It's the Little Things that EXCITE us!

OK...so if you think it's a bit sad for a person to get excited about a ONE DOLLAR FLY SWATTER...then I would generally be in agreement!

BUT...people...I found the most stinkin' awesome fly swatters at Wal-mart today for ONE BUCK!  I was happily rolling along with my binders, pocket files, ink...you know...boring stuff...when out of the corner of my eye these babies were screaming at me!

I love the bright colors and knew they would be a hit with my kinder kiddos right off the bat.

NOW---I had to find a REAL reason to get them, other than the fact they were cute and cheap.

So here's my plan of action:

Since they came in 2 colors, I figured we can use these to  play games.  Each player has a different color swatter thus there will be an ORANGE player and a TEAL player.  I am thinking they will need a 3rd kid to be the "caller".

Then the possibilities are WIDE OPEN!

*Lay out sight word cards on the floor.  Caller has a set of matching cards.  They call out a word and the 1st kiddo to hit the correct word, "SPLAT", wins the card.  The kiddo with the most cards, wins the game!

*Make 2 cards...one that says FACT and one that says FICTION.  Read, or make up, a paragraph or even just a sentence that you tell the kiddos.  The first one to hit (SPLAT!) whether it's fact or fiction, wins the card!

*Make 2 cards that say "Sentence" or "NOT a Sentence".  Read, or make up, sentences or phrases.  The first one to SPLAT the correct one wins the card.

*You get the picture...endless possibilities!

*I was thinking I would lay out my number line on the floor.  Then use flash cards to play.  So if I were working on number words I would give the caller a stack of words zero to twenty.  They would show the 2 kiddos the word and the first one to hit the right # gets the card.

*Use it for addition and subtraction.  Show addition equations and they "SPLAT" the answer!

*Tell them a number and they SPLAT the number that is "one more", "one less", "two more"...

*Endless possibilities!

I actually bought 8 swatters so I could have several kiddos playing at once.  I am sure I can think of a way to use ALL of them at  once, but haven't made it that far. :)

Now...do you guys have any more ideas for how we can use these AWESOME "Finds of the Day"?

Also, I was thinking I may create the cards needed to play the games just so I wouldn't have to come up with sentences/phrases or equations...off the top of my head.  Or so I could leave it for a sub to do.

Would you guys be interested in something like this as a product to purchase?  Or totally not necessary?  Would love to get your opinion!

Freebie Addition Game, Unit 4, Shape Shout Out!!

Crazy day friends!! We are sending thoughts and prayers to any friends caught in the crazy, scary weather today! While we were not hit too heavily with storms, the threat was enough to send our poor kiddos into the hall for about 40 minutes during a tornado warning and delay school release time for 30 minutes!

Yikes an extra 30 minutes with our babies who did not get recess today!! NO problem! We really could use an extra 30 minutes in order to fit in everything we need! It's frustrating that everyday we have to leave out something because we run out of time. No, lie! We don't even nap!

So, you want us to stop jabbering and tell you about the FREEBIE?

Oh, yeah! We can finally wrap up our unit on shapes and start with addition and subtraction. Why? 

Well we just finished a huge, action packed unit that is 190 pages long, full of games and activities to make our kiddos and yours magnificent mathematicians!!!

If you like the sample below, just click and check out our complete preview. Oh yeah, don't forget to grab that Addition Freebie Game. Just click the game board below the unit sample and it is yours! Enjoy Friends!

Shape Shout Out!!
 My sister-in-law, in Valdosta, Georgia, sent us her pictures of her kid's shape projects that she used from our Shape Explosion: Unit 3 pack (check that out here). They are awesome!!! Sooooo creative!! 

Hope you have a great weekend!!!