If you’ve followed me for a while now, you’ll know that my games and activities aim to be quick and easy to set up, using minimal resources. The resources that I use are usually the things that I have at home too so that I don’t have to go out buying lots of things unnecessarily. So this blog is a Top of the Pops style run down of my top 5 resources to have at home or school so you can play loads of different maths and English games easily!
There are loads of games you can play with kitchen roll tubes and empty pots. I don’t keep loads but just the odd few that I can adapt and then use over and over. Both of these things are great for:
Games to play with kitchen roll tubes/pots:
Phoneme Post Box
Expanding Vocabulary
Comparing Fractions Pong
Multiples of 10 Bowling
It’s worth buying one pack of cups as I’ve come up with lots of games using these and they can be reused over and over again. Similar types of games as with kitchen roll tubes and pots but they are also good for sorting games. I’ve shared some below:
Domino Run
Rounding Cups
Pronoun Cup Game
I have used Post-it notes for so many games and they are definitely always in my resource box. You can buy lots of fancy ones but I normally just go to B and M or The Range and buy a pack for £1 and they last for ages. They are great for hands-on, active learning and are so versatile.
I’ve got loads of different ideas on my website for how to use these but I’ve selected a few for you to take a look at below:
Three In A Row Grammar Game
Punctuation Tic Tac Toe
Picture/Spelling Reveal
Post-it Tables
I’m sure you all have a board game at home with at least one dice in it but if not, I would definitely recommend buying a couple (again really cheap online). I would also recommend making your own blank cardboard dice as I have used mine over and over for different games. I add sticky labels to each face of the dice which means I can then adapt it for maths and English games. I’ve got a free download of the net here if you wanted to print it out on card and make one to use for your own games.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Punctuation Dice
Prediction Line
Dice Spelling
Times Table Tower
Milk bottle tops are my all time favourite resource and a must to start collecting, if you don’t already. Give them a wash and grab a Sharpie pen and you can make your own letter and number counters that can be used again and again for different games. I’ve also covered them in foil before and then you can write on them with a whiteboard pen and rub it off when you’ve finished. If you have different types of milk, its great to collect the different coloured lids as they make great place value counters.
I’ve already used milk bottle tops for so many games but here are a few that I really like to play:
Proofreading Punctuation
Flip Them Over
Shove Ha’penny Rounding Numbers
So five easy to collect or cheap to buy resources that will last you ages, can be reused again and again and will enable you to set up so many English and maths playful learning games at home or at school.
