Game Day

Are you bored with your regular school routine? Do you find your kids tired of those phonics and math worksheets by the middle of the week?

We have found a fun solution that breaks up the week and gives a little extra practice in those areas you may sometimes push to the side.

GAME DAY

I try to have a day in the middle of the week, where I replace our regular phonics and math with a game. Bingo, cards, or file-folder games give you a chance to do something different and rewards your kiddo's hard work.

There are several problems with file folder games, that almost made me want to give up on them. Here are some ideas to help keep the FUN in these games.

1. It helps to have a day sceduled for this type of activity. I find myself just forgetting about them and doing the same things over and over.

2. Make sure the games arent too LONG or boring. A worksheet can be more fun then a game with 100 word families to sort, and no color or pictures. ;)

3. If you set up two games and give them to your children every week, they will probably go crazy very soon. You have to make enough games that they have variety, and don't see the same one's over and over and over and...

4. Make sure they can DO them. Part of the idea of these games, is to help your children do things more independently. You may have to work with them on the first go-round, but once they understand what to do, the skill level should be where they can do it themselves. It is frusterating for a child to supposed to be having FUN with something that is too hard.

5. If they don't like it DON'T FORCE IT. Your children know best how they learn best, and if File Folder Games drive them nuts, then let them do something else. You may also just need to find the TYPE of activity that suits them. CJ loves to move, so when we played 'seed dispersal' by pretending that they were the seeds and I was the plant, it really stuck in his head.

Here are my favorite sites for File Folder Games.

Homeschool Share

Of course, any list of my favorite homeschool sites had to have HSS at the very tippy top. ;) They have a lot of games and activities in the "workboxes" section.

File Folder Fun

A GREAT site that has tons of colorful file folder games in all ages and subjects. The best! (IMO) ;) You will want to stock up on color ink when you visit this site.

Teach with Games

Childcare Land

Sparklebox

I love this site. It is fun, bright and colorful. Some of my favorite items are the play dough mats. this site is all free, and has hundreds of resources. Plus I really like the name. Another one for the color ink. ;)