More than just Busy Work

As I have been preparing for school this year one of the biggest challenges I foresee is keeping Hannah and Josiah busy while I work with Grace. Hannah will be doing ABEKA preschool, but I know that will not take as long as the first grade work that Grace will be doing.  I want them to have more than just busy work.  I desire for them to be challenged and grow, too.  I have been making a long list of things for them to do so I don’t repeat the same things over and over again. I also have made several games for Hannah and Josiah to do together… or alone on some days.  Check them out!

The Color Carton:  Put a coin inside the carton and close the lid.  Shake the carton and then open it.  Name the color that the coin has landed on.

The Counting Carton:  Put a coin in the carton and close the lid.  Shake the carton.  Open and carton and name the number that the coin has landed on.  (For Grace I will have her use two coins and add the two numbers together or have her subtract the smaller from the larger!) 

Lettered Popsicle Sticks:  There are SO MANY ideas to use with popsicle sticks but these are going to be used to name letters, match letters, make small words and much more!

High Flying Flags:  I took straws and put a flag at the top of each one.  I added a number to each of the flags.  The point is for them to add that number of Fruit Loops to the straw.  For example, on the 5 flag, they are supposed to string 5 Fruit Loops on the straw.  They will LOVE this yummy game (hopefully there will be some cereal left to play the game!).

The Snake Game:  I have made a few of these sheets.  I will say a letter and Hannah will color the space with the letter that I name.  It will make a colorful snake.  You can also make this with numbers. 

There are SO MANY more projects that I have been working on… and I am so proud of them… can you tell?  The last one that I will mention is my Letter wheels.  I took three small paper plates and put 8 uppercase letters around the edges.  Then I put the corresponding lowercase letters on clothespins.  The idea is for Hannah to match the upper and lowercase with the clothespins.  This way she is also working on her fine motor skills!  :)

We start school on Tuesday… it is coming quickly and the kids are super excited… SO AM I!!  Praying for a WONDERFUL year!