

Scissors, tape, and glue for assembly

Game pieces (we used different colored buttons for each player)

Prep

Pages 1-3 are the game board and because your home printer won't print full bleed (to the edge of the paper), you'll need to trim a little white strip so the board's space touch. Tape the three pages together. (For storage, fold the board in a z-shape.)

Cut apart the die. Score the lines with a butter knife and fold. Glue with a low-temp glue gun.

Note: The printable provides two die - beginner and advanced. For young children who are not reading, exploring phonics, etc. it's best to use the colorful die. No reading is required to play. Simply seeing the sight words over and over again will help reinforce learning. The other die does not contain colored sides; players must use their color words familiarity or phonics knowledge to read the die.

Play

All players must put their game pieces on the START lettering. They'll take turns rolling the die, reading the color word, and moving their game piece to the first occurring bug on the board of that color. If the player rolls "Lose a Turn" then play continues for the next player. If the player rolls "roll and move 2" they will roll the die and whatever color word is on top of the die, they must move TWO of those colored bugs forward on the board.

The player to reach the final yellow bug first wins!

Read

Want a perfect book to pair with this activity? Check out Jerry Pallotta's Icky Bug Colors book. Not only did it teach us about bugs, but it showed bugs in each color!

Swat the Sight Word Insects {free printable}

My 5-year-old son has come a long way this past year. When he started his alternative kindergarten class in the fall, he'd forget a huge chunk of letters in the alphabet song. Come May, though, he had mastered his letters, many of their sounds, and was even pointing out sight words in the books we read each evening.

It's my personal mission to see to it than when he begins kindergarten in the fall, he's not lost any of this knowledge. This little game is the first of what I hope to be many fun ways to continue practicing some of what he learned this year.

Want to make this too?

Download the free PDF of sight word bugs (4 pages with a total of 24 sight words) from Google Drive here. 

Want to practice other words or another skill? Download a free 2-page PDF of blank bugs for you to write on here.

Print on heavyweight cardstock. Cut out. If you anticipate heavy use, laminate to increase durability.

Grab your fly swatter and you're ready to play. (Note: I cleaned my fly swatter before we played this.)

How to Play

Spread the bugs out on the table. Make sure they are orientated properly for easy reading by your child. One by one, read a sight word from the following list:

Have you child find the bug with that word on its back and smack it! When smacked, remove that bug from the table and continue until either all the bugs have been smacked or your child's interest is waning.

Boy, oh boy, did my son love this activity. There was no light tapping; these insects truly took a beating!

Read

We read two great books along with this activity. The simple easy reader by Margaret Wise Brown (author of Goodnight Moon) was a great fiction book that points out just how diverse bugs and insects are. The other book we read was non-fiction and told us how to identify an insect (i.e. count its legs and body parts). It also taught us the three body parts of an insect and how to tell if an insect is a bug.

Decoding the Runic Alphabet (Viking Facts Treasure Hunt)

My 9-year-old son loves codes, history, and treasure hunts. This activity combines all three.

When he got home from after school, I handed him a Viking Runes Encryption sheet and the first of six clues. 

Each clue contains facts about the life and times of Vikings as well as runes that required he decode them and a hint as to where to find the next clue.

Our oldest son read the clue at the bottom of each card allowed, giving his 5-year-old brother an opportunity to get in on the action, and guess the location of the next clue.

Clues lead them to our bathtub, my jewelry box, front door's deadbolt, refrigerator, games closet, and lastly our living room sofa. Click on the clue or encryption sheet to download my PDF free on Google Drive.

In the end, my eldest had to use the small runes in the corner of each clue to identify the location of his prize (couch), which he acquired after reading a wonderful graphic novel history book. (Think comic book meets ancient history!)

His prize was a punch card for free electronic (i.e. iPad or DS) minutes; our boys have to do chores to earn their time otherwise.

Want to make your own decoding treasure hunt? Print the encryption sheet and use it as a guide! To get kids ready for this activity, give them a fun interactive novel (think choose-your-own-adventure). I don't think I've ever seen our oldest son get so excited over a book before. He LOVED this!

My sons had so much fun with this activity and our oldest really liked the books I paired with it. After we were done, my oldest boy even wrote me a note using the Runic Alphabet that when decoded revealed "I love you." 

Roll-the-Die Basketball

My 9-year-old son came up with this game. I'm not sure what the inspiration was, but we have had loads of fun playing it. It's simple enough for our youngest to play (age 5) and engaging enough that even parents will have fun.

This is a two-person game, or rather a two-team game. If you have more than two players, they can take turns rolling for their team.

What You Need

a die

paper and pen for score keeping

How to Play

Each player (or team if there are more than two players) must pick a team name.

For tip off, both players roll the die. The player with the higher number, gets the "ball" first and will therefore, roll again.

If he/she rolls a 1 or 2, it's a turnover and the other team gets the ball.

If they roll a 3, it's a free throw (1 point for the player/team that rolled, and then the other team gets the ball).

If the die reveals a 4 or 5, it's a 2-point shot (2 points for the player/team that rolled, and then the other team gets the ball).

If it's a 6, that's a 3-point shot (3 pts for the player that rolled, and then the other team gets the ball).

The first person/team to 20 points wins. Keep track of points with tally marks on a paper.

Extend play

Play to 30 points, instead of 20.

Keep track of turnovers with tally marks, as well as the points scored.

Make a bracket of teams and play games to see who makes it to the finals and wins!

This would be an excellent game to play at a restaurant while waiting for your order, or if you put the die inside a small lidded plastic container and shake to roll, it could even be a travel game for long car rides!

Self-Checking Addition Hunt

Just this week our 5-year-old told me that he liked numbers better than letters. With so much energy spent on phonics, identifying and blending sounds, I thought it best to switch gears and practice early math skills.

To practice some basic addition (or any kind of math facts), I grabbed two post-it note pads in different colors and a black marker.

On one color, I wrote simple addition problems. On another color post-it, I wrote the answers. On the back of each set of cards, I drew simple shapes like a heart, sun, triangle, etc.

I tacked up both colors of post-its around our living room, kitchen, and entryway areas and when my son got home from school, he grabbed one of the orange cards (addition problems), solved it, and searched for the answer. 

When he thought he'd found it, he turned both post-its over and if the shape on the back of both cards matched, he knew he'd answered correctly!

This was SUCH a simple game that took less than 10 minutes of prep. Because kids are up and moving, it makes practicing math skills WAY more fun than solving problems on a worksheet. Want to make it even more challenging? Time kids! See if they can beat their best time next time!

Give it a try!

3-Way Memory (Decimals Practice)

We played a fun decimals game this week with our 9-year-old. He's a whiz with numbers and this decimals challenge proved it.

I made 10 sets of cards, each with three cards in the set: a numerical decimal, the words for how you'd say the decimal, and a grid depiction of the decimal. There are also two other cards: YOUR TURN IS OVER. 

To make all of these cards, print the free 2-page PDF, print on heavyweight cardstock and if you're concerned the cards are see-through, glue a sheet of colored paper to the back before cutting out. Discard the two blank cards. Download the cards from Google Drive here.

How to Play
Shuffle the cards and put them all face down on the table in a grid. It won't be even, but don't sweat it. 

Player one turns over three cards. They're trying to match a set of three. If any of the two cards are part of the same set (e.g. the two-tenths grid and .2), they can remain flipped over. Other cards should be turned back face-down.

Player two now takes a turn, flipping over three other cards. If any one of the cards turned finishes a set already face up, they remove those three cards in the set from the playing area.

If a player turns over the YOUR TURN IS OVER card, play moves to the next player immediately. This card is turned back over and remains.

Play alternates between players, with more and more matched sets being completed. 

When the only two cards remaining are the YOUR TURN IS OVER cards, players can count their matched sets. The player with the most sets of three wins. 

This game isn't for kids who are new to decimals, but for those who are familiar with decimals, it's a great way to review. Not only do kids practice identifying decimals from a representative grid, but they also must understand place value, and know how to verbalize the decimal in word form.

Short Vowel Sounds Board Game

So I've noticed something. When I work with my son and volunteer in his alternative kindergarten class, those darn vowel sounds are tough for kiddos to remember. Since the teacher has been working on letter sounds using Jolly Phonics, I thought a little game might help reinforce what he's been learning in school.

This game uses the short vowel sounds only. I had the five Jolly Phonics songs (and tunes) written down to help me remind my son as we played. 

If you're unfamiliar with Jolly Phonics, simply search YouTube for "Jolly Phonics a," "Jolly Phonics e," etc. Each letter sound has a short song to sing to help remember its sound, along with an action to complete while singing. It's terribly effective for kinesthetic learners. And let's face it, music is a great way to memorize things (just think of the alphabet song!). 

To play the short vowel sounds board game, you'll need two pages of heavyweight cardstock, onto which you'll print my free 2-page PDF (download it free from Google Drive here). 

Cut, fold, and glue the 10-sided die together (I scored the lines with the backend of a butter knife and used a hot glue gun). 

The die features two pictures for each vowel:
A - apple, anchor
E - egg, envelope
I - igloo, ink
O - octopus, ostrich
U - umbrella, underwear

Find small but different items to use as game pieces. We used two oversized buttons. LEGO minifigures, a penny and a dime, or Monopoly pieces would work perfectly too.

How to Play
The youngest player rolls the die. Whatever picture lands up, they must identify the object, and listening carefully to the beginning sound, identify the first letter of the word. Once this is accomplished, they move their game piece to the first occurrence of that letter on the game board. 

The next player takes a turn. The first player to get to the last letter on the board is declared the winner!

Rotation Reflection Translation Game {free printable}

My son brought his Geometric Patterns homework home last week and unlike most of his math homework, it took him more than 5 minutes. I even heard him mutter, "This is kinda hard," under his breath. 

I took a good look. I had the same thought I usually have when I look at worksheets: This would be a lot more fun if learning felt like playing a game.

And so an idea was born.

This game practices identifying three types of transformational geometry.

• Rotation (when a shape is turned)
• Reflection (when a shape is flipped backwards, showing its mirror image)
• Translation (when a shape is simply moved)

The game is simple. Print one or two sets of the cards I made, along with the game boards. Cut apart. You can download the free 5-page PDF I made from Google Drive here.

Each player gets their own game board. Shuffle the cards and place them in a pile between players face down. Each player should place a game piece (we used those flat glass baubles) on the START circle. 

Player 1 will draw the top card on the deck and if the card they draw illustrates geometric transformation (rotation, translation, or reflection) that is noted in the circle next to the start, they'll place another game piece on that circle. If it does not, no game piece is played. Player 2 draws the next card.

The player to have game pieces on every circle on their game board first wins.

Equivalent Fractions Missing Numerator Board Game

My 9-year-old son is a whiz at math facts. He's had them all down since before he started fourth grade. But fractions can be tough. I wanted to test his multiplication fact skills by playing a game to make equivalent fractions.

The game I made is simple. (Those always seem to be the most fun.)

You can download the 5-page PDF for free from Google Drive here. I printed two sets of cards. We used two LEGO minifigures as game pieces.

Players advance around the game board by finding the missing numerator on playing cards printed with equivalent fraction equations.

The missing numerator is the number of spaces the player moves.

If they STOP (i.e. the last space in their count) on a space with GO BACK instructions, they must move toward the start the number of spaces noted. 

If a player STOPs on a space that has the back-end of an arrow, they can follow the arrow and skip spaces on the board.

The first player to make it to the finish wins.