Bingo is a fun game that different ages can play together and all learn together.
March 7, 2013
All four of the children are able to play this game together. It is good review for the older boys and they just love to play. Wesley 6, is learning to count coins and Diana 4, is learning to identify the different coins and also to reading double-digit numbers.
The Playing Cards
I drew the pig on white paper and added the blank circles. Then I Xeroxed the pig on several different colors of card stock. The amounts were then written in on the cards so that every card was a little different from the others. Then I covered the cards with clear Contact paper to make them more durable. They could also be laminated or placed in plastic sleeves.
The Calling Cards
I used coin stamps and put different combinations on these cards. Because Diana is just learning the different coins, we added real coins to our game. I would match the card so she could clearly understand what coins we were using. We helped Wesley (who needed this concept the most) count the coins after Diana had identified them.
The Play
Plays exactly like traditional bingo. Once the amount on the calling card has been counted, all players look to their cards to find the matching amount. If they have the amount, they use a poker chip to cover the space.
NOTE: Even young children who cannot yet read the numbers can play with a little help. They enjoy being a part of the game and covering up the spaces on their cards.
The Winner
The player who is the first to cover all the spaces on their card.
Even though Diana was the youngest and unable to count the coins yet, she is able to be the winner of the game.
Now we used the cards with the cute little fish on them for the game they were intended...GO FISH!
Here is Diana's hand. She had asked Douglas for a 3 and received one. So she had her first match.
Wesley is asking for a card. We played that if you were holding the Roman Numeral card you could simple state the number you needed to make the match. However, if you were holding the number and wanted a Roman Numeral you had to state how it would appear using I, V and X's. For example, Wesley requested XII since he had the 12 card in his hand.
Of course, the fun comes if the person does not have the card you request and says, "Go Fish!" Then you get to draw from the pond of cards in the center of play.
Douglas played with Wesley and Diana. We had a fun time.
We call it SEARCH, but this game is known by other names, as well....Concentration and Memory.
We began with only 10 cards - the 1 - 5 and their Roman Numeral matches.
Ladies first...so Diana started and selected two cards which were not a match.
Wesley went next and made a match with the 5.
Later Diana made her first match.
Then we tried the game with all 24 cards (1-12 and the matching Roman Numerals).
We put the numbers to one side and the Roman Numerals to the other in an attempt to make it a little easier for Diana.
You can see she is a little overwhelmed with the number of cards.
So...Douglas stepped in and took her place.
Douglas matches the 8.
Wesley matches the 3.
It was a much better game and the boys both enjoyed it. Wesley got more practice.
We introduced Diana,4, to Roman Numerals today. She caught on fairly quickly. Wesley needed the quick review and he remembered them all.
The Cards
The cards were made to be played for a Go Fish game, which is why the cute little fish is on each card. The deck consists of 24 cards: 1 - 12 in both Roman and Arabic numerals.
First we set out the 1-12 cards. The Roman Numeral cards were shuffled and up in a stack. Diana drew cards and handed them to Wesley to place above the correct number.
Wesley would state the number as he placed the Roman Numeral cards. He would also explain each card/number to Diana. This gave him good review and continued Diana's introduction to Roman Numerals.
Activity finished...
Now Diana gets a turn.
Wesley handed her one card at a time and she place the number below the correct Roman Numeral. This was quite easy, but it gave her some confidence.
Next we did the first activity again with both children taking turns.
Diana was excited to get one she knew.
...and she knew right where to put it.
We had fun. Wesley got some good review and Diana got her first introduction to Roman Numerals.
"Cupcakes" is in the name simply because of the fun cards we used. The children enjoyed drilling simple addition doubles facts.
The Cards
Made from bulletin board strips...
The strips had cupcakes in several colors. I cut them apart and have saved them for quick use for games. Today I used the purple ones I had left. On the back I wrote the addition facts for the doubles from 0 + 0 = to 14 + 14 =. I did them both in vertical and horizontal form. I did to 14 simply because that was the number of cards that I had.
Introducing the Cards
First we did a little activity. I set out the 0 + 0 = cards. I showed them two empty spots. I asked how many counters we would have if we combined/added the two empty spots. ZERO, of course, was the answer. Next they each put 1 counter in each space. I asked how many we would have if we added 1 + 1 and they shouted TWO. We continued adding one counter to each pile and stating the new addition fact. Wesley, age 6, knows many of them, but soon realized that the answers were counting by TWO and so he predicted what the next answer would be. This was a great discovery for him to make and one I had not planned.
We finished going through all the cards (facts to 14 + 14 =) just so Wesley could see that his predictions continue. Then we got down to drilling some of the facts. We used only the first six facts (up to 5 + 5 =) to now play some games. Even though the first things we did were not REAL games, by calling the such, the children excitedly played. (They thought of it as play, because, after all, I was calling it a game.)
First I gave them each a set. Wesley had the horizontal form and Diana, 4, had the vertical. They laid them out in front of themselves and we drilled the facts in any way I could think of.
1. I placed them in order and drilled them each through their cards. They would read the fact and give the answer.
2. Next, I skipped around, pointing to cards out of order. They again read the facts and gave the answer.
3. I mixed up their cards and they stated only the answers to each fact.
Here Diana is giving the answers to her fact cards. While Wesley finds his matching card.
Next we played some REAL GAMES.
Game 1 Since Diana is two years younger I started with One At a Time Take. For this game I shuffled all the cards. I held up one card at a time and they took turns giving the answer. If they answered correctly, they got to collect the cupcake. (Calling them "cupcakes" instead of cards, just makes it more fun.) If they gave an incorrect response, the other person got to give an answer and collect the card. We did this several times until they were both doing it pretty rapidly.
Game 2 I called this Speed Cupcake Take. This time when I held up the card both Wesley and Diana tried to be the first to give the answer. Wesley won the first two cards and Diana was getting discouraged, but I reminder her that she knew these now and if they tied, she would win the card. She sat back up and won the next card, mostly because Wesley wasn't paying attention...but she was so excited. She tied him a couple times and ended up with 5 of the 12 cards. However, before Wesley could count them and declare he had beat her, I swept up the cards and shuffled them and said, "Let's go again." The second game she got 7 of the cards, but again I tried not to make a big deal about a "winner." Because, if you have a winner, there must be a loser...and no one wants to be the loser.
We had fun with this quickly made game and the children are memorizing these facts. Tomorrow we will do them again and probably add one or two more fact cards.
Games make drilling so much fun. Flash cards could be used, but making the "pretty" cupcake cards and calling it a GAME, made it much more fun.
