Our Game Closet

Our Game Closet - November 2008

Hannah LOVES to play games and put together puzzles. I've rearranged our game closet so that Hannah can have the bottom 2 shelves and floor for all her games and puzzles. I think we have about 15-20 games and 15 puzzles that Hannah loves to play. The top 3 shelves (not pictured) are all the games for ages 8 and up. Since I love to play games too, I'm very excited that we can play together, since the boys never got into the "games" thing.

Her favorite games right now are Guess Who and Pokemon Sorry. She understands how to play these games really well and frequently beats me when playing. She doesn't understand the strategy concept, but does understand all the rules of the game. With the Guess Who game she tries to sound out the names of the people in the game, which is pretty cute. Pokemon Sorry plays just like the classic Sorry game, with just a few added twists with some Pokemon characters.

A few of the games I bought when the boys were little, some where bought new, but most of the games we've bought from Goodwill/Garage Sales for $1 or $2 dollars.

We probably play Guess Who about 4 times a day right now!

Games - Hooked On Phonics

Hooked on Phonics

Great reading program. I taught phonics (as well as sight/whole words), but used games to teach reading instead of the workbooks. The Hooked on Phonics program should be available at your local library to borrow. This is a free method of checking out the program before making a big purchase.

Games - The Junior Phonics Game

Junior Phonics

Fun way to learn your letters, letter sounds and 3 letter words.

Comes with a Bingo Game

a Card Game (which we never played)

and a Board Game.

Games - Brain Quest

Hannah's grandparents bought her "Brain Quest" for her 3rd birthday and she loves it!! It is a series of 300 questions (based on age). The first card has the questions and then the very next card has the answers.

Cards (there are 2 sets in each box)

Questions

Answers

Games - Shapes and Colors "Memory Match"

Memory Match

I bought these "Memory Match" cards at Lakeshore Learning, but we never played Memory with them. I laminated them for durability and made up our own game. I would pick 2 of every color and spread them on the floor like so...

Then I would say "I'm going to get the purple card first!" (or purple heart, or yellow, or square). Hannah would jump at the chance to get it first! If she wasn't sure of a color and/or shape I would actually get to the card and the she would quickly "snach" it out of my fingers.

This game game with tons of cards so we would never use all of them in one game.

Here's a closeup of the cards... this is a great set!

Games - Shapes

Here is some a cute set of shapes that I bought at Lakeshore Learning. I put magnets on the backs and then put the big shapes on the Dry Erase Board (or floor) and then gave Hannah the small circle/oval/square/etc. and say "Find the BIG red square on the board." "Can you find it?" "Great job!!"

After she knew what the color names were I would say "Find the square!" "Great job!!" "You are so smart!"

This is also a dual purpose game, since the shapes are all different colors too :)

Games - Colors

Here is some simple colors that I bought at Lakeshore Learning. I put magnets on the backs and then put the big colors on the Dry Erase Board (or floor) and then gave Hannah the small blue/green/red/etc. crayon and say "Find the BIG blue crayon on the board." "Can you find it?" "Great job!!"

After she knew what the color names were I would say "Find the blue crayon!" "Great job!!" "You are so smart!" I would also make a point of saying the colors all around us. Like...

"Here's your red shirt"
"Look at the green grass"
"What a pretty purple flower!"

Games - Matching Alphabets

This is one of the few games that game ready made. I am sorry I cannot give you the file for this one, but the book that I got the game from is "Letters for Little Learners" bought from Lakeshore Learning. It's such a cute game and Hannah loved this. We copied the pages onto magnetic paper so we could use it on our magnetic board.

Here are the letters... A-Z

Here are the lowercase pieces

You match the lowercase letter to the uppercase letter

Like so!

This is also great to take to church or anywhere your child needs to be quiet :) Here is a little book we make to take with us. The lowercase letters have Velcro circles on the back so they don't fall off.

Games - Word or Letter Bingo

Get a set of alphabet/word/color flashcards and turn the deck upside down. Each person takes a turn flipping over a flashcard and reading the letter on it. If you have a match, cover up the letter on your card. This is a purchased games, but making your own is just as good too.

Games - File Folder Games

Here are our fun "File Folder Games". Everyone loved playing these games. They cover every subject, age and skill level you can imagine. Our favorites were the Finch Family Games. They have such cute art and now their website has downloadable games for immediate fun!