File Folder - Matching Coloured Bears
When I was on maternity leave the second time I didn’t want to go back to work. I didn’t want to deal with the stress of work requirements and daycare drop-off. I did it with my first born and working in an industry that works hard and plays harder, well it was tough.
I thought about opening my own daycare in the house. I even took a certificate program with Mothercraft while on leave. As you may have guessed, no, I didn’t open that daycare, though I have a whole new respect for those independant daycare operators. The course wasn’t a complete waste. I did learn how to organize the kids playspace so it was easier for them to access the toys they wanted and clean-up on their own. I also learned how to create inexpensive learning games for preschoolers and kindergarten kids. One of my favourites are the File Folder games.
File Folder Games
Quite simply, these are games you make that are easily stored in a file folder. Usually the file folder is the gameboard, for the lack of a better word. The idea is that these are activites the kids can take to the table and complete on their own. Activities that re-enforce previous learning.
We have two such games in our toy cupboard: Watermelon Numbers and Colour Bears.
Watermelon Numbers - the File Folder has watermelon shapes with various numbers of seeds in them. A separate batch of watermelon shapes have the actual numbers written. Kids then have to place the correct watermelon number on the correct watermelon seeds.
Colour Bears - The File Folder has a set of coloured bears with the names of the colours written on them. Then there is a separate set of coloured bears. Kids have to match the coloured bears up.
My kids love these. They can do them on their own and sometimes they’ll do them three or four times in a row. And because they are in a file folder, they are thin and easy to slip away in a drawer or cupboard.
I’ve only made two. I covered the folders and the separate pieces in clear drawer paper (which you can buy at the Dollarstore). This is much cheaper but just as good as laminating them.
If you are interested in creating your own File Folder games, you can find many online, but here are a few that I’ve bookmarked (in the hopes of creating before my kids get into high school):
Watermelon Numbers - matching actual numbers with corresponding dots
Flowers in Bloom - matching actual numbers with corresponding dots
Falling for Shapes - matching shapes on leaves
Icy Igloo Alphabet - matching letters of the alphabet on igloo ice blocks
You could follow these or make up your own. What are your ideas?
First we played with ThinkFun’s great logic game Rush Hour Jr (based on the popular Rush Hour game, but designed for kids 6 to 8). Checkout the review (and giveaway) in the Everything Mom review section.
Secondly my two oldest have been practicing letter recognition and order, math problems and basic skills such as following instructions, all on Adventure Island. Escape from Adventure Island is JumpStart’s newest venture in educational gaming on the Wii. Checkout the review, including video clips on what my kids think of the game.
My youngest daughter (2 yrs) and I had the opportunity to review the new 
Knowledge Adventure, the company behind the JumpStart educational computer games and the new JumpStart 3D Virtual World (
