GAMES!!!

It is Friday and the sun is shining - God is Good!

It is time for me to share another one of my favorite things.  My favorite thing for today is  file folder games.  It is certainly one of the kids' favorites too.  They love file folder games.  If you are not familiar with these types of games, let me explain.  A file folder game is indeed an actual paper file folder with game pieces students use to solve the game.  They are excellent resources for classrooms, homeschoolers, and just for quiet time fun.  When I was in college and teaching in a classroom, I made my own by copying reproducibles, coloring each part of the game by hand, attaching them to the file folder with spray adhesive (yuck) and then laminating everything.  It was time consuming to say the least.  Now, Carson Dellosa (and a few other companies) print everything for you in spectacular full-color and you just purchase the set you want, laminate, and cut out the pieces. 

Thankfully, the Lord has provided for me the access to a laminator.  If you don't have access to a laminator (it is very expensive to pay for laminating service), you may want to invest in one of my other favorite things.  My mom recently found a Xyron maching on clearance at a craft store.  This fun machine has interchangeable cartridges for double-sided laminate, laminate/magnet, and stickers.  I've used it so much.  If you can find one for a good price and can purchase the cartridges with 50% off coupons or other great discounts, it is definitely a must-have.  Laminating paper manipulatives will help them last for years.  This is especially helpful if you have several children.

These ready to go file folder games cover lots of material in a fun interactive way.  We have Science file folder games to review and illustrate science concepts that we read about.  The Science set also comes with reproducible review pages that reinforce the concept.  The preschool games cover seasons, shapes, animal homes, numbers, letters, etc . . . The Kindergarten through 3rd grade sets cover Phonics, Language, Math, and Problem Solving. 

I love these resources because they are fun, easy to use, and the kids love them.  I use them to reinforce material that has already been taught.  They are excellent transition time quiet activity.  They are fun rainy/snowy day activities.  My kids ASK to do them. 

This is an example of the Kindergarten Math File Folder Games to Go.  Hudson enjoyed it a lot.  He had to count the number of fish in each circle, match the number to the correct group of fish, then match the number words to the correct number.  He did a great job.

You can find all these great file folder game sets on http://www.carsondellosa.com/