I ofund a cool book on challenge boxes.. it is a box and all thematerials are put in a box that are needed to complete a chellenge. The book is for 4th -8th grade and has ideas like "Draw out and explain how a vending machiene works" it has lots of details etc. I got all excited since I had a few challenge idea for kinder and made Sami up a cool shiny silver box and started putting a new challenge in it for her each morning for when she wakes up before me. She LOVES it and now three weeks later I'm conpletely out of ideas. it has to be stuff that fits in the box and that she can figure out without me. So far I have done: A magnetic puzzle coloring pages and crayons wipe off letter cards so she can practice handwriting math flash cards with blocks to match numbers w/quanity a new little book to read letter magnents for the fridge This is getting expensive and harder to think up ideas.. the stuff for older kids requires more reading than she is ready for without me right there. Any ideas for (preferably free) challenges for kindergarden level?
How about making pattern cards on blank index cards and she has to match beads or beans or buttons... big buttons and craft laces- she can spend a LONG time lacing them together in patterns, in colors, in shapes... Froot Loop necklace kits- a ziploc or plastic container of cereal, some cut pieces of yarn, and she can make edible necklaces for her friends in the neighborhood. (Teach washing hands at the same time!) Recipe cards for snack time: card #1: scoop 2 Tbsp instant pudding mix into a clear plastic cup (show picture of a cup with a spoon dumping powder in); card #2: Add 3 Tbsp milk, stir (show spoon in cup with motion lines at handle); card #3: top with whipped cream (pudding in cup with a little dollop of cream; card #4: Eat- show smiley face little girl! ** Use this to let her make her own bowl of cereal (pour some milk into a syrup pitcher or measuring cup and have it in the fridge for "her use"); or make her own sandwich (only adults like their peanut butter spread uniformly- if they do it they will eat it!!); or help with the laundry- cards to sort socks out, match up colors, etc... One day (with your help) she can color pictures on a whole index card. The next day, she could find the pieces of the card in her box and she gets to put together her own puzzles! I don't know if that is what you are looking for, but that is what I thought of at the moment! momx3
WOW those are awesome ideas! Thank you thankyou! I was getting so frustrated, I think it's cause school starts next week for the classes I teach and I have to turn in my lesson plans for thes semester, I've been stressing over that and this what that added thing to make me nuts. Those are way better ideas than what I've done so far .. I was afraid it was becomming a present a day box insted of a challenge for her a day. lol
You need to talk with Tina!!! She's a firm believer of keeping boxes on had of activities for younger ones to do! See if your library has the book "Work Jobs". It has all kinds of good ideas in it. I'm thinking it's all math, but am not sure. Another thing my son loves are magnetic tanagrams. He does them on the refridge. Once she's gone through all the boxes you have, let her pick the box she wants to work with. "It's Puzzle Time. Which puzzle would you like to do today?" You might want to keep track of which she does; you might find there's one in particular that she doesn't like, but you want her still reinforcing those skills. Another idea from a math book I have for practicing writing numbers: Make a "master" copy with numbers across the bottom and squares going up. Roll a number dice. Say it lands on 5. You write the number 5 in the first square above the 5. Keep doing this until one number "wins" by reaching the top. For a special treat, sort and graph candy (jelly beans, M&M's, etc.) When younger, mine liked cutting up empty cereal boxes.
OH! Sorting buttons! Button boxes are VERY VALUABLE items! They can be sorted all different ways...number of holes, size, color, etc. You can put them in piles of identical buttons. When I was student teaching deaf preschoolers, I had a child who was difficult to test because of her low language. One day, she sat down with my buttons and pulled out six identical ones. AH-HA!!! She knew "same" and "different"!!! Also patterning. Cut a strip of tagboard, about a foot long, and glue shapes or colors on it in an A-B pattern. In the bag, have other shapes cut out; have her continue the pattern. You can make your patterns as comlicated as your kid can do!
One idea I have and it may have been said already is too take old cards or cereal boxes and cut them apart into puzzle shape pieces and give them to her to put back together. Can be as hard as you make them?
get some "fun foam shapes" you have lots of options with theese, one day you can give her a little baggie full and a glue stick with a piece of construction paper, let her make a picture out of the shapes, one day let her have a baggie of shapes, and set a pattern glued to a sheet of paper, draw a few lines for her to fill in the pattern with. punch a hole in some shapes (or find the foam beads) and let her lace them on yarn for a necklace (first put a piece of scotch tape on the ends of the yarn so it doesn't fray). If you get other foam shapes let her make a fall picture with leaves and pumpkins, or glue them on a cereal box frame ( you cut a frame shape from box). One day you can give her some stickers ( I keep a box of all kinds of stickers and cut a few from different sheets) and let her make a sceene, ocean, forest, desert, give her some crayons to color in the trees and waves and so on. give her a white sheet of construction paper, and a white crayon. when you wake up let her paint on the paper so she can see her magical crayon. Give her a sheet of card stock and fold it, and a few stickers and write I Love You on a seperate sheet of paper, so she can coppy it and make a card for any one she wants. (she will probably give it to you). Give her some old crayons with out the paper on them, give her a pencil sharpener and a cup, draw a picture of girl sharpening crayon over cup, when you wake up take crayon shavings and press them in between wax paper. Give her card stock cut in 3 inch by 8 inch paper and some stickers so she can make some book markers, if you think she can handle it, punch holes in them first and let her tie the yarn on them. put some bread in a baggie, give her some cookie cutters to cut shapes, when you get up spread with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and put on sheet pan and broil in oven. Playdough or clay. Cut a large gingerbread shape out of fun foam, give her glue stick and bits of fabric, ric-rac, light buttons, google eyes, etc.. coloring page that has the paint on them and some q-tips, and small dixie cup for her to fill with water. memory game cards, or give her 20 metal frozen juice can lids (saved for a while) and 10 stickers with 10 matching stickers for her to put one sticker on each lid to make own game. small wooden blocks or legos. the day before show her how to do crayon rubbings, on the next day put some objects in her discovery box, and some paper and a peeled crayon. Hope these are some ideas you can use.
These ideas are all awesome! I will probably use most of them since she so loves her shiny silver box. up to now I've been leaving the same activity for three days or so just so I could have time to get more ideas but She gets bored doing the same thing again. Now I can rotate it everyday as I origionally planned. Thank you all!
also, I just thought of this, does she watch blues clues? You could put her on a scavenger hunt, draw a picture of a place in your home, put that in her box, (don't forget to put a blue paw print on it, then when that clue leads her to the next place, she can find a new clue, and then that can take her to a nother clue, where she will find a surprize! maybe a juice pouch and a cereal bar, or a pencil or something like that. Maybe you can get a small blues clues note book, they sell them but on Nick Jr. you can print out the paw prints to do this with. you could make a new scavenger hunt once a week or once every other week.
