Fun with Language and Numbers Day 1

Here are the games we played. They can be played at home as well.

ABC Travel Game: The first person starts the game by saying, "For my trip to _____, I packed a (something that starts with the letter A)". The next person repeats what the first person said and then adds an item that starts with the letter B. The game goes around and around with all the players repeating the previous items and adding one that begins with the next letter of the alphabet. For younger and/or newer students, it helps to have the alphabet written down. This game helps children learn alphabetical order, and develops memory and concentration.

Who is Bigger?: This game is played using a deck of cards with all face cards removed from the deck. Deal the whole deck out to two players. At the easiest level, each player turns over one card and the player with the biggest number wins that round of cards. At a slightly more challenging  level, the player who calls out the biggest card first, wins that round. Even more challenging, the player who calls out the biggest two digit number that can be made with the overturned cards, wins the cards. Keep turning over cards until all cards have been turned over. Cards won can be counted to determine a winner if there needs to be a winner. If there is a tie, then keep the cards up, turn over the next two, and the one who calls out the biggest number wins all four cards. This game helps solidify students understanding of place value and order of numbers. Although it seems simple to adults, it is a very important concept that gets build on in later primary grades and needs to be solid.