...and one for the big folks...

On the same dark and not-so stormy night as I made the below activities for the 'littles', I made this game for Young Yeller, age 7. It is not my original work, but I have to take a moment and say that these games (see source below) do require a bit of prep. I'm lucky in that I have an all-in-one printer with a flat bed for copying stuff; otherwise I'd be sunk. I'm just not that organized.

Math Facts Ladybugs (math facts/fact families)

This is a great game that YY absolutely loves. With her new math program at school, they spent very little time on fact families. As a former 2nd grade teacher, I must admit to being just the tiniest bit horrified that my soon-to-be 2nd grader is not totally proficient at math facts OR fact families. So it's been a real priority this summer, but one I'm pretty committed to doing in a fun way whenever possible. 

The gist of the game is that the child picks a ladybug (I laminated them for future use with her 3 little sisters). I pre-programmed the ladybugs with assorted numbers of spots to represent fact families ( 2,4,6 for example). If you don't remember, fact families are three related numbers for which two addition and two subtraction problems can be made. On the half-sheet, the child writes the facts that go with that ladybug's spots. (Using the above example, that would be 2+4=6/4+2=6/6-2=4/6-4=2). For some kids having trouble memorizing math facts, this more associative way of learning them can be really helpful. For YY, she enjoyed doing the activity, and then coloring her ladybug to look like the ones I had made. 

So, learning how to do fact families, check. She's got a really good grasp on it now. Still working on the math facts. (And yes, I noticed in the picture that the ladybug and worksheet do not match. I just pulled them out of their bag randomly.)

Um, no. I did not create this activity. I got it from a book that I dearly love. In fact, it is a series of books published by Scholastic, of which I have quite a few. They are called 'Shoebox Learning Centers', and are intended for Grades K-2, although I have had no problem adjusting many of them for my preschooler. You can find this particular book (the 'Addition and Subtraction' version) here .

Why? Why add another thing to my day? Why?

My goal is to come up with at least one planned multi-age activity each day. That is to say, we do many activities each day, but many of them are of the unplanned, don't throw that at your sister's head, wait! get down from there! Hold my hand! Wait for Mama! variety. By multi-age, I mean that all, or most, anyway (I'm not that nuts) of my kids can participate and enjoy this activity.

It's summer! That means Young Yeller is out of school, getting along with some of her sisters, and yes, yelling on a fairly regular basis. She likes to yell. She has perfected a growly, from-the-gut yell that is meant to intimidate and get her little sisters out of her room, pronto. Here's the other thing about YY: she gets bored. And when she gets bored, she causes trouble.

And really, my kids all love planned activities. Crafty things, sorting things, move around, music, goofy fish puppets on a stick; you name it. It's good for everyone. And it forces me to pry myself from the dishes and the laundry and the food prep for a few minutes and actually enjoy these little people my husband and I decided to bring into the world.

My goal: at least one planned, multi-age activity each day...short on prep time, long on enjoyment. And post about it. And take pictures. Pictures would be good.