Any recommendations for board games?

[shaman]

Hi everyone,

Do you have any recommendations for board games that can emphasize phonics and math? There are so many out there that it is hard for me to decide which one is really interesting.

I am noticing that since I am currently relying on a few educational DVD's, my son seems to like the TV more than books these days and I want to change that. I do spend a lot of time planning out games etc, but now he keeps requesting to see the 'letter factory' , 'super why' etc....probably this is just a passing phase but I want to cut off TV from our curriculum for some time and see if board games interest him. He loves going outdoors, so thats my trump card now...when he says 'leapfrog again'...i say ' lets go for a walk' and that way i can distract him, but I can't always go out.

I didn't expose him to TV much till he was 2 but now we watch a lot of educational DVD's (from which he is learning...), but I think I am responsible for him taking a lot of interest in watching TV and am re-thinking my teaching strategy. I am not making a big deal out of it in front of him. I put in on when he wants it and put it off when I want to, so that way I can regulate the time but it is going beyond 2 hours a day!.... I think I need to do something soon...or am I just over reacting?    He doesn't want to see it by himself, I have to sit with him.......

I have collected some good books to read with him but he doesn't want to read or sit and do any worksheets with me. The good thing is that when I don't do flashcards with him for a day, he misses it and asks me for it

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Shaman

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I don't know how far along you are in math, but we recently pulled out Hi Ho Cherry-O. I remember loving this game as a child.  To teach DD, right now I just let her take her turns straight through ,in a month or two I will start taking turns with her. Maybe that will build bad habits, but she wasn't ready to take turns with me. As an adult, I get annoyed every time she would land on the "tip your basket" space on the spinner and we had to start over again, so I started using a spinner with just numbers. I also made one with addition and subtraction on it but she's not ready for math that fast, it takes her a long time to figure it out with guidance although she is getting better, so I put that one away for a while.

For phonics games, I have seen a bunch at the teacher store and online. I would check Amazon of course, as well as Educational Insights http://www.educationalinsights.com/p2p/search/searchresults.do?method=view&search=basic&keyword=phonics+games&sortby=bestSellers&page=1 and http://www.tapsonlinecatalog.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=phonics+games&Submit=Search and  Lakeshore Learninfg. The Lakeshore Learning url was crazy long and didn't work, not sure why, but I just searched "phonics games" on their site and there were lots of hits.

[nhockaday]

We love Hi-Ho-Cherry-O too. We also have a lot of other preschool games, and although they are not focused on math, you can incorporate math into them by counting how many spaces you move. We have a cookie match game by Learning Resources. It has 4 different games you can play with it, and my son loves it. They also make some other good games.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

I was taking some pics today for other purposes and wanted to add these in too.

The first is the original game and spinner, the second are the two "prototypes" I made, the math one is pretty low budget and too many of the answers add up to 2! But you get the idea.

Oh and please excuse that the first is sideways! I am using my husband's computer and his photo editing software throws me for a loop.

[kmum]

We have several games made by Cranium.  They have different games for all ages & all of my kids love them!

[mrsound]

I suggest Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Boogle Jr.

[shaman]

Thank you everyone....as always......these are awesome ideas 

and TMT....all I can say is.....you're a genius! I love your twist to the original game....that design opens up so many possibilities...you should probably start a new post on 'inexpensive home-made effective' educational toys...

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Shaman, I wouldn' go that far, I was just trying to fit the game to DD's needs. We use the 1-6 spinner to just clear the hi-ho cherry-o trees one by one makes the game go faster for mommy!

Google "spinner template" and you'll get lots of hits. Some have "dots" as well as numbers on them. In the future, I will use a super thin piece of wood for the base and a finishing nail and Popsicle stick for the spinner. The ones in the picture are made of thick card board and a thumb tack. They spin a lot better if you use laminating contact paper on a roll or use a real laminator (versus plain paper which has too much friction and not enough sturdiness). The game is only played supervised with me anyway but the tack hasn't come out once yet (surprisingly). I didn't have any brads on hand or I would have used those, you just have to make sure you make the center hole big enough.

On second thought, I should just buy a pack of these. http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/product/replacement+spinner+parts.do My local discount bookstore has some cheapie book/game combos with spinners built into the cover for $5. I almost bought 2 or 3 so I could cut out the spinners and modify them.

[shaman]

Okay....so I got a little excited    but lately, I've been spending so much money on games/ kits etc that seeing something like what you made is a welcome change 

I bought a couple of things to help my son with number recognition and the other day, he picks up the phone and starts pressing the numbers while saying them aloud at the same time!....Thats when I found out that he already knew the numbers and I had spent all that money for nothing 

Now I am going to try simple home made things with him first. When I made cards the other day...he picked them up and said 'Mumma made this- for Sriram'    My baby appreciates my hard work 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

How sweet!!! You programs may still come in handy. I ordered the entire set of Hooked on Phonics several months ago and 3 days before it was due to arrive DD sounded out her first word LOL. I was so frustrated because I thought I spent all that money for nothing but it turned out to be a very valuable program for her (many kids find it a bit boring from what I can tell though but she adores it). So chin up, you may still get some use out of it yet!  And if not, just have another baby to use it on!!! 

[shaman]

TMT-...birds of the same feather flock together     This is exactly what I told my husband a couple of weeks ago- that I have so much early educational stuff and now some experience that I want to have another child just to be able to enjoy these things again and he looked at me like I was crazy    He had a puzzled look on his face for a long time and didn't bother discussing this further  Like daddude, I think educating our kids has become our hobby- it helps that they are responding too

I thought of putting a freeze on my spending (on educational items) and was planning on making some of these things myself- and just as I thought I had motivated myself enough to do that, I came across your review on Hooked on phonics and guess what...the program is heading home    ......still need help with word blending...

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