Move over Candy Land

theres a new game in town!

THE LEARNING GAME.

That's right.

I used learning and game in the same title.

uh hu!

So after reading about a lady who created a game to help with her children's junior/senior high homework, I was inspired.

I decided to create a game that was easy enough for young children to play (with help from an adult) that would teach them along the way.

I went on a scavenger hunt around the house for supplies. I found two cardboard cake boards, foam paper, stencils, markers, a bucket, a wipe off board/marker, and matchbox cars.

First I used a post it note for the template for each square. I traced the post it note on to the foam paper. I used six colors, and cut out 4 pieces from each color.

Since the foam paper I used had sticky backing, I simply pealed the paper off the back and created a boarder around the sides of the cake board in a pattern.

When I was finished I cut out smaller rectangles of each color. (approx 5 each) I placed all of these in a empty and clean food bucket. Instead of rolling dice the children will take turns picking a card from the bucket with their eyes closed. (similar to candy land)

Each color represents a different activity and the amount of spaces they would move.

I picked things that were age appropriate for my kids. (with plans to change them as they grow and learn!)

Yellow- Upper case letters

Dark blue- Manners

Red- Guess a picture

Green- Shapes

Light blue- Numbers

Purple- Lower case letters

I also included four black rectangle pieces in the bucket. If they drew a black card they had to skip a turn. I did this to teach them patience, and learning how to behave when things don't go there way.

I used the wipe off board to challenge them.

If they answered correctly they got to move their game piece, and keep their card.

If they answered incorrectly they stayed put, and placed their card back into the bucket.

They continued around the board until one person collected all the colors. (similar to trivial pursuit)

The kids loved it, and I had fun challenging them.

They pretty much mastered all the categories but still struggle a bit on the lowercase letters. As soon as they master that, I'll move on to more challenging things. Words in Spanish, spelling, reading short words, simple math, etc...

What I love most is that the parent HAS to be involved. I can cater my question to each child. If I know one of them has trouble with the letter "Q" I'll make sure to the throw that in there so they learn it. If one is younger I make the questions a little easier!

I am quite pleased with the results and even more pleased with how the kids responded to it! Although we work a lot with flash cards, this kept their attention a lot longer!

Its all in the approach people!!

I have a feeling we will be keeping and playing this game for many-many years! I just hope the kids enjoy learning this much for the rest of their lives! :)