One of my favorite pastimes is perusing the aisles at our local dollar stores and the toy sections of Walmart and Meijer for ideas for center activities. My three children are now in college and instead of spending my time on the soccer fields I’m now spending that time shopping. Insert HUGE sigh– I really miss my kids and I would go back to those days in a minute. I’m not adjusting very well to my empty nest. While shopping at Walmart the other day I stumbled upon the card section in the toy area and found a few relatively inexpensive games that would be a nice addition to your literacy centers.
The first treasure was the Scrabble Slam! card game. It’s a great phonemic awareness activity as students use the letter cards in their hand to change the word. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game. I’m thinking that this activity would be ideal for mid-first grade/ beginning second grade.
I really love the Apples to Apples game. Sometimes it’s difficult to find activities targeting vocabulary. A word is provided (green card) and the students choose a picture card from their hand that best matches the word. They then try to convince the judge as to why their card best describes the word. This is awesome for oral language development!
I have one more fun find at Walmart. There are ways to make your own card holders using recycled CDs and plastic lids, but this card holder really wasn’t that expensive so I decided to go ahead and purchase it rather than make my own. Card holders are very helpful for playing card games as little hands have difficulty holding and fanning the cards.
Are there games that you find helpful for centers? Be sure to leave your suggestions in the comments. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply