For the Fun of Learning!

I love games! LOVE THEM! I especially love word games, so you can only imagine my super excitement when my sister gave my sweet hubby a really great word game that can be played with the kids and can be incorporated into homeschooling. Let's just say I was super, cheesy excited and my kids couldn't wait to play, or maybe it was just my imagination and I was the one that couldn't wait to play. So here is the game. 

I decided to incorporate spelling and vocabulary words into this fun game. The idea of the game is not to get any points by getting rid of all of your dice before the end of each serving. While talking to one of my favorite homeschooling moms who also happens to be one of my best friends, she thought of the idea of giving the person negative points for every spelling or vocabulary word they use in the game as motivation to use them. I think -2 points would work. I know that doesn't sound like much but the player that ends up with points at the end of each serving usually doesn't get more than 5 or 6 points at the most and that is if they are having a pretty bad round. At least, that has been my experience with my kids. You might have to come up with your own system for your children if you try to play it the same way. 

Don't they look like they're having fun? Can you see the joy in their faces as they concentrate on the words at hand? Ok...neither can I, but I do know that Pinky (the one on the left) and the Brain (the one on the right) do enjoy games and Pinky was actually caught laughing while playing this game with me and the Brain loves anything that has to do with words. By the way, Pinky is referring to the fact that she loves pink not that she is the Brain's less than smart side kick. My Pinky is quite a smarty pants. She just happens to be with the one we call the Brain in our house because she (The Brain) was reading at a very young age and said words like paraphernalia and preposterous at the age of 2.  

While homeschooling we run into a few kinks now and then. With seven children ages 15, 14, 12, 10, 4 (2 of them) and 16 mos, it can get pretty crazy. My 4 year olds (we'll call them Luke and Leia only because that is what their father wanted to name them when he found out that we were have boy/girl twins), will need a little more attention with schooling than my older children and yet my older children still need to get their schoolwork completed. This can get complicated since we have Gremlin running around (she sounds and acts like a Gremlin most of the time). I have had to get creative in finding activities to keep her busy since she figures things out quickly and can often get bored of the same activity unless someone is doing it with her. There is something, however, that she loves and that is anything that's fluffy. I have a lot of poms that we use for art projects and as manipulatives for math. I also have empty whipped topping containers that were just waiting for a purpose. Throw in an exacto-knife and a not very skilled adult to cut not very good shapes into the lid and presto! You have a new activity that should hold the attention of any toddler for at least 5-10 minutes while you help another child get set up with an assignment or project or two. 

Here is Gremlin with her new, fun toy! She played for at least 20 minutes, which is a record for her. I will have to find more fun things like this to occupy her time. 

She even let Pinky play with her. Sharing? Nah...she got a bit possessive and kicked Pinky off the couch and away from her poms. :(  I guess we will be working on sharing when she can actually grasp the concept, 16 mos is a bit early for that to be a reality.