Colour matching game:

 

Colour matching game:

 

This is a simple, easy to make fun game that children love playing time and time again.  Let's go on a colour hunt to develop colour matching skills.

 

I used empty, cleaned out pringles crisps tubes.  Then the tubes were covered with different coloured play paper.  Depending on the age / stage of your child you can user fewer tubes or add more colours.

 

Go for a walk around your home or garden and encourage your little one to see what they can find that matched the colour of the tube.  The really good thing about this home made game is that they can flip the lid off and store the contents inside and it develops counting skills and language skills too.

 

When you have finished you can count and describe the contents.

 

A really good fun, home made game thats provides lots of possibilities.

 

Sarah x x

Words for Life - Playing with your baby

Words for Life - Playing with your baby

Great information from the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - Babies love music

Words for Life - Babies love music

Great information from the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - For parents and carers of children who are deaf*

Words for Life - For parents and carers of children who are deaf*

Great information from the National Literacy Trust.

Sarah x

Words for Life - Which way should a buggy face?

Words for Life - Which way should a buggy face?

Interesting information regarding buggies and interaction from the National Literacy Trust..

Sarah x

Words for Life - Dummies and talking

Words for Life - Dummies and talking

Great information from the National Literacy Trust about dummies and children's speech!

Sarah x

Words for Life - Top tips for reading stories aloud

Words for Life - Top tips for reading stories aloud

Great tips from the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - Why reading is good for talking

Words for Life - Why reading is good for talking

Great information and tips frim the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - Communicating with your baby

Words for Life - Communicating with your baby

Great information from the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - Babies love music (2 of 2)

Words for Life - Babies love music (2 of 2)

Activities for your baby...

Great information from the National Literacy Trust

Sarah x

Words for Life - Songs and rhymes

Words for Life - Songs and rhymes

Brilliant information from the National Literacy Trust

How many do you know?  What was your favourite as a child?  Do you still sing the older traditional rhymes?

Sarah x

Words for Life - Playing with your baby

Words for Life - Playing with your baby

The importance of playing with your baby and great ideas and tios from the National Literacy Trust.

Words for Life - Dads: talk to your baby

Words for Life - Dads: talk to your baby

Great information taken from the National Literacy Trust.  Take a look.

Sarah x

Words for Life - Join the library together

Words for Life - Join the library together

This had been taken from the National Literacy Trust site.

One of the greatest places you can take your child, so much on offer !!!!!

Take a look at this fab information about the library and what they offer these days.

Sarah x

Communication Friendly Spaces for Children - Elizabeth Jarman

Communication Friendly Spaces for children


Elizabeth Jarman is the founder of Communication Friendly Spaces (CFS).  It focuses on the role of the environment in supporting speaking and listening skills, emotional well being and general engagement.

The resources used as well as the environemnt for children take great consideration of natural colours, lighting and sensory materials.

I use the CFS approach with the families I work with.  Developing spaces for children to talk has been inspiring for all concerned.

Take a look at the Elizabeth Jarman website, you will be amazed at what is on offer.

Sarah x

www.elizabethjarmantraining.co.uk

Early reading skills and matching games...

Jam Jar Lids:

One of the things that I cannot recycle are Jam Jar Lids! So rather than throw them out, they are recycled into learning resources for children.

For the babies, pictures of family members, pets, favourite toys and characters are put inside the lids.

For older children matching games and memory games can be made:

Turn the lids upside down and find the macthing pairs:

* Number recogonition skills (1 - 5 or 1 - 10)
* Colour recognition skills
* Animals
* Tv Characters
* Family members
* Early words

The list goes on and on.....

Great resources that can be used over and over again, added to and changed quickly and easily as your child grows.

Sarah x

The shell box....

The Shell Box....

A great resource for children of all ages. The box contains a range of shells and some picture cards of shells. (Excuse the picture of the lovely dog).

How do I use the box?

* Counting skills
* Early number skills - big, little, biggest, smallest....
* Sensory play - tactile.
* Vocabulary development - Rough, smooth, shiny, spotty, patterened.....
* Matching skills
* creativity and Imagination - Beach scenes

You could aslo make shakers with the smaller ones that fit into the bottle and make different sounding shakers.

The possibilities are endless just from one box of shells.

Sarah x

The Bath time Basket.....

The Bath Time Basket.....

Children's bath toys can sometimes be expensive. This idea for a bath time play basket, houses lots of items to explore and use in the water. I use these with the parents and children for week 2 of our programme for routines.

The basket itself is a simple wipe clean one. Contents vary within the baskets I use. the contents in this one include:

* Plastic plant pots that act as sieves.
* Tea strainers
* Scoops
* Washing powder jug
* Bath mitt - apart from using to bathe your child, they can be used for story telling and singing songs with
* Safety mirror - children often enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror, howwever do you ever give them the opportunity to see themselves with wet shampooed hair? Give it a go and watch for their reactions.
* Funnels and empty plastic water or shapoo bottles (pouring and filling)
* Bath time book
* Bath time scrubbie - this is great for sensory as well as floating and sinking
* Rubber gloves used to be added too. Pin pricks were pout into the tips of every finger and water then added. When squeezed the glove would make a great water gun for the bath or garden. HOWEVER - lots more children are being diagnosed as allergic to latex and so I have withdrawn these now.
* Rubber ducks - the old tradition. Great for singing and counting.
* Alphabet letters that stick to the side of the bath. Lower case letters are used !

Have a go at making one of these with your child and see what you can find in your home to put in yours....Have Fun!

Sarah x

There were ten in the bed.....

Penny Dale's - 'There were Ten in the Bed', is an amazing book. A quick and simple story sack idea is to find characters to match the pages to make the story come alive! Go through your child's soft toys and see what charcaters you can find to use with your favourite books.

The children love taking part in this story with the characters and giving them a hug when they have fallen out of bed.

Sarah x

Who, why, what, where, when?

I love using resources such as these within my job. Creativity, imagination, language skills and so much more can be developed by using simple props such as these.

I love using these with the parents I work with too...I dangle the seperate keys and ask where will this key take us? What will we find? Who do you think will live there? Why? When are we going to go?

It breaks the ice with parents but also gives them an idea of how a prop can conjour up so much imagination and creativity with a child.

Answers given include: to a Giant's castle or a prison or a secret garden.......

Simple and yet effective. Brilliant way to use the props to tell a story with your child. They love nothing better than to be the central character.

Sarah x

Larger Dress the Teddy.....

For those of you who follow my blog, this is a larger version of the dress the teddy game as posted previously. The same development skills are acquired. This bear's clothes are toddler sized. The children love 'Charlie', and like to give him a snack too if were working on picture making with food, but that's for another post.

Sarah x

The Kitchen Basket.....

The Kitchen basket is a multi sensory resource. The children including babies love exploring what's inside. The various textures include wood, metal, plastic, mesh to name but a few.

The basket should be explored together by younger children and their parents.

This is great for:
* Language development (key words as well as textures)
* Sensory Play
* Role play

And much more.....

Brilliant fun resources that can be put together with items from around the kitchen that are safe.

Mark making box....

The mark making box houses lots of great resources for developing children's mark making skills. This one has been made up from a shoe box and then covered in some fun wrapping paper. The children are encouraged to choose what they would like to use from the box. Some of their favourite writing implements, pads etc can be put inside choosen by them.

We all know how important it is that children are given plenty of opportunties to develop their muscles in their hands to aid with the development of writing skills. This is a great resource for them to explore and use time and time again and can be easily replaced if it becomes battered or re wrapped and restocked when they have new favourites etc.

Sensory snakes:

These snakes were brought from an educational catalogue, which is why you can see from an earlier post I made my own large sensory snakes, which can also be made smaller. These snakes are patterned and fabulously coloured. The only problem i think with these is that they didnt come in various sizes which would have made it more of a great resource as measuring could have been added to developed skills.

Now there's an idea for my next project...Mmmmmmmm.

Helps with:

*Colour recognition
*Pattern recognition
*Sensory play
* Measurement (possibility with different sized snakes)
*Role play

Great for the Dear Zoo book too : )

Sarah x

Musical Shapes....

Musical shapes.....

The children love playing this game with the parents. The object of the game is similar to that many of us have played at parties over time. The music is played and when stopped the child / parent have to stand on one of the shapes. The child depending on stage is encouraged to say what colour the shape is or what the shape is.

Each time one of the shapes is taken away.

Develops:
*Colour recognition
*Shape recognition
*Social skills - turn taking
* Language skills

The shapes are made out of funky foam which is easily cut.

Have fun.

Sarah x

Where's Humpty???

These amazing cards that I use with parents come from:

www.sparklebox.co.uk

The cards are brilliant to develop children's positional language skills. Where's Humpty? He's: On the wall, behind the wall, under the cloud etc etc. Check out the sparklebox site for more.

Sarah x

The shopping bag....

The shopping bag:

I LOVE this 'put together from around the home' resource!!!

Collect various cartons, containers etc that are clean for your child to use. Add a shopping bag and hey presto!

How i use with the parents and children:
* Role Play - shopping etc (I encourage the parents to let the children use real fruit and veg), I also encourage parents to use real money when playing shop as plastic cards to be the way of the world for us all.
* Early reading skills (labels)
* 3d shapes
*Sensory play (when real fruit and vegetables are added)
*Building blocks
* When items start to look a little worn - junk play modelling

There are many more ideas.....but that's what I call a fabulous sunshine, rain, snow whatever the weather great bag that doesnt cost anything at all!

Have fun

Sarah x

Guess the animal......

These cards were purchased from an educational catalogue. However ideas are always given to the parents within my role on how to make something similar as they cannot always get hold of items we use. Plus it's about having a go at making your own and having fun along the way.

You could use pictures from magazines etc or the internet and then laminate them to make the cards last longer.

Note: The cards have a picture of the animal on one side and a picture of their patterned skin on the other. This becomes a game in itself as your child has to guess the animal.

These cards are used to develop:
* Language skills
* Social skills / turn taking
* Pattern skills
* Colour skills
Plus much more.

A great resource to look at and discuss animals in many ways.

Sarah x

Twinkle twinkle little star....

Twinkle Twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle Twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are.

Both the babies and older children alike that I work with love this resource. Some shimmery floaty material and some yellow felt stars are all it takes!

The babies or older children lie underneath. The parents gather around on their knees and all hold a piece of the shimmery see through material. The stars are placed on top of the material so as the parents lift the material up and down while singing the song the children can see the stars moving.

Perfect at the end of a session. This activity also helps develop language skills as well as number skills as the children can also count the stars. Each time one falls off as you sing the song you can count them again.

Some children prefer to be on the outside holding on with the parents which is totally fine too.

Fun for all.

Sarah x

Goldfish bowl game.....

Aims:
*To develop counting skills
*To develop hand - eye coordination skills
*To develop social skills - turn taking
*To develop language skills

Encourage your child to put the correct amount of fish into the bowl in correspondance with the dice.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk
Clown fish image: Google images

Dinosaur pattern matching cards.....

Develops:
*Pattern recognition
*Memory skills
*Language development

Possible uses:
*Use as a matching game - patterns
*Use as a memory game - turning the cards upside down
*Talk about the colours
*Go on a pattern treasure hunt around your home

Great simple matching game for child / parent interaction

resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

5 little ducks....

5 little ducks:

*Use the props to sing the song with:
*Develops language skills
*Develops counting skills

The images for this game: google images

Star flash cards...

Develops:
*Counting skills
*Memory skills
*Matching skills
*Social skills - turn taking


Possible uses:
*Can be used to develop counting skills (1 - 5 or 1 - 10)
*Can be used as a memory macthing game. Place them on the floor upside down and try to match pairs, counting the stars as you go

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Dress the teddy....

This game helps to develop:
*Counting skills
*To develop hand - eye coordination skills
*To develop social skills - turn taking

Possible uses:
*Talk about the different colours of the clothes
*Talk about the different patterns
*Counting skills - count the buttons on the clothes, count the socks, shoes etc
*Dress the bear for appropriate weather.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

5 currant buns in a bakers shop......

Possible uses:
*Use the props to sing the song with your child
*Take currant buns away while you sing the song to developing counting skills
*Make some real currant buns with your child - count the currants and cherries while adding them
*Use real money while singing the song to develop money recognition skills

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk
Image for song sheet from: Google images

Ladybird matching game:

This game develops:
*Counting skills
*Number recognition
*Matching skills
*Social skills - turn taking

Possible uses:
*Use as a counting game - counting the spots on the ladybird cards
*Use as a spots to numbers matching game.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Frog and Lily pad matching game.....

The aims of this game:
*To develop counting skills
*To develop number recognition

Possible uses:
*Put the frogs in the right number order, counting from 1 - 10 or counting down.
*Match the correct numbered from to the correct lily pad.

resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Crocodile teeth......

This is a popular game with all. This game helps to:
*Develop counting skills
*Develops language skills
*Develop social skills - turn taking
*Develop hand - eye coordination skills: using the dice

I made some laminated teeth to use with the home made dice. The child is encouraged to match the correct amount of teeth to the corresponding number on the dice into the crocodiles mouth.

I also use home made playdough with this game. This makes the game for tactile and the children can make the teeth out of the playdough to add to the crocodiles mouth.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Flash Cards.........

This game helps to develop:

*Matching skills
*Colour recognition skills
*Counting skills

Resources used from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Simple game for parent / child interaction.

Animal pattern matching game.....

I made up this game using sensory animal pattern materials which I attached to sturdy cardboard. I then used animal pictures from google with the matching skins for the children to use as a matching game.

There are many possibilities for this game and many language opportunties for questions with the children.

1. Talk about the patterns and colours of the animals.
2. Talk about where you might find the animals - zoo, jungle etc.
3. Explore the material boards and talk about how they feel.
4. How many spots do you think the dalmation has?
5. How many stripes do you think the tiger / zebra has?

Etc etc.......

5 little men in a flying saucer.....

This fun game develops counting skills and number recognition as well as developing vocabulary through song.

1. Sing the song using the props.
2. Put the rockets in number order, counting up or down.
3. Match the correct amount of aliens to the number rockets.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

5 little Speckled Frogs

5 little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating the most delicious grubs - yum yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were 4 green speckled frogs - glug glug!

4...3...2...1...0

Sing the song using the props. Put the frogs in order of size - smallest to biggest or biggest to smallest. Use as a number recognition game from 1 - 5 or 5 - 1.

Great number development game using resources from www.sparklebox.co.uk.

I use these as parent / child interaction packs to have fun with.

2D shape matching game

This game aims to develop colour matching skills, shape recognition as well as social skills - turn taking.

It can be used as a colour matching game or a shape matching game.

Resources from: www.sparklebox.co.uk

Easy to make and fun to play to develop number skills.

5 Green Bottles

5 green bottles:

5 green bottles standing on a wall,
5 green bottles standing on a wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There would be 4 green bottles, standing on the wall

4.....3.....2.....1.....0

Ideas for this game:

Sing the song using the resources. Place the bottles on a laminated wall in order of size to develop skills or in number order both counting up or counting down.

Recycle some old bottles and add green food colouring to have your own green bottles, add glitter and numbers on the outside and use building blocks for your wall.

Ice cream game

The Ice Cream Game provides opportunities for childrens colour skills and matching skills to be developed as well as putting the cones in order of size.

Great number skill development using a great game that's simple to put together using resources from:
www.sparklebox.co.uk

Animal Snap Cards

Animal Snap Cards:

These snap card resources were found on www.sparklebox.co.uk


The children love playing this game with their parents. It's easy to make thanks to Sparklebox.

To develop awareness of pattern
To develop number recognition
To develop social skills

Hat bag......

Hat bag:

Look around your home and see what hat's you can find to make a hat bag. The children I work with love playing with this. It's great for role play, dressing up and having fun. Can be used as a guessing game with the children - who would wear this hat?

Safety mirrors have also been added so that the children can see what they look like when using the hats and included wigs.

Great fun easy to put together resource with heaps of ideas for creativity, imagination and language development.

Sarah x x

Sensory Snake....

Sensory snake:


I made these for when I work with babies. I used pieces of sensory materials left over from various other projects and sewed them into this sensory snake.

It can also be used to support babies when sitting up. Even the older children love using it too, especially for quite time when looking at books in a corner.
(Colour, patterns, tactile).

It's so cosy.

Sarah x x

Brush Basket......



The Brush basket is a multi use resource.  The basket contains various bushes from nail brushes, paint brushes, dustpan and brush, make up brushes, etc etc.

Also included in the basker are photographs of the brushes.  The following ideas can be used with this resource for children's development including vocabulary development:

1. Match the brushes to the photograph cards (which are laminated to last longer).
2. Sensory play - exploring the different textures and materials.
3. Guessing game - the children guess who might use the various brushes.
4. Role play
5. Size game - put the brushes in order of size (as there are packs of the same paintbrushes etc in various sizes).

The children love playing with this basket with the parents.  It's great fun, easy to put together and most of all includes items that you'll find around your home, which is what our resources are all about.

Sarah x x