Last week in
Denver someone described me as “pinterest gone wild”! Another teacher called me Gaga Jean. What fun! Take a look at some of these terrific ideas they
shared. It’s so interesting to
visit different parts of the United States because I always learn something
new!
Hundreds Club (Bobbi
Cure)
When a child
counts to 100 they get their name under “Count to 100 by 1’s.”
When a child
counts to 100 by 10’s they get their name under “Count to 100 by 10’s.”
When they count to
100 by 5’s they get their name under “Count to 100 by 5’s.”
When they can
write to 100 by 1’s they get their name under “Write to 100 by 1’s.”
When all four are
accomplished, they get a crown that says “100’s Club.”
Reading Glasses
(Christine Thomas)
Pop the lens out
of inexpensive reading glasses.
When you are doing a reading group those students get to wear the
glasses. Other students are not
allowed to interrupt when the reading glasses are on!
Matching Games (Christine Thomas)
Make a board game
that looks like a parking lot.
Write uppercase letters in the spaces. Children can “park” cars with lowercase letters or pictures
matching sounds on the board.
*Make a haunted
house where children match letters or numbers on the house with little ghosts.
Make a turkey body
and then match feathers with alphabet letters. They can also put feathers in alphabetical order.
Use a Christmas
tree and let children match ornaments with letters or numerals.
Catch a Bubble (Mary Rodriguez)
When you need
students to be silent quickly, ask them to catch a bubble in their mouths.
Freeze, Please! (Theresa)
Here’s another
attention grabber.
Freeze, please!
Hands on your
knees!
Munch Monster
(BethAnn Lundahl)
Munch monster,
munch monster,
Munch, munch,
munch.
How about a
“triangle”
For your lunch?
Munch, munch,
munch.
Make a munch
monster out of a swing trashcan, puppet, etc. Let the children feed the monster shapes, numbers, letters,
or whatever you are working on.
Voting Sticks (BethAnn Lundahl)
Use popsicle
sticks as “voting sticks.” Let the
children vote between two books or two activities by placing their popsicle
stick in the cup of their choice.
Let them estimate which is greater or less than. Count. The majority rules!
Caterpillar
Math (BethAnn Lundahl)
Make a caterpillar
head out of a paper plate using pipe cleaners for antennae and googly
eyes. Cut red and yellow circles
out of construction paper and write the numerals 1-24 (or however many students
you have) on them. Children can
line up in numerical order by placing their number next to the caterpillar’s
head.
*Can they walk
like a caterpillar (a weaving line) to the playground without the caterpillar
coming apart?
Shoe Club
Once a child can
tie her shoes, let her write her name on the “shoe club” poster. When someone needs help tying their
shoes encourage them to find someone in the shoe club to help them.
Erase the Face (Anna Grose)
This is a take off
on hangman. Draw a seasonal
picture on the board, such as a turkey, snowman, etc. Think of a word or phrase and make blanks for the
letters. Children guess
letters. If they guess a letter in
the word the teacher writes it on the blank and gives a point to the kids. If they miss a letter, then the teacher
gets a point and you erase part of the seasonal object.
Flip Book (Melinda Lascurain)
Turn a flip book
vertically. Glue the bottom flap
on the bottom and outside edge. If
you use construction paper 8 1/2 x 11 paper cut in half “hotdog” style it will
fit. Students put a skill sheet
inside and open all the doors.
They get to “cover” or “close the door” for items as you call them out. They can all have the same card or make
different cards. Play until all
“doors” are closed.
LOVE Book (Jenni Willette)
Write the word
LOVE on the front of a flip book.
Children open each flap and draw pictures or write words of what they
love inside.