7 Brain-boosting Games for Your Kids ...

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A simple game, but little ones love it! Take a variety of objects, and trace them on a sheet of paper. Objects to try include a fork, your keys, a cup, a small toy, a coin, a shoe, etc. Let your child match the object to the item you traced. Then, give your child a clean sheet of paper and let her trace the objects, and color them. For an older child, they might want to try drawing the objects by looking at your traced shape.

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A child who routinely goes to head start of pre-school may find it confusing when school is out for the summer. To help them keep a routine going, help them make a morning, and night board. Glue pictures of children playing, reading, eating, bathing, brushing their teeth, and other activities. Help your child glue them onto the board in order of what they do during the day. Turn it over and do the same on the back to demonstrate a night routine. This will give your child something to do until school starts back.

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Use sidewalk chalk and write the alphabet and numbers in all over your driveway of sidewalk. Call out a letter or number. Your child has to race the letter before you can count to 10.

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Each player begins with a sheet of clean paper and a marker. Players need their own color marker. Set a timer for 30 seconds and draw. At the buzz, players must pass their paper to the left, turn the paper on its side, and start drawing. Play continues until each player has drawn on every paper.

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Using empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls, you can make a racetrack for marbles. Let the kid decorate the tubes with stickers and construction. Cut a slot in the tubes with a knife. Stick a strip of self-adhesive magnets to the back of each tube and arrange them on the refrigerator. Now, let the kids race the marbles through the tubes. You can place a small cardboard box on the floor to catch the marbles.

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Take an old pizza box, clean, and cover with contact paper. Use a black marker and draw a circle in the middle and a goal on each end. To play, distribute a straw to each player, place a marble in the center circle (or a cotton ball works) and let the play begin. Each player needs to blow the marble or cotton ball into his or her own goal.

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“It” writes a secret list of 10 objects found in the room in which you are playing. The list should be typical items, such as a cup, tennis shoe, a toy car, etc. Each player then has 2 minutes to collect the items. For every item a player fids that was the list, he or she gets a point. The one with the most points gets to be “it.”

Do your kids have a favorite game they like to play? Share it with us!

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