I spend quite alot of my time in the kitchen doing various Mummy tasks.
Miss M is great at helping me and she often likes to be involved in cooking, preparing lunches and snacks, helping clean up dishes and putting them away etc etc.
However there are times when she wants to be near me but she won't be encourage to 'help'. I found myself turning to the TV as a babysitter more and more to get me through preparing and cooking meals. Then one day she was given some magnetic alphabet toys for the fridge which were brilliant for these times. But quickly these became 'boring' as toys often do at this age. I was reminded that I had quite a few resources I had made from my 'teaching' days that would be great as fridge games!
Having fun activities on the fridge that she can interact with
has been the perfect solution for us!
Not only is it fun and keeps her entertained she is also learning while she is playing... and she is close to me.
I will share with you some of the simple magnetic games I have made.
I will focus on the mathematical concepts children will be developing although most are integrated with other areas such as language.
Ages: These games can be simplified or extended to suit all ages from 1-5. Miss M enjoyed some of these games from as early as 14months.
All you need to make some simple magnetic games is,
a roll of magnetic tape (bought at Spotlight)
some coloured card/ felt /foam
Optional: laminator
1. Apple Tree
To prepare I simple printed off some apples onto red card and laminated them. I cut out a tree shaped from card and stuck some magnetic tape on the back of them all. The apples have ties as we use them for lots of different type games. Hopefully one day I'll
get time to share.
You'll need to have some number cards. You can easily make some by writing numbers on card and cutting them out. Use numbers that are within your child's capabilities. Start with 1-5 and progress to 10. You want to provide a stimulating challenge for your little one as well as giving them the opportunity to succeed.
Your child adds how many apples the card says to the tree by counting. Use pictures on your cards as extra support if needed.
Your Child is Learning
Mr Brown's Magnificent Apple Tree is also brilliant and you can use your apple tree to act out the story and represent the mathematical concepts within the book!
The apples are laminated which means I am able to write on them with whiteboard marker and rub it off as much as I like. Recently, Miss M has used the apples to make number lines, consolidating her recognition of numbers into the teens and twenties.
You could simplify or extend this to suit the ability of your children.
2. Five Little Ducks
5 little ducks went out one day,
over the hill and far away.
Mother duck says quack quack quack
but only 4 little ducks came back.
Repeat verse until 'no little ducks came back then sing
Mother duck went out one day,
over the hill and far away.
Mother duck said quack quack quack
and all 5 little ducks came back.
To prepare I simply printed some duck templates onto yellow card and drew a hill on green card. I cut them out, laminated them for extra durability and added a strip of magnetic tape to the back.
Your child is Learning:
Teach children the song if they aren't familiar with it. Young children will delight in simply acting out the song with the figures.
Counting to 5.
Knowing the last number tells us 'how many'.
Visually seeing what 5 looks like and what happens when only 4 come back and 1 is left behind 4+1=5. How this is represented visually. This continues throughout the song.
They will be investigating how many ways they can make 5.
Understanding that no matter how the ducks are arranged there is always 5 'little ducks' altogether.
Even if your child does not sing the song with these resources they still encourage mathematical thinking and skills. Counting the ducks, big and small, prepositions such as over, under, next to, on top.
Using and understanding new vocabulary: plus, add, equals and how many.
With older children you can show them how to represent the story with numbers and symbols. 4+1+=5 They could practise writing these sums.
3. The Bears Went Over the Mountain
The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain,
the bear went over the mountain to see what it could see.
And all that it could see, and all that it could see,
was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain,
the other side of the mountain, was all that it could see.
Your child is Learning:
Teach children the song if they aren't familiar with it. Young children will delight in simply acting out the song with the figures.
The mathematical concepts are similar to the 5 little ducks except I have extended it by including 10 bears, this involves more counting.
Counting to 10.
Knowing the last number tells us 'how many'.
They will be investigating how many ways they can make 10.
Understanding that no matter how the bears are arranged there is always 10 altogether.
Even if your child does not sing the song with these resources they still encourage mathematical thinking and skills. Counting the bears and prepositions such as over, under, next to, on top.
Using and understanding new vocabulary: plus, add, equals and how many.
With older children you can show them how to represent the story with numbers and symbols. 8+2=10 They could practise writing these sums.
4. Five Speckled Frogs
Five little speckled frogs sat on a speckled log
eating some most delicious bugs, yum yum!
One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
now there are 4 speckled frogs.
Keep going till all the frogs are in the pool
I apologise for the orientation of this pic
Your child is Learning:
Teach children the song if they aren't familiar with it. Young children will delight in simply acting out the song with the figures.
Unlike the last two games that focused on addition, this one focuses on subtraction or take away.
Using and understanding new vocabulary such as less, take one away, how many.
Actively being involved hands on with the skill of subtraction.
5. Patterning Match- Up
Patterning is a fundamental mathematical concept.
Only try this one if your child is able to tell you what comes next in a simple pattern.
One of the earliest patterning games to play with babies and young children, is singing songs with patterns in them such as head, shoulders knees and toes. Also try making patterns with bottle tops from milk and juice bottles, threading necklaces with coloured pasta and making patterns with your body such as clap, jump, clap, jump etc. If your child is very good at knowing what comes next in a pattern then they may be ready for this simple fridge matching game.
I made some strips with simple patterns using coloured dots...
...and shapes. I honestly made these up very quickly and you could spend more time and make some really lovely ones.
I'm planning a little activity with Miss M that involves her making her own patterns using a variety of items. She's already made patterns from pebbles, popsticks and bottles tops so this has prompted me write a post on it, which I will!.
Your child's task is to match up the end of the pattern strip to it's correct strip. This can be quite tricky especially if pieces are upside down.
6. Puzzles
This is another one I quickly put together. I apologise, I cannot remember where I sourced these images from, I just had them in my collection of resources.
I am sure that you could make something similar way better than these.
In fact I plan to do just that.
I think the imagine is fairly self explanatory and I'm sure you could use any simple image to create a puzzle.
You don't even need to cut it horizontally like these but could try more abstract ways.
I simply store all these magnetic games in a basket on top of my fridge. Many more will be added over time I am sure!
I would love to hear about any magnetic games your children enjoy so please feel free to share! I have many more language and literacy focused ideas also
Enjoy
Play and Learn
Katey
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