Go Fish

Age Range: 2+ years (the big requirement is to recognize numbers 1-10)

Materials: Deck of cards, preferably one made for kids

Activity:

• Shuffle deck, deal cards one at a time to each player until each has 5 cards
• Place the rest of the deck face down in the center
• You (player 1) ask your child "Can I have a five?" (or whatever other card you are holding)Your child (player 2) responds with either "yes" and hands over the card if he/she has it or "No, Go fish!" if he/she does not have it.
• If you are told to "Go fish" you must draw the top card from the stack. If the drawn card matches three cards of a value you already hold, you can lay down the four cards and continue. Otherwise it's player 2's turn.

*A variation we do of the game that makes things easier for a 2 year old to play is we only require two cards of the same kind to lay them down as a matched set. This allows the game to move a bit faster at first and encourages simple matching of like numbers.

*We also kept our cards and Tobias' cards visible for the first 2 games until he understood how to play. Then we started hiding our cards but kept his cards visible so we could help him. Once he gets a bit better he can hide his cards as well and we'll play as normal.

• The first player to lay down all his cards in matched sets wins!
  

-please ignore the crazy outfit, Daddy dressed him this morning :)

Skills:

• matching
• number recognition
• taking turns
• care of objects (they have to be careful not to bend the cards while playing)

Apple File Folder Game- Counting

Here is another example of a file folder game I made, this time focusing on counting. If you'd like the template for the small baskets, here you go! Here's the template for the large basket, if you'd like it.
Okay, for the activity. The file folder with 12 baskets is for my 3 year old, the 6 baskets are for my 19 month old. I printed, cut and glued down the baskets where I wanted them. Then, again, I "laminated" them with packing tape. This game I'm really excited about because it's very versatile. You can write on the baskets using a Vis-A-Vis marker, or dry erase marker. Wipes right off, so the game can change as your child's needs change. Again, super cheap to make, easy to store, and the girls both had a blast.
Since our theme this week is apples (at our house), I used red, green, and yellow "apples" (Skittles) for counting.
.
For my 1 year old: We are working on 1-1 correspondence and recognizing numbers. I wrote a #1 on each basket and she has to put 1 skittle in each basket.

For my 3 year old: I wrote different numbers, 1-10 (I started easy for her for the introduction to the game), and she has to count out the correct number of apples for each basket.

Some options:

• Different numbers
• Patterns (AB, ABB, AABB, etc)
• Introduction of a new number (ex:write 7 on each basket, and they will get between 6-12 times to practice counting out that number per game played)
• Addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc
• Letter matching. Instead of candy apples, put a group of letters (paper, magnetic, etc) and write a letter on each basket. Have them match the correct letters. It could be capitals to capitals, or capital to lower case.
• Color matching

Apple Sort

One of my favorite things to utilize when I taught---File Folder games!!! Imagine...all the pieces in one spot, practicing a skill, one-on-one or independent, quiet games. Oh, and talk about simple storage for you! This took me about 30 minutes TOTAL (looking for pics, printing, cutting, etc) to make.
I simply went to Google Images, typed in free clip art, and chose the apple pictures that I wanted. Cut, paste, repeat.
I made this game for my 19 month old. You can choose 2 or more colors, whatever theme you want, and the game cost me about $1 to make. :)
Supplies:

• File folder (I bought a cheapy box of the plain. About $3 for 50 at Wal-mart.)
• Printed and cut apples (or cars, teddy bears, etc)
• Packing tape (I used it to "laminate" my pieces so they would last longer. $2 for a huge roll)
• 2 white envelopes, cut in half and taped for sturdiness.

I use the pocket at the top for storage of pieces (opening facing inward to avoid pieces falling out, but ease of use for a 19 month old).

Now I have a game I can pull out when I need a few minutes to finish something I'm working on, for practicing skills together, and something for her activity tray for her to work on while I cook dinner. I can also take it easily with me to a doctor's office, or any place I need her to sit quietly and still for a little while.

She adored the pocket idea, though you could just use a white piece of paper and let the sort and stack them instead.

Hide-and-Seek in the Dark

Ignore the not-so-great picture. It was dark...using the flash defeats the purpose. We taught our 18 month old how to play hide-and-seek in the house, but this time turned out all the lights. She and her sister each had a flashlight (18 month old used a head lamp) and went searching for Dad. They'd have to use their limited sight and listen very closely for quiet noises my husband would make to give them clues. Then we switched and let the girls hide. They had a blast, got to practice counting to 10 about a million times, and got really good at looking for subtle clues.

We did this activity on a rainy day to burn some energy and have some family fun together. Even the dog played. :)