Skip to main content

A Simple Activity To Keep Toddlers Happy - Matching Bingo

homeschool

One thing I've found challenging with homeschooling is keeping my just turned 3 year old occupied. He is well aware that he is not doing the same thing as his siblings and will throw a tantrum once he realises. He needs his own work to do and that means I need to be more prepared and organised to make sure that he isn't missing out or feeling a bit neglected.

When I'm disorganised DS2 ends up watching more TV than I'm happy with or pottering around the house getting into mischief. Just last week he indulged in a chocolate milk with the entire can of drinking chocolate while I was busy doing maths with the other boys. There are so many benefits to homeschooling but idle toddlers is most certainly not one of them.

So here is an example of a simple matching game. It's actually teddy bear bingo that I picked up at an op shop a few years ago for about $1. Hooray for op shop bargains!

homeschool


There are so many ways you can use this game either as a family or as an independent activity.

1. BINGO
It comes with a spinner with the 4 different colours. Each player takes turns putting the matching colour teddy bear (or counter) on the matching colour on the mat. The idea is to be the one that completes 4 in a row. BINGO!

2. COLOR MATCHING
As pictured. He figured this out on his own. I just left him with the counters and mats and this was his creation.

3. PATTERNING
The counters (in 4 different colours) can be used for making 2, 3, 4 colour patterns which can then be extended by asking (slightly older children) to then separate them into equal groups or to show patterns counting in 2's, 3's, 4's.....

4. SORTING
Ask your little one to sort them according to colour such as a pile of yellow or line of green. To extend this activity you can ask them to count the number of teddy bears (or counters) in each group and even try some simple addition and subtraction.

I'm sure there is so much more you can do with this activity but this is how I've been using it and it all began with trying to come up with activities that my 3 year old could do independently while I worked with the others.

I will continue to share more about how I keep my toddler happy....once I figure out how!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Richard C. LambertMay 26, 2015 at 11:02 PM

    He needs his own work to do and that means I need to be more prepared and organised to make sure that he isn't missing out or feeling a bit neglected. online bingo

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Car-schooling with Jonathon Park Audio Adventures

  I once asked a seasoned homeschooler how she managed to fit so many activities and events around 'schoolwork'. She told me she had mastered the art of car-schooling! Plenty of learning takes place in the car: Organic discussion of topics, answering questions, reading and the odd math quiz...and then she mentioned audio books.  We had only ever attempted an audio book in the car, once, and then a little person shoved chips into the CD player and that was the end to audio books. But recently I got a new car - one from the 2000's - that has bluetooth capability and all of a sudden, audio books were back! The problem? Finding ones engaging enough that kids actually want to listen, that doesn't make me fall asleep while driving and is relevant for 3 boys aged 8 - 12. Enter: Jonathon Park audio adventures. These. Are. Brilliant.  These are highly engaging stories based around a family of creation scientists who go on all sorts of adventures wh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Inspiring Character That Lasts - We Choose Virtues Giveaway!

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the opportunity to help shape our children's character. In fact, one of the points from our own homeschooling mission statement is that I desire....     To build strong character in my children believing that good character is more important than academic success        Children are not born with a set of values and beliefs about the world - they are taught. This means they do not always naturally become kind, patient, content and diligent - they need to be guided, gently corrected and encouraged to embrace the kind of virtues that God desires within us. I find this a challenge with my incredibly spirited, strong-willed children (yes, all of them fit this description). I have often allowed myself to feel discouraged and disappointed in their behavior rather than see it as an opportunity to teach and shape their character.  Another benefit of homeschooling is that we can encourage these vir...
42 comments
Read more

Why I Chose Skwirk For Homeschooling

Over the years we've used a few different online learning resources but I'm particularly excited about trying something NEW for 2015. Skwirk has had a make-over and quite frankly, it's awesome. There is nothing quite like it around at the moment and it has some great functions that work well with homeschooling. It provides animation based lessons for younger ones as well as great options for independent learning for older kids all the way up to year 10. As an educational tool it is aligned with the Australian curriculum so if that's important to you, or you just like to occasionally see where your kids sit in relation to their peers (like I do) this is a good thing. The subjects it includes are maths, English, science, geography and history. My plan was to use this for my 5 year old who is 'technically' in his first year of school next year. However, once I learnt all the features of the program I'm thinking it will be a great resource for encour...
5 comments
Read more