I was thrilled when I got a new printer because I have been wanting to do some fun things with the kids that require a printer, but I really wanted to get some things going for Justin who will be heading to school in September (and he will be 4!) with the other kids, so I wanted to start doing some fun learning activities with him.
I am sick to death of spending tons of money on materials though. I’ve got resource books, learning books, and workbooks from preschool-grade 8 and I decided this year I’m done wasting money.
My kid are very smart and creative kids, but I find they all seem to learn best when diving head first into things. So, I decided to make this board for Justin to help teach him how to spell his name and count to 10 (he can count to 10 but can he put the numbers in order?) he actually did it with minimal help the first time around. I was really impressed with my little genius. Okay, so may not be a genius but he sure is a little smarty for his age — he’s also really funny.
I decided to print out his name, and print the numbers 1-10 and then cut them out to put on the board. I can’t cut worth a darn so it’s nothing fancy or professional, but he loved it and 3 of the other kids kept bugging to do it too (so I guess I’ll be making more boards for the others)
Disclaimer: don’t mind the food on his shirt it was from lunch, he’s three! It’s real life people.
I went to the dollar store and bought a cookie sheet. I printed the name and numbers on card stock, cut them out and then used little tiny “adhesive dots” to attach them to the cookie sheet. Not only does that mean the name and numbers are interchangeable it also doesn’t ruin the cookie sheet if you want to use it in the future — multi-purpose, can’t beat that!
He was so proud when he did it all, and then wanted to show us and spell his name for us. It was really cute, he did it a few times then wanted to put it away. The next day he asked to do it again, and with even less help. The idea is so they can put the numbers in order while learning them and the letters of their name and the order as well.
He did an excellent job, and will be spelling his name and able to identify numbers up to 10 in no time! He already knew most of his numbers, but now he knows where they go in order and showed us all with pride.
Confidence booster while learning – fun, easy and cheap! All you need is:
- Magnetic letters and numbers (we got 120 pieces for $12)
- Brand new cookie sheet, $3 at the dollar store
- Cardstock to print name and numbers
- Printer
- Adhesive of some kind (we used the craft dots!)
Do you do any fun actives at home before sending your little ones off to school? Any fun learning crafts, or easy ideas like this you could share?