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Pre-Reading Skills
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 Games:
Zingo! This is a fun bingo-like game. Use the picture/word combinations as a launching board for developing PHONEMIC awareness and phonics.. This is the ability to delineate a single sound or a series of sounds from an entire word. Since your child isn't reading yet, she/he will only use the pictures to play, but since the words are right there under the picture, you can point out certain sounds. Just keep it heavy on play (your child will be observing and beginning to make connections), and light on the lesson. Keep it FUN!
What's Gnu? This game is a follow up to the skills learned in Zingo! as your child begins to blend sounds to make words.
My Word! The rules of this game state that combining cards to make words is your objective. You could make your own "house rules" for the younger kids and let them come up with a word that utilizes a "sound" from one of any of the cards. Give your child hints until more proficiency develops. Make comments about how few cards were drawn before they came up with a word for encouragement. A great tool that has a variety of uses other than the rules printed inside the box.
TOOT & OTTO - 2-player game - Game board is like Connect Four, except one player is TOOT, the other is OTTO - each takes turns dropping O's and T's into the grid, trying to spell their own name either up, down, across or diagonally. With younger children, play just in one direction (introduce palindromes), then add the different directions to increase the challenge or when they notice it themselves.
Books:
Dr. DooRiddles A1 & A2 - These riddles will give your child a reason to make associations between letters and sounds. These are a favorite! There is a printable sample page of each of these on my website.
Just click on Printable Sample Pages & Software Demos. This will bring you to my old "Bright Minds" site. Click on any of the tabs to enter the site to use the quick search. Each level has a link to "samples" on the right - opening the thumbnail images that appear will open them to full-size. Just "Control P" to print. The format of the pages makes it easy to copy on colored paper, cut into individual riddles to fill a jar. Kids love 'em!
Software:
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"Mom - It's too HOT to play outside"
SUMMER BOREDOM BUSTER IDEAS |
Building Thinking Skills software Download the free demos!
where weird words RULE!
Use the software version of a book you've been working on to make computer time more productive this summer! Brainteasers & riddles are great fun & pass time when you can't play outside! ThinkerDoodles - SMART Coloring Books Clues & Choose or Half'n Half Animals | | |
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Tips for Using
Building Thinking Skills |
Each level of the BTS series is comprised of both figural and verbal activities for developing right brain (figural/visual/concrete) and left brain (verbal/auditory/abstract) processing. Do both types of activities simultaneously. Either do one page of each a day, or alternate, assigning one page a day Assign the first page from the section your child is most proficient at to instill a sense of achievement and confidence. If your child is developmentally behind grade level in either the figural or the verbal element, complete the entire section in the skills he is most proficient. Once that entire section or book is complete, he will have the skills needed to complete the alternate section. Help him to make connections to the same work he may have done in the previous section. (For example - if you chose to do the figural activities first, when you do the section on verbal similarities, help him to make the connection necessary to use the same strategies he used while finding figural similarities by showing him one of his previous assignments in that section.)
Chapter 1 of the Figural Section of both BTS Level 1 & Level 2 involve discribing shapes. Some writing is necessary. If your child is not ready for this section, it is fine to skip to Chapter 2 and complete it when you have finished the rest of the Figural Section of the book. | | | |
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Great Game Ideas for the Car!
There are a variety of games, in both box and book form, that are condusive to game play in the car. Some are discussion based and can include everyone, including the driver; some are more appropriate for backseat play; many are single-player puzzlers for quiet interludes; we even have some electronic games that accept headphones!
I've included some of our favorites - and some fun variations that we've discovered along the way. Have fun this summer!
Keep checking back as we add new game ideas! |
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Discussion Games for the Car
Each page in this series of 6 books is a guessing game. Included on the page are 5 clues leading to the identity of a famous person. One person reads the clues, one by one, and everyone else tries to be the first one to guess the person's identity in the least number of clues.
Each book covers a single topic (Famous Authors, Musicians & Composers, Inventors & Scientists, American History, Characters in Literature, & Sports Heroes)
Whose Clues? is on sale for 35% off, single titles
Get the set of 6 and save 40% off the cover price
Both of these series (the former from Nathan Levy, the latter from The Critical Thinking Company) include mysterious circumstances that do not make sense because important information is missing. One person is designated to read the FULL story explanation from the back of the book. Everyone else asks "yes/no" questions to solve the mystery. This is a great game as out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged - some mysteries are solved quickly and some can be temporarily abandoned and rehashed later in the trip.
Rule of thumb: NEVER give the answer - guessers must come to the correct conclusion collectively - even if it takes forever!
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Head-to-Head in the Backseat!
Two player games for head-to-head play!
Who could have known that making change could be SO much fun! Counting up, making change, and critical thinking skills are challenged and strengthened through this great electronic game that fits right on the seat between 2 players.
There are 5 different games - and up to 3 levels in each game. In "Add it up!" players are given an amount (like 67¢) and have to press the coin keys to add it up before the other player. To make it more interesting (and keep their observation skills acute) if they press one of the buttons at the same time as their oppoent, their coin may not 'register'. So they need to keep an eye on their current amount and use critical thinking skills to recalculate to reach the goal amount - without going over!
Game #2 is "Change it Up!" - Played the same way as "Add it Up!", change it up adds a twist by stating "no dimes" or "no quarters", causing them to work around the missing coin value.
Game #3 is "Fewest Coins", which is self-explanatory - and Game #4 is "Coin Master" where they will be given an goal amount and told exactly how MANY coins to use to reach that amount. At level 3, we received the challenge "$3.18 - 22 coins" - how would you do it?
Game #5, "Dollar Dash" is all about making change for a dollar. Players are given an amount, and they must press coin buttons to count up from that amount to a dollar. Let's rid the world of cashiers that can't make change!
CASH BASH also can be played as a sinlge player challenge and has 2 headphone jacks (or you can use the volume control) for quiet car play. Although be prepared to repeatedly hear, "Awww, just one penny and I would've won!"
And don't let the age range of 5-8 fool you - my teenagers play cutthroat CASH BASH and they don't always win when playing with my younger children. I enjoy playing it, too! Games are short and turns can be exchanged quickly for larger groups agreeing to "play the winner".
This is a great board game with minimal pieces. Players take turns moving a large wooden "marble" along tracks that form triangles within squares trying to be the first to get 3 pieces in a Quadtria. Observance is crucial to blocking your opponent, strategy and planning is critical to winning. Game play: 2-10 minutes.
Quess Who? and Hangman unite in this word game - includes 2 of the trays shown that fit conveniently in each person's lap - perfect for the car.
Click on title to see Educational Aspects of Blink!
Blink® is the lightning fast game where two players race to be the first to play all of their cards. Using sharp eyes and fast hands, players quickly try to match the shape, count, or color on the cards. The first player out of cards wins!
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SINGLE PLAYER Puzzle Games |
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Insert a card and place the puzzle pieces so that planes are on the runways or flight patterns without fear of colliding! All pieces must fit to solve the puzzle.
48 Puzzles from Starter to Expert!
Self-contained puzzle & case challenges figural spatial & logic skills as players flip and slide the cubes inside the case to match the puzzle card.
Is the head facing the wrong way? How are you going to manipulate pieces (without removing them) to flip that head around the way you want?
Lots of fun & challenging for all ages!
4 Titles Available!
Dachsund (shown), Quilt, Racetrack, Dragon
Fun ANYWHERE!
Over a hundred 2-dimensional & 3-dimensional challenges!
Fits right in a purse or glove compartment for fun on the road, at restaurants, waiting rooms - anywhere you need to help make time FLY! | | |
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Family FUN NIGHT Ideas |
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Fun for the entire family & up to 10 players (we've played with more)
A hilarious game of comparisons - which of your cards is best described by the judge's card? Are you convincing enough to persuade the judge to choose your card and win the hand, without him knowing it's your card?
3-8 players - $16.99
Players use the 72 Shape Cards to build pictures of items listed on the Squint Cards. The Squint Cards include over 1000 different items providing hundreds of hours of fun!
Click on title for Educational Aspects of SQUINT
ages 5-adult - $5.99
WHEEDLE® is the freewheeling stock trading game where 4-6 players jockey for corporate control. In a flurry of no-holds-barred trading, only the craftiest players will survive. The first player claiming majority control is the winner.
Ages 8-adult/2-8 players
Name an animal that starts with C! How about a fruit that starts with B or a flower that starts with T ? Sounds easy, right? But with the clock ticking, it’s easy to Freeze Up! | | | | |
