Seven-year-old Emma invented this fun literacy game using the
valentines the kids got at school. It’s very simple: - Put all
the valentines (or cards with names on them, if your cruel
mother recycled your valentines – thankfully I have forgiving
children) into a bag or other container. - Reach in and pull out
a card, and write down that person’s name. - Put the card back,
reach in again. If it’s the same card, put a dot next to the
name. If it’s a different card, write down that name. - Repeat
until you randomly decide that the game is over. My kids learn a
lot through this simple game! For five-year-old Johnny, it’s a
lesson in reading and writing (that’s his list above). For
seven-year-old Emma, it’s more of a math game – a lesson in
statistics and things that skew results: larger cards get pulled
out more frequently, and if you don’t shake up your container
between turns you’ll pull the same cards out over and over,
because they are sitting on top. For three-year-old Lily, it’s a
lesson in basic sight word