Games can be very expensive and children get bored with them very quickly. Here are ten ideas for games that I have used and I have been able to modify some easily to make them seem like it’s a new game.
1. Sticky note words…they’re around the house. The children go all over the house finding the words and reading them. They make a pile and then it’s a race to see how many they can spell.
2. Swimming the times tables. Right…the breast stroke is the 2 times tables, 3s is the crawl, 4s the backstroke…it’s great fun particulary if you’re wearing a snorkel then everyone can hear you’re doing it right!
3. A garden safari…go into the garden and make a list of all the birds, animals and plants you can find. Look them up in books and draw them. Write a sentence caption.
4. Get the potato bag and choose one. Look at it carefully then put it back in the bag. Can you find it? Good for memory skills.
5. A bag of words cut out from magazines and newspapers. These can be used lots of ways…
a lucky dip for reading and spelling and choose 3 to write a story.
6. Get your snakes and ladders game out. Put some of the words on some of the squares. When you land on those squares read and spell the words.
7. Look at a picture. What’s happening? Who is in it? What are their names? Why are they there? What happens next? Write the story.
8.I went to the zoo and I saw…or the market…or the party. Great for memory. Use associations to help memory…I saw a zebra…think of stripes. An elephant….trunks…
9. One person describes a picture and the other person draws the description. This is great for listening and concentrating. Also great for using descriptive words and focusing on what is really there…
10. Button boxes are wonderful for sorting, counting, tables, making faces, animals, stacking…the ideas are endless.

Hope these 10 ideas help you. Anything written can be put in a diary…it’s lovely to look back on.

There are lots more….I’ll do those another time…