File Folder Games

In an attempt to keep my kiddos a little quieter during our weekly church meetings, I decided to make some file-folder games. These were a lot of fun to do, and I look forward to finishing the rest of them! Here is how I did it....

Supplies Needed:

(1) File folder game books (or come and borrow mine. I've already paid for it, so save yourself some money!) They can also be found online.

Copies of the games, colored and cut out.

File Folders (I cut mine down to fit my laminating sheets. If you plan on taking your folders to Kinkos or somewhere to laminate, you can leave them full-size.)

Glue or tape (to attach the sheets to the folder)

(Above) The supplies gathered and ready to go!)

This particular game is a rhyming game. They need to match the pictures up with words that rhyme. (Car/Star, Tie/Pie, etc.)Once your papers are mounted on the folder, simply laminate.

**Spotlight Review. I have this WONDERFUL laminating machine that I received as an early birthday gift from my hubby. It is called the "Your Story" machine. Not only does it laminate, but it also binds books!!! Let me tell you that it has been the BEST thing ever! I have had SOOO much fun with it. If you ever need to laminate some things, give me a call!After laminating all the pieces, simply cut out. Using velcro or magnets, attach small pieces to both the file folder and on the "game" pieces.

We plan on taking a few of these in the car for our Disneyland trip. I hope the kiddos like them!

Puzzle Pockets

Some of you might have seen this on my Facebook page awhile back, but I thought this would be a better place to file it. :o)

Puzzles are a HUGE hit at our house, but keeping the pieces together is a chore. To remedy this, I used some felt and my sewing machine to make a pocket to store the pieces in.

Step One.
Measure your puzzle. Cut two pieces of felt to fit on the back of the board.
Make one piece 2 inches larger than the other. This will allow room to make the "flap" on the pocket.

Step Two.

Sew around the felt making a pocket. I used velcro to fasten my pocket. Make sure to leave a pleat in the fabric when sewing to allow proper room for the pieces to fit.
Using tacky glue, place the pocket on the back of the puzzle. Allow to dry overnight.

Step Three.

Once puzzle is dry, open pocket and place pieces inside!

Easy-peasy! These pockets have been a sanity-saver for this mommy. My kids know that they are expected to place all of the pieces back into the pocket when they are finished playing. We haven't lost a puzzle piece in months! Hurray!

FHE Scavenger Hunt

One of our yearly goals is to hold a Family Home Evening for our children once a week. We usually try for Monday nights, but is doesn't always end up that way. :o) I have collected several Family Night books over the past six years, but we seem to have the most fun with lessons that I come up with in a pinch. (For a GREAT resource tool for families with young children, check out my previous post on the new Nursery Manual! We use this 2-3 times a month and the kids love it!)

Well, picture this if you will... It is 3:00pm on a Monday night. I haven't thought about dinner options, let alone a Family Night lesson. My children are sleeping (which is a RARE occurrence to get all three napping at once) and I am beginning to feel desperate. Thinking back to the previous week's FHE Lesson, I remembered how wild the kids were inside when it was so nice outside.

Alright, everyone see the picture??

My solution? I picture scavenger hunt! I quickly grabbed my camera and made my way inside, outside, upstairs and downstairs taking pictures of different objects. I then came inside and printed the pictures wallet size. Using my "quick-thinking" mode, I came up with little moral lessons for each object I had photographed. Here are a few examples....Clue #1. Our NASTY garden box!
We talked about "Following the Prophet" in his counsel to become self-reliant. We also talked about what we could do as a family to prepare our garden for the upcoming planting season.
Clue #2. Our Piano.
We talked about having good, uplifting music in our homes and cars. We sang a few of the kiddos favorite songs and hymns as a family.

Clue #3. The Mailbox.
We talked about how we can communicate with loved ones through the mail. We then referenced it to how prayer is communicating with our Heavenly Father and that we should do it often. We had the children color pictures for the grandparents and we sent them out in the mail the next day.

These are just a few of the 10 clues we had the kids find. Our last clue sent the kids to the temple picture in our front room. We then talked about how families can be together forever and the importance of temples. Behind the picture we hid $10.00. We then took the money and drove to Farr's Ice cream (which is across the street from the Ogden Temple,) and had a yummy FHE treat while enjoying talking about the temple.

Our children thoroughly enjoyed this activity, as did my husband and I. It was a BLAST because they didn't need to be able to read in order to participate and find the clues. You could use this same idea for days when the kids are restless and bored!

Board Book: Part Two

I have gotten quite a few questions about the board book project that I posted previously. I must admit, it is taking me a lot longer than I had anticipated due to the fact that I must work on the pages during nap time (which is almost non-existent in our home right now.)

SO, to help answer your emails, here is what I am doing with the board books: I-Spy books for Christmas. Here is a preview of some of the pages for the book.

These photos are a 7x7 format, so they will fit nicely on the board book pages. Since my boys can't read on their own and I want these books to be "quite books," I decided to use pictures for the finding page, rather than words. Below is the second page for the book. I'll post more photos as I finish them. I am doing a "toys" page, a "lego" page, a "book page" and many more! Hope this inspires you to find a use for the blank board books. Enjoy!

Reading Flashcards

With school quickly approaching, my mind has shifted to learning activities for my children. My boys love reading books and looking at pictures. In an attempt to help them recognize words, I made some photo flashcards for them to play with.

Using my camera, I took some pictures to include on the cards. Using a photo editing software, I added the word below each picture. I then printed them on photo paper. You can also put a ring through them to secure.

Here are a few examples of the cards I made. Keep in mind that my boys are really young, so I stuck with 3 and 4 letter words. If your child is older, you can choose any words you'd like.

FHE Baggies and Treasure Hunt

When Nick and I were first married, I loved making "family night baggies." I would take a quart-sized ziploc bag and place our family night lessons inside. Each baggie would have the words to a hymn, scripture references, a fun activity and treat ideas. We would then trade baggies with other newly married couples in our ward. It made for a fun quick family night that needed little planning. I am now going to begin making family night baggies to go with our lessons out of the Church Nursery Manual. I hope you find inspiration in all you do!

Treasure Hunt:

Using a sturdy paper, such as card stock, cut out 15 circles, or any shape you'd like. Print or hand write the clues on each shape. (looking back on my original cards, I would make them a whole lot better this time around. I would use colorful paper, type the clues directly on the circles, rather than glue them and add some fun embellishments. Be creative and have fun with it!)

Here are the clues that I used for our treasure hunt. You can change or omit any you'd like.

CLUES

Clue #1. Look under...Mark 4:38

Clue #2. Look in a...Genesis 49:4 (last word)

Clue #3. Look on a ...Matthew 5:38 (last word + brush)

Clue #4. Look in a... Psalms 60:8

Clue #5. Look in a...Alma 42:6

Clue #6. Look on the...D&C 136:12 (thing after 4th word) + Abraham 3:2 (28th letter)

Clue #7. Look on a...Proverbs 7:6

Clue #8. Look on a...John 10:2

Clue #9. Look in a...Luke 5:7 (last word)

Clue #10. Look in a...Ezekiel 34:26

Clue #11. Look high up in the...2 Nephi 15:10

Clue #12. Look in a...Zechariah 14:21

Clue #13. Look under the...Romans 11:19

Clue #14. Look in a...3 Nephi 12:40

Clue #15. Look under a...1 Nephi 1:7

At the end of the treasure hunt, you can put any type of prize you'd like. When we did this the first time, I put all of the ingredients to make brownies at the end so we could bake a family night treat. You can choose anything that will fit your families needs. Have fun!