Transient Art with Loose Parts
This idea came from Rachel's Stimulating Learning With Rachel blog. I cut these Christmas trees out of foam, and cut the scrap leftover bits up into circles for decorations. You could also add buttons, small shells, beaded garlands and beads to decorate. These could be used with a dice, where children roll the dice and put that many decorations on the tree, or used as transient art, where children are free to decorate the tree as they please.
Decorate The Tree Game
Christmas trees with numbered baubles on. Children roll the dice, and place a counter on the bauble with that number on it. Game continues until tree has been filled. Some numbers appear twice (they are numbered 1-6, but there are 10 baubles on the tree). Children only cover up one number at a time. I got the idea after seeing a number game using pumpkins on Stimulating Learning with Rachel's blog, and made these Chrismas Trees using scrapbooking paper. Then a week later, I saw that she also had a number Christmas Tree game!
Get Santa To The Stocking
Again, using ideas from Stimulating Learning With Rachel. A simple game. Place counter on the Santa, roll the dice and move your counter along the path to get to the stocking. I used scrapbooking paper and coloured paper to make it.
Board Game
Some of my scrapbooking paper had numbered squares on it - perfect for creating a board game! Place your counter on number 1, roll the dice and move around the board until you get to the present at the end!
Collage and Cut and Paste
I keep old Christmas cards and collect them up. Great for cut and paste activities.
Board Game
Another adaption of the Santa and Stocking game above. As Christmas is during summer here, I wanted a relevant game - and this can be used throughout summer, not just over Christmas. Place your counter on the smiley face, roll the dice, and move your counter along the path to the icecream. I used coloured paper to create my icecreams.
Reversible Games
I am quite a thrifty person, saving bits and pieces, as well as trying to be economical with laminating sheets. Making reversible games is an economical use of paper, card and laminating sheets.
Fill The Stocking
Christmas Stocking game. Throw the dice, and put that many presents on the stocking. I made the stockings using coloured card. The presents were made from cutting up left-over strips of laminated paper after making resources, and drawing a ribbon on them with permanent marker. I also had some scrapbooking paper with presents on, so cut them out as well.
Follow The Path To The Present
On the other side of the above stockings, I made a path game. I used a heart shaped craft punch to make the hearts (much easier than tracing around counters and cutting out little circles) to make the path. Place your counter on the start (the orange heart), throw the dice and move along the path to get to the present.
Literacy Game
I find it can be a challenge to come up with literacy games that encourage letter recognition. Most board games involve counting and numbers, rather than the alphabet. The following two games are made from 2 sheets of scrapbooking paper glued together to create a double sided game. The blue counters are cut out from foam sheets - so you don't have to cut and laminate fiddly little circles and are durable and easy for little hands to handle. The foam is easy to cut and easy to draw/write on. I had thought of using bottle caps as counters, but they were too big to fit the words on the shapes.
Alphabet Matching Game / Memory Game / Bingo
Each shape has a 4 letter Christmas-themed word on it. You can play this three ways:
1 - Matching Game: Put the letters face up, and try to match the letters up to the word on your shape. 2 - Memory Game: Turn the letters face-down. Players take it in turns to flip over a letter. If the letter matches one on their word, they keep it. If it doesn't it gets turned back over ready for the next player's turn.
3 - Bingo: Each player gets a word card. Teacher has all the letters. Players can have plastic counters for placing over their letters. Transparent counters would be perfect. Bottle caps and gambling chips work well too. Teacher turns over a letter. If a child has that letter on their word, they cover it up. First person to cover their whole word shouts BINGO! Play continues until all children have covered up their word.
Number Matching Game
On the reverse of the shapes are numbers 1-6. Children throw the dice and put the counter on the corresponding number. This differs from the Christmas Tree above in that the tree game has 10 numbers on it, and this one is just simply 1-6.
Each player gets a Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.
The smaller cards have dots on one side, and carrots on the other.
Place the cards with the carrots face down, so the dots are facing up.
Players take it in turns to throw the dice, and find a card with the matching number of dots.
Player then turns their card over to see how many carrots they have got to feed Rudolf.
Play continues until no more cards are left. Players count how many carrots they have got in total.
I made this game on mat board - we are lucky enough at our centre to have a picture framers nearby who regularly give us bags of matboard offcuts. Matboard is thick, heavy and durable, and easily cut on the guillotine. Matboard is also lovely to draw on. I created a cardboard template for Rudolf, so that I could replicate him easily x 6. The carrots vary in number from 0 - 5, and the dots are from 1 - 6, to match the dots on the dice. I used sharpie pens and felt tips to colour with. I made this game in one evening. All these games are pretty quick to make, once you have the ideas.
Carrots For Rudolf
This is a game for 1-6 players.Each player gets a Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.
The smaller cards have dots on one side, and carrots on the other.
Place the cards with the carrots face down, so the dots are facing up.
Players take it in turns to throw the dice, and find a card with the matching number of dots.
Player then turns their card over to see how many carrots they have got to feed Rudolf.
Play continues until no more cards are left. Players count how many carrots they have got in total.
I made this game on mat board - we are lucky enough at our centre to have a picture framers nearby who regularly give us bags of matboard offcuts. Matboard is thick, heavy and durable, and easily cut on the guillotine. Matboard is also lovely to draw on. I created a cardboard template for Rudolf, so that I could replicate him easily x 6. The carrots vary in number from 0 - 5, and the dots are from 1 - 6, to match the dots on the dice. I used sharpie pens and felt tips to colour with. I made this game in one evening. All these games are pretty quick to make, once you have the ideas.
Memory Game
A simple game made using card, iceblock craft sticks, and patterned paper. Turn the christmas trees face down, and children take turns to turn over two trees to try to find a matching pair, To make, I sandwiched the iceblock sticks in-between two cardboard triangles, and pasted a patterned triangle on one side. These are not laminated. I used double sided tape to stick things together.
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