There is nothing I love more than setting up my reading table on Thursday afternoon in anticipation for math game day on Friday! What makes it even better is when I set out new seasonal games I've made for my class! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day this Friday and the kids had a blast with the shamrock and rainbow themed games!
In the past I have had kids rotate through game stations in predetermined groups. Recently I started something new. I partner students and allow them to come "check out" their first game from my kidney table. They play until they have completed the game, and then bring their game back to the table to exchange it for another game. It works really well! There is no noisy clean up or "switch" time and kids don't get bend out of shape because they didn't finish or get a turn to "win." Since I usually had kids switch partners with each rotation, the new system alleviates all of the arguing and "I don't have a partner" business. Children work with the same partner the whole time and I try to be sure kids have a new partner each week. We had great fun today!
My students loved the Lucky 17 (race to 17 cents) and Leprechaun Line Up (add number up to 17).
I also used an adorable game from TpT called Leapin' Leprechauns. My kids played doubles plus one with this game. I let them use chocolate candy (gold Rolo and gold almond Hershey's kisses) as game pawns. When the reached 100, I let them eat their piece of candy.
I have a great FREEBIE to share today. Paddy's Puzzles is a hundred board puzzle game that students can play together. Students choose a shamrock number to start with and then take turns filling in the rest of the numbers on each puzzle.
If you enjoy my freebie come check out my March Fun game pack on TpT. It includes 7 more ready to go games for your first graders! Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!
