Questions Answered #2 - Card Games

So here are the questions I was asked about card games:

Card games:
- How thick does the card stock need to be to make the cards durable?
- Is it faster to laminate or contact paper the cards?
- How do you organize/label your cards so you know what ways you can use them?


Do You Know Me Blends

My answers:

- How thick does the card stock need to be to make the cards durable?

I use a standard card stock that I purchase in packets of multiple colors at WalMart or other such stores. What makes the cards durable is Contact paper covering them.


Homonyms Pick-a-Pair

- Is it faster to laminate or contact paper the cards?

I imagine if you have a home laminator it is quick and easy to laminate the cards. However, not having that Contact paper is an easy and quick solution.  I can cover lots of cards in a very short time. 

The big secret is to do full sheets of cards, not individual cards.  Years ago I had a xerox machine in my home so I printed out (on colored card stock or bristol) pages of blank cards. These were then ready whenever I needed some cards. I would hand write on the cards. I could do this so easily while the children were doing their lessons, reading a story, or working on a unit. I would write out questions as we read a science or history book. When I had a page full of completed cards they could be covered, cut apart and used. Later, as the children got older, I had them write out the questions and answers (some times on the same side, often on the back, and occasionally we just made an answer key sheet.)


Using SPEED! cards - SPEED! Solitaire

- How do you organize/label your cards so you know what ways you can use them?

I store cards in zip-lock plastic sandwich bags (larger sets may require quart-size bags).  I put a piece of duct tape along the top edge and punch a hole. I hang these card games on a peg board.  I use cheap metal shower curtain hooks to hold several games. Then, several of these hooks will hang on each peg/hook on the peg board. When my children were young, my husband hung a door-size peg board on the inside of the door that lead to our basement. This door was in the kitchen right near the table where we did much of our schooling. This board held hundreds of games. At this time I had each game numbered and on the spread sheet. The games were hung by their numbers making them very easy to locate.

Like I mentioned in the previous post about organization....My current method and my old (preferred) method are different. Right now, because I have a limited number of games out, I simply store them together by school subject. I hope to get returned to the older method as I still feel it is best, even for a smaller number of games.

Now for the labels on the games....I try to NAME games in a way that it will help me know what the game is about and how we plan to play it. For example: Coin Search Cards tells me it is simply a card game (no board), we will be matching coins to money amounts, and playing Search (or many know this as Concentration or Memory).  I may add an index card with unusual directions to a game or a list of a variety of ways we may play the with the cards. This becomes less needed as you play more and more games. You will look at a deck of cards and know that you can probably play a variety of card games with them, or you can even add a game board you have around and play with them that way.  Much of game making and playing is a growing process...the more you do/make/play - the more you will know and the more ideas you will get of ways to use a simple deck of cards.


Color Match Search

NOTE:

Cards are easy to make and so versatile. Think of the many card games you may have played as a child...

Memory/Search/Concentration
Old Maid
Rummy
Go Fish
  .....just to name a few.

All of these and others you know have rules that usually can be applied to any deck of cards.

I love when I can add a gameboard and we have a whole new game. How? Just have the children draw a card, answer the skill BEFORE they can shake a die or spin to move.

Also you can change the rules a bit (making it a true family game) and play again. Take out the "Old Maid" card and play "Go Fish."  You are playing a whole new game and yet you are still drilling the same skill. Children will often play over and over when you make a simple change and you can drill their skills for a couple hours.

Have fun!!!

What to Consider When Buying or Making a Game

Whether it is choosing a game to purchase or one to make, basically the same ingredients are involved.

There are two prime parts of a game:

  

1. The SKILL being taught, drilled or reviewed. Is it exactly what the child needs? Meeting the need is often easier with a home-made game, as rarely has a purchased game been created with your child at this point in his educational develpment in mind.
2. The FORMAT or method of play. While some children prefer active outdoor type games, others would rather play a strategy filled board game or an exciting fast-paced dice game. With the large variety of game formats available, it is easy to find a few each child will especially like.

Other things to consider: 

•  The COST involved. While it could cost as much as $25 or more to purchase a pretty boxed game to drill the US states and capitals, this same amount could be used for materials to make several games drilling this same skill. By having several different games that drill the same material, it is often possible to play for an extended period of time which means quicker mastery. When a child tires of one method of play, another game can be selected, however, the same skill is still being worked on.
• The TIME involved to make games. Often this is the biggest reason offered for not making games. However, if the children participate in the making of the game, learning is already beginning. Older children may be encouraged to write questions and answers on cards as a unit is being studied, thus learning and making the review game at the same time. Children are also eager to play games they have helped to create.

Bingo as an Educational Game

Bingo is a fun game that most everyone knows how to play. Now is it also a great learning tool.

Why is the Bingo format such a great educational tool to use?

1. BINGO IS EASY TO MAKE. I have Bingo playing cards already printed out so that I can quickly grab them, add the information and we can be ready to play in no time at all. Several web sites have printable Bingo playing cards. However, I have found that I prefer my own. I make them in three forms:

a. The traditional 25 space card that we are all familiar with. This is good for times when the information being put on the spaces is not too large.

b. A 16 space card (four rows of four spaces in each row). This is a form to use when there is more information to be placed in each space or when larger pictures are being put in the spaces.

c. A 9 space card (three rows of three spaces in each row). This is a good form for introducing young children to Bingo. Since the card is simpler it is easier for them to find the proper space to mark.

One of the reasons I like to make my own Bingo cards is I do not like the word BINGO printed above the columns. Usually this is not needed as players will search the entire card for the proper answer/space to mark. On the rare occasion that there is very few answers being drilled, but I want to use a 25-space card, I would then use letters to identify the columns. However, I tried to make the letters more meaningful.

For example: I made a Bingo game to drill the notes on the scale for my children when they began piano lessons. Since there are only seven possible answers: a, b, c, d, e, f, and g, I did mark the columns. But I used the letters M-U-S-I-C. Then the calling cards had each possible combination: They had pictures of a scale with one note indicated on each card. I also wrote one of the column letters in the corner of each card....five columns times seven possible answers equals 35 cards were created for the game.

And yes, I do on some games make a FREE SPACE in the center. Again, this depends on how much information I have to put on the card and how many spaces I need to use.

2. BINGO CAN BE PLAYED WITH ANY NUMBER OF PLAYERS. Bingo works wonderful in large and small groups, so it is good for the homeschool family as well as for use in a classroom. Just create enough playing cards (each one should have the information arranged differently on the cards) and away you go.

One question I often get asked is "How can I play games with only one child?" My daughter Cortney came up with the solution to this one. One day when she wanted to play a Bingo game and Kyle was not wanting to participate, she decided that her Teddy Bear could play, and she would help him. So she actually played two cards. Then she expanded on this (as she often did on everything). She lined up a whole group of her stuffed animals and dolls and gave them each a card. Of course, she has to help ALL of them. It was often so cute watching her play with them. She talked to them, of course, encouraging the ones who were behind and telling the winners to be less boastful. From this day on, we rarely played with only human players at our house....as the children thought more players meant more fun.

This is also a good solution for a player that has trouble "losing." Encourage him to let his toy friends play, and he can just help them. Then he is neither a winner nor a loser, but still gets the drill.

3. THE WINNER IS BASED ON LUCK, NOT ABILITY. Since the luck of having the right spaces on the playing card determines the winner rather than a greater ability, or knowledge, players of differing abilities can all play together. This is especially good for the homeschool family. The whole family can play together and the three year old (who gets assistance) has just as much chance of winning the game as his 13 year old sibling. Older children can play for the review of a skill, the middle child is getting the drill he needs to master the skill and the younger children are getting introduced to the skill.

How much information the little ones absorb was clearly pointed out to me one night. We had made a bird identification Bingo. The playing cards had pictures of birds we had learned about in our Bird Unit. Kyle was only three at the time, so I was not sure how much of the information he was getting from this unit, but he had developed a real interest in watching the birds at our feeder and helping keeping it filled. Then one night we were watching a nature show on foxes, when all of a sudden he jumps up and runs to the TV so excited. He is pointing to a bird shouting, "It's a kingfisher! It's a kingfisher! Just like the one on my card." He had had a favorite Bingo card and none of us knew why, but obviously using the same card every time we played, had made him familiar with the birds on it. He even had to go and dig out his card, just to prove to us all. This event made me much more aware of how much information Kyle was absorbing by just participating with us each day.

For more information on Birds Lotto

4. ALMOST ANY SKILL CAN BE PUT ON A BINGO GAME. From beginning phonics and counting to telling time, counting coins, identifying dog breeds, drilling Spanish words, math facts, history, geography, and on and on.

NOTE: A word of caution. It does make a difference which information you put on the calling cards and which goes on the playing cards. I think I can explain this the best, by sharing the mistake I made. I wanted to drill the children in counting groups of coins. On the playing cards, using some neat coin stampers I had purchased, I put different coin combinations in each of the 16 spaces. Then I wrote the amounts on calling cards. The first time we played, I realized something was wrong. It took the children saying, "This is too hard." for me to realized what the problem was. As I called out "64 cents" they had to search this maze of coins to find the right combination. It was overwhelming to them. So I remade the game. I cut apart the bingo cards and they now became the calling cards. Then as we played, I turned over one coin card, the children carefully counted the coins and then we all found the written amount on our bingo cards. Much smoother play. So think a few minutes before creating the game. The newest information most likely belongs on the calling cards, that can be taken one at a time.

5. BINGO IS GREAT FOR EXPOSING CHILDREN TO INFORMATION. I know that it is not necessary as part of a child's education to know the different breeds of dogs, rarely would they be tested on such information. However, for a well-rounded education, I like to expose them to as much information as I can. By using a Bingo game with pictures of different dogs on each of the playing spaces, the children were introduced to a number of the most common breeds. Since Bingo is not a fast-paced game, we were able to talk about the different breeds as we played. Each of us would share things we knew about them. Then since their interest was captured, I got a number of books on dog breeds on our next trip to the library. The children were excited about getting new information that they could share for the next time we played.

Bingo was such a favorite at our house that one year we had a Bingo Marathon. For several months we kept track of the number of games won by each player. The children were older now and we took all of our Bingo games and placed them in three milk crates. Each evening we would play several rounds of Bingo, selecting a new game for each round. At first I let the winner select which game we would play the next time, but I soon realized they each had a few favorites and we were just playing those games rather than reviewing all of the games as I had intended with this idea. So then we adjusted the rules just a bit. There was no longer a choosing of the game. We simply selected the next game in the crate putting the already played game in the back. When all of the games in one crate had been played we moved on to the next crate. We went through these three crates of games several times in our Marathon. This Marathon kept the children asking to play Bingo in "non-school" hours, especially the child who happened to be behind at the time. Also, during this Marathon, the children decided they did not need the extra competition of Teddy Bears for play. After all, the winner of the Marathon got to chose ANY item from the menu at the Ice Cream Shoppe, while the rest of us got cones. However, the winner did decide to chose the mammoth sundae the children had always drooled over and also ordered extra spoons, so we all shared in the winnings.

I hope that Bingo is enjoyed in each of your homes or classrooms as much as we enjoyed it.

Why Educational Games Should be Homemade

I believe that the best game for your child is one that you make yourself. After all, who knows him better than you? There are many nice educational games available on the market, I have even sold some that I have made. However, I recommend MAKING games rather than buying games, even mine!! Let me tell you why...

1. A game made specifically for a child meets his exact needs at this moment. I could make a reading game (and I have made LOTS of reading games) but it might not drill the exact skills that your daughter is needing practice on. If YOU were to make a similar game, it would not meet the needs of your neighbor's child who is at just a slightly different place then your child. The game you make would, however, be exactly what your son needs.

2. There are many different formats (styles) of games. There are card games, bingo, board games, active games, self-correcting games, speed games, and on and on. Some children prefer one or two types of games to others. So you can choose the format of play that your child enjoys.

3. Themes of games is really the DECORATION. For a racing fan, I would create a board game with a race car design. Now the "ballerina" that lives in my granddaughter would prefer a board with pretty stickers of little girls dancing on their toes or princesses or fairies. Knights, castles, dragons, or pirates would thrill some of my grandsons. Another grandson would love things decorated with stickers to match Disney's Cars. So think about your child's interests and decorate: horses, Indians, dinosaurs, fast cars, American Girls, super heros...or think about the unit you are studying: insects, Africa, George Washington, bones, fractions, food groups, the flag, the Civil War, or whatever.

4. THE PRICE - Purchased games can cost LOTS of money. I know, I have priced them. I check them out and then make my own game. I have made over 1000 educational games that I have used with my children at home, in the classroom during the years I taught in a small Christian school, and now with my grandchildren. I could NEVER have begun to purchase that many games.

5. VERY SPECIALIZED - I had a boy in my classroom that was having difficulty distinguishing the difference in the sounds of short /e/ and short /i/. I made a game for him to play at home with his family. I couldn't have found such a game, and even if I could, I would never have been able to justify the cost for the needs of ONE child.

6. Children enjoy making the games too. Many years ago daughter made a VERY boring (in my opinion) game that drilled addition and subtraction facts. However, because she made the game, she was more than willing to play it, and who was I to complain about HOW she was drilling her facts. Now, her son Douglas has the same fun making games. I often let the children decorate different gameboards, and I provide the skill cards to use with them. They like playing their creations.

Home-made games make so much sense to me. We have had so much fun making and playing them. I hope that you might also find the benefits of them for your families.

WARNING: Game-making is addicting...LOL