Monday, January 31, 2011

Ladybug Letters!


The weather here at the Good Old Days Farm has been a bit too chilly to do much out side... So we've brought the outside in, with our new game.  (Kinda sorta.)  A while back we got creative with some egg cartons, paint and stickers.  The ladybugs are just two buttons glued together.  Inside each compartment is a different letter.  (Except we had to put "c" and "k" together and skip "y"... since it makes 3 different sounds... in order to put a 26 letter alphabet in 24 spaces).  We put the ladybug in the egg carton, close it, shake and open again... Then the little farmhands have to say what sounds is made by whatever letter the ladybug is sitting on.

This game is so much fun if you happen to be a little Farmhand who is learning how to read!  It is one of the suggestions in "Happy Phonics" ... a learn-to-read program that uses cardstock games to teach little ones how to read.  My little farmgirl loves workbooks and will actually complain to Papa the Farmer if I don't let her have enough workbook time... But, I like the games best! And even little workbook-girl has to admit that these games are fun! Diane, at Love To Learn has done a wonderful job of putting together a step-by-step reading program based on non-competitive games.  After all, what parent child doesn't like to play games? 

And by the way, if you put numbers instead of letters in each compartment, Voila!  Instant adding, subtracting or multiplying game!

2 comments:

  1. This is such a fun, fun idea. Bookmarking it now to make a phonics set for my budding reader and a math set for my oldest!

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  2. Have fun! For math, you would use two lady bug buttons. Then you just add or subtract or multiply the two numbers that the ladybug lands on. For division you would select your numbers a little more carefully. For example, you might write in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10... Then whatever number your ladybug lands on, divide by 2. You'd have to make different cartons for dividing by different numbers. I can't wait to see your finished product! =)

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