Educational Games to Play Outdoors

Here in this dyslexia blog are some ideas about educational games to play outdoors in the summer :

Schools in Turkey will soon start the long 3 month summer holiday .In the summer kids will naturally spend more of their time outdoors playing. Dyslexic kids certainly benefit from a break from school; however in order not too forget skills learnt ;it is important that children undertake some learning activities on a regular basis.

One interesting approach, is to practice maths and literacy skills outside, through physical games . This approach encourages both sides of the brain to work, as the one side focuses on the physical movements and the other side has to come up with the answers. Also adding movement makes learning seem like more fun.

Running games
Carol Goodrow, who was trained as an Orton Gillingham Tutor, specializing in learning disabilities ,has an interesting site called Kids Running.com. It includes outlines of a number of different educational running games children can play such as :

Get even
Fractions
Sight word scramble
Run to Spell

Also she suggests cutting up maths worksheets and clipping them onto clipboards.Kids then run to the clipboard and do the problem after finally running back with their finished work to have it checked. You could test grammar,spellings etc using the same approach.

The games are designed for whole classes to do but you could adapt them .

http://www.kidsrunning.com/krschoolgames.html


Ball Games
You can shout out an adjective to your child while throwing a ball to them .Your child will then give the correct synonym or antonym and throw back the ball .
You could adapt this game to practice all sorts of grammar points eg different tenses, It could also be used to test maths skills eg multiplication , addition etc.The options are endless.

Pavement Chalk Maths
Get your child to solve problems on the pavement instead of on paper to make it more fun.

Maths hopscotch.
Put numbers into hopscotch squares. Call out a problem in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division etc and have your child hop to the two numbers in the problem and then the answer. ( NB :make sure numbers are accessible to each other).

Times Table Aerobics
Choose a times table you want to practice with your son or daughter .Decide with your child on some aerobics movements to do eg jogging on the spot , touching toes , twisting from side to side etc.
After your child can chant their tables while completing the aerobics moves.

Maths Twister
Adapt your twister game by putting numbers on your Twister board. After you can make up problems for your child to solve eg 5x 8, 5+ 8 etc
Make it harder or easier depending on the age or level of your child .

If you don’t have Twister you could make your own from 20 A4 pages joined together with the numbers 1-20 clearly written on them (place them in 4 rows of 5).The children are then told instructions such as " Put your left foot on the answer of 3 add 5" and so on Repeat until the child has 2 feet and hands on the numbers.

Flash card games -Make up two different sets of coloured flash cards to make a matching card game eg opposites, fractions and decimals etc etc.
Tie some string strategically around your garden. After use clothes pegs to attach the flash cards to the string. Have your child find the matching cards.

Make up a treasure hunt – write some problems on cards for your child to solve and also explain where the next clue can be find – If you child gets the right answers give a small reward or treat in the end.

On the Wirral Learning Grid there is a very useful booklet giving suggestions of maths games “Some Activities for the Kinaesthetic Learner in Primary Education”
It is geared for classroom use but some of the games could be adapted.

www.wirral-mbc.gov.uk/maths/index.asp

Here are some other sites which give practical ideas for teachers to integrate physical activity into lessons:

www.activeacademics.org

This site is from the North Carolina Physical Education Dept - It contains Primary and Middle School Energizers.

www.ncpe4me.com

For some Kinesthetic Language Learning ideas from
Susan Kramer : Learning Disabilities Site : Bella Online go to :

www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14894.asp

In Turkey lessons are generally conducted in a traditional manner.Children are required to sit still in their seats for long hours. It would be good however if teachers could in-corporate some physical activity into their lessons in order to re-vitalize students and aid learning. Many of the approaches good for kids with learning disabilities are also beneficial to ALL kids.... We drastically need a change in attitude towards learning in Turkish schools ............

Parents and teachers be creative and make up your own ideas !!

CHRISTMAS GAMES TO HELP LANGUAGE AND MEMORY

Here are some Christmas games to help develop language skills and improve your dyslexic child’s memory.

Christmas is a great time for having fun and playing games.In additon you can help your child to improve their language skills and memory ..

Try playing 'Father Christmas came down the chimney and brought me.....'

This game is a bit like 'My grandmother went shopping....'. You take it in turns to add a new present each time.
One person might say "Father Christmas came down the chimney and brought me a doll " and the next person must remember what Father Christmas has already brought and add something new eg "Father Christmas came down the chimney and brought me a doll and a car".
You can see you many things your child can remember !


How about playing a game of Guess What?

This will help children listen to information in sentences and use clues to help them understand.

Cut out some pictures of Christmas objects from old magazines (or you could use real objects) and arrange them on the table. . Tell the children that you are thinking about one of the things and give them some clues to help them work out which one you are talking about. Give them clues about what type of thing it is, what it is made of and what it can do. Can they guess which object you were thinking of? How many clues did it take? You can let children take a turn too to see if they can give the clues to you.

You could make up a Christmas story together ..

Choose your characters such as a snowman , Father Christmas etc and then take turns to add one sentence at a time to see where your story ends up.

Game ideas care of I CAN

http://www.ican.org.uk

ONLINE MEMORY GAMES

In the previous blog article about memory games I mentioned that often dyslexic children have issues concerning memory.Most children, of course, enjoy playing online games .Here are some your child can play to help to them improve their memory skills :

Brain Connection is an online source of information about the brain and learning for educators, parents, students and teachers .

If you look at the left hand column you can click on “games”. There are a number of good games for children including bumper cows. This is a game to test working memory.You have to remember and repeat a sequence of sounds and colours.

http://www.brainconnection.com/

Neuroscience For Kids - Has games to test memory eg “Simon says” - memory game.
Really good site for children.

If you type in "Neuroscience for Kids " in google you can find this site.


Memory lights
Memory lights is a sequential memory building game.The computer lights up a sequence of lamps and you need to repeat the sequence in the same order.

www.math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/kids_games/memory_lights.html

or type in “educational games for kids – memory lights – in google.

The Kids Page.com – contains free kids memory games online eg
shapes memory game(click the cards to match pairs of colored shapes) plus various other concentration games.

www.thekidzpage.com/freekidsgames/memorygames.htm

Eidectic games and puzzles :
Eidetic memory or photographic memory, is the ability to retain a highly detailed mental image of something not in sight.

http://www.ababasoft.com/
After click on the link for eidectic memory games

Memory Gym - memory games plus strategies to improve memory skills.
Games incluse : flashing Numbers - random numbers are automatically generated and flashed / spoken numbers / flashing playing cards and shapes etc

www.memorise.org/memoryGym.htm

Memory – Test your memory
Gives random letters/numbers etc and tests how many you can remember.

www.easysurf.cc/menu.htm

Remember to get your child to do these games on a regular basis – maybe for a short time each day.

MEMORY GAMES

Dyslexics often have problems with working memory and this can make learning difficult. Working memory is the part of the memory we use when we are told a phone number and keep it in our heads before writing it down . It is our capacity to store and manipulate information for brief periods of time.Working memory can be auditory and visual.

What can be done?
You can try to improve poor working memory by using various games to develop memory skills Here are some examples of games you could try with your child.

Auditory memory

“I went to the shops and bought….”
This is a classic memory game where each person adds a new item to the list in alphabetical order.
For example, : “I went to the shops and I bought an apple”. 2nd person: “I went to the shops and I bought an apple and a bike”. First person: “I went to the shops and I bought an apple, a bike and a coat”. Etc etc…
Dyslexic students may have more trouble remembering which letter comes next rather than the object.

I went on my holidays - and in my suitcase I packed..........."
The child lists an object and the next person has to repeat the previous names and then add his or her own, and so on. You can either go through the alphabet - or objects at random - and you can add adjectives to each object as well.

The digit span game (remembering numbers forwards & backwards.)
Get your child to listen carefully as you say some numbers. Start with two digit numbers and build up slowly.
Eg 786 839/ 4578 9345 / 23451 59431
When you have finished, ask your child to say them.
Digits should be given at the rate of one per second.
Also you can ask your child to repeat some numbers backwards eg 56 98

You could also try this with nonsense words with the same amount of syllables eg za-me, pe-sa,

Instruction game
The purpose of this game is to increase your child's ability to remember instructions that are given to him/her.If you.play this game often it can help to improve your child's short term memory .
The game's object is to see how many commands the child can successfully complete. Start off with say 3 commands – “ bring me your maths book , second, put your t-shirt in the laundry basket, bring me a glass of water ”
If the child is able to do all commands give him/her lots of praise.
Next, give the child four commands.
Keep playing the game until the child forgets one of the commands.
When the child forgets one of the commands, finish playing the game for that day.Keep a record of the number of commands completed successfully. Next time the goal will be for the child to improve on their score.
Play the game for short periods in order to keep the game fun. You can add incentives to get the children to enjoy playing it. For example, you could say that if they managed to carry out a certain no of instructions, they could get some kind of treat .

Visual Memory
"Kim's Game" where you look at a tray of objects for a minute and then see what you can remember. Increase the number of items to make it harder.

Other ideas include showing a sequence of items and then mix them in with a number of others before asking the child to select the ones they saw and arrange them in the order they were originally shown in.

Another idea is to cut a colour picture out of a magazine,, and ask the child to look at it closely for one minute. Then remove it and ask them questions about the picture.

Make two sets of identical flash cards to make a concentration/memory game. They could be pictures or words etc . Variations : You could use letters of the alphabet eg capital and lower case letters. Fractions – visual representation and written form of fractions. etc

Have your child lay the cards on a table in rows, in a face down position.
Your child turns over a card, then they flip over a second card.
If the two cards are the same, they’ve found a match.They can set aside their pair and go again. However, if the two cards are not a match, your child turns them face down again.
Repeat this process until all of the cards have been matched.
This game can be played with more than one person.


Simple Simon says…. “Touch your toes” .. can be used with visual or auditory instructions.
The child or children must do what “Simon” tells them to do when asked with a phrase beginning with "Simon says". If Simon says "Simon says jump", the player or players must jump (players that do not jump are out).
However, if Simon says simply "jump", without first saying "Simon says", players do not jump; those that do jump are out.

For lots of good memory game ideas - go to Neuroscience for Kids . If you type in "Neuroscience for kids " in google you will find this site.

GAME : JUMP ON IT

Jump On It! : Educational Game

I have mentioned before that educational games are a very useful way to get your child to learn , especially if they are dyslexic. Games are a welcome relief from studying from textbooks !! Here below is another example of a game I have played with my own child. He enjoyed it so much he wanted to play it again !!

Copy the syllables or words you want your child to practice on cards.

Make a second set of cards with the same syllables or words etc.

Scatter one set face up on the floor, leaving space between each card.

Place the other set face down.

Turn over the first card in the pile.

Have your child read the syllable /word and then jump on the corresponding card on the floor. Turn over the next card and have your child read it and jump to that word.

Continue until your child has jumped on all of the words. Mix the cards up and play again!

This game is good as it involves a lot of physical activity which makes it more fun !!

You can adapt this game and use it to help your child to learn other things- for example,
Multiplication ( one set of cards with eg 6 x6 written on it , another set with the answers eg 36 ) .
Time – ( 12 and 24 hr clock – e.g. 19.00 ,other card 7pm ).

Synonyms / opposites etc – eg hot / cold etc etc.

FORMULATOR TARSIA

FORMULATOR TARSIA- MAKE PUZZLES , DOMINOES ETC

Dyslexic children can benefit highly by playing educational games to help them to learn.Children ,after spending all day at school learning from textbooks and completing worksheets, don’t want to do more of the same thing when they get home at night. !! As a result, school subjects need to be presented in a different format and in a more fun way; in order to stop the child from being bored.They are more likely to learn as a result of a different approach.In this blog we will try to give parents some ideas they can try with their child.

Formulator Tarsia, from the Hermitech Laboratory is a free programme that can be downloaded. It a really great programme and I recommend parents and teachers try it. It is designed to create maths problems, but it can also be used for other subjects as well.I have used to test maths eg addition , subtraction, time etc as well as for Turkish eg opposites, synonyms. It doesn't have some of the Turkish letters - like Ç, Ö, Ü etc but I still think you can use it effectively.

Once downloaded and installed, it is relatively simple to use, you can choose from different types of puzzle, jigsaw, dominoes and card.

When you have chosen your puzzle type, you can type in the contents for your puzzle, this is in the input screen, when you have completed one field, click on the next number in the sidebar and a new input field will appear.

You can check your puzzle contents by clicking the table tab at the bottom of the screen.

Clicking on the output tab will reveal the puzzle that students will be given,of course, you could cut these up before you give it to your child but the puzzle will already be unsorted.

Clicking on the solution tab will reveal the solution to your puzzle

You can save your puzzle by pressing the disc icon, ,

You can insert images: to insert images, in the input screen, click on the image icon at the top of the screen..

If you would like to download the free Tarsia software so you can make your own puzzles, visit
http://www.mmlsoft.com/ go to downloads ( Tarsia Formulator )


For examples of puzzles see :
http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/jigsaw.htm

http://www.mathsnet.net/jigsaw/gallery.html

This site has a lot of ready prepared puzzles but they are for secondary level ( orta okul ) :

http://www.mathedup.co.uk/index.htm