Juggling all of your day to day responsibilities is a lot on a normal day. Now add in teaching your own child or children and wow we are at a whole new level. The following activities can give you some ideas and resources to use with your own kids during an extended break or anytime of year! All of the activities are low prep and low cost (or free!) which is important to me to bring to all of you.
100'S CHART PUZZLES
This super simple activity will keep your child engaged long enough to drink your coffee HOT! Simply take a 100 or 120 chart and cut it up into puzzle pieces. Give all of the pieces to your child and have them put the chart back together! You can print on different colored paper to create different puzzles of varying difficulty. You can also add velcro to the back of the pieces and then to a separate chart if your child wants the puzzle to not shift or move. A great way to practice number sense at home! I laminate my son's for durability. Simply put in a task card box or ziplock bag and throw in your purse or bag for an on the go activity as well!
Click on the picture of the 100 and 120 chart for a free download of each chart to get you started!
RHYMING RING TOSS
This activity my son would have played for HOURS! Lay out some items on your floor. You can use toys, pantry items, art items, whatever you have! Use a ring of some sort (your child could even make one if you do not have a pool ring or such) and have your child throw the ring onto one of the items on the floor. The item that they "ring" they then have to say a word that rhymes with it. For example if they ring glasses they could say passes, masses, blasse. Practice rhyming skills in a fun and motivating way!
MAGNETIC FUN!
Did you know that most garage doors are magnetic and that means magnetic items like Magnatiles and Magformers will stick! You can create designs on your garage door, practice shape recognition, practice color recognition, and counting skills. Not to mention its just plain fun sticking something to your garage door!
PANTRY ITEM MATH
Grab any items in your pantry and let your childs math skills bloom! You can measure different size containers and boxes. Sort them by size, weigh them, and like my son loved to do, build the tallest tower using only the materials that you got from your pantry. This was his fourth tower he built using the same pantry items. His goal was to make it taller each time!
TAPE PAINTING/LETTER RECOGNITION
Grab some paper and some tape and you've got an awesome way to practice letter recognition or to simply create a new art piece. This works with any type of paint but with young children I suggest watercolors! Tape off a design or a letter that your child is learning and have your child paint the page. Once dry, peel off the tape, and voila!
LETTER HUNT
Do you get endless amounts of what I like to call "junk mail?" Well don't throw it away! Save it for this activity! Use your junk mail to practice letter identification and scissor and glue skills.
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TOY SORTING
Sorting is an early skill that sets student's up for success with later math concepts the older they get. Practice sorting skills by grabbing a collection of your child's toys and ask them to sort them in a way. Have your child explain to you HOW they sorted them and how each pile is the same. Then mix them all up and do it again!
STICKER IDENTIFICATION
What kid doesn't like stickers?! You can get some inexpensive stickers at your local dollar store. Chances are you probably already have some laying around your house. This activity is simple. You need a large piece of paper or you can even use a box and just open it up. On the paper you will write a variety of whatever the skill is you want your child to work on. Letters, numbers, shapes, colors, sight words, math facts, the list is endless! For this activity I wrote letters all over the paper and our focus was the sound that each letter makes. I said a letter sound and then my son had to find the letter that makes that sound and put a sticker on it. Bonus was once we were done I let him "connect the dots" of all of the stickers using a marker!
My hope is that you can use some of these low prep and low cost activities to help your child at home and to have a bit of fun in the process! I would love to see any ideas that you try out, you can tag me on Instagram at @elementarylittles. Have a fun time learning!
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