Gateway Regional School District
Recıpes for Success
Joanne Blocker, Director of Academics
FEBRUARY 2013
Practical Activities to Help Your Child Succeed
MEMORY
Silly Salad
MATH
Roll ’Em!
This quick-thinking gam
e will let your child practi
ce
finding and working with
hidden numbers.
Ingredients: a pair of dic
e
Explain to your youngst
er that the dots on oppo
site sides of a die always
add up to 7. Then, take
turns rolling a pair of dic
e to see
who can add the unseen
sides together the fastes
t. Example: If a player rolls a 4 an
d a 6, the hidden numb
ers
would be 3 (7 – 4) and
1 (7 – 6). The total would
be
4 (3 + 1). On each roll,
the first player to shout
out the
correct total gets one po
int. Play 10 rounds. The
player
with the highest score wi
ns.
Variation: Older children
can use three dice
or multiply the
hidden numbers.
WEIGH
T
A newbo
rn
about 24 elephant weigh
s
0 pound
s
how ma
ny of he . Ask your child
r it would
equal an
ta
e
weigh he lephant’s weigh ke to
t. Let he
rself, and
r
help h
her weig er divide
ht
Also, ha into 240.
ve
pare an her comele
weight to phant’s
other
objects.
For exam
ple, how
m
bags of s any 5-lb.
u
a baby e gar equal
lephant?
Just hang your Recipes poster on
the refrigerator and sneak in an
activity when you have a few
minutes. These fun activities will
help develop school success and
positive behavior. Check off each
box as you complete the “recipe.”
Build your youn
gs
with an imagin ter’s memor y skills
ar y salad.
Ingredients: m
emor y
The object of th
is game is to be
th
remembers the
longest list of sa e one who
lad ingredients.
To begin, have
your child nam
e something th
go in a salad (l
at
ettuce). You sa
y a second ingr could
and repeat wha
edient,
t she named (t
omatoes and le
She adds anothe
ttuce).
r ingredient an
d repeats the w
list (chickpeas,
hole
tomatoes, lettuc
e).
Keep going un
til one of you ca
n’t remember th
items already lis
e
ted or can’t thin
k of another in
ent. Let the win
gr
ner choose a ne
ediw topic, such as
school supplie
s.
VOCABULARY
Antonym Bingo
N
OBSERVATIO
gster’s observaTest your youn
rubaking a crayon
tion skills by m
on.
per from a cray ,
ey
bing. Peel the pa
(k
l small objects
Then, get severa
r
ve it
choose one, co
coin). Secretly
over
paper, and rub
the
with a sheet of
of
it with the side
ur
crayon. See if yo e
s th
child can gues
e
object and mak
at
a rubbing th
matches yours.
Refrigerator Poster
his
onyms, or opposites, and boost
Help your child learn about ant
vocabulary.
l, pennies
Ingredients: paper, pencils, bow
narrow).
osites (freeze and thaw, broad and
Together, think of 25 pairs of opp
with five rows
each player by drawing a grid
Then, make a game board for
per box) and
erent words on each grid (one
and five columns. Write 25 diff
l.
paper. Place the slips in a bow
their opposites on 25 slips of
ord from the bowl, finding its opp
To play, take turns drawing a wo
g it with a penny.
site on your board, and coverin
ze, he would
Example: If a player chooses free
er five
put a penny on thaw. To win, cov
,
ally
rtic
words in a row first (ve
).
ally
gon
horizontally, or dia
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated • 128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630 • 540-636-4280 • [email protected] • www.rfeonline.com
Recıpes for Success
Practical Activities to Help Your Child Succeed
READING
Faraway Lands
te stories.
” the settings of his favori
Let your youngster “visit
et
a travel guide, or the Intern
Ingredients: storybooks,
has never
ry that is set in a place he
Have your child pick a sto
e)
nk takes
e Thief Lord (Cornelia Fu
visited. For example, Th
ation about
en, ask him to find inform
place in Venice, Italy. Th
rching the
ough a travel guide or sea
the location by looking thr
Internet.
in the setms, foods, and festivals
sto
cu
t
ou
ab
d
rea
r,
he
get
To
asking
plan an imaginary trip by
er
gst
un
yo
ur
yo
lp
He
g.
tin
there?” and
t would you want to see
ha
“W
e,
lik
s
ion
est
qu
him
r?”
er be like this time of yea
“What would the weath
ION
ESTIMAT
cereal
tainer with sk
n
o
c
r
a
le
c
Fill a
and a
all objects,
or other sm estimate how
to
your child are inside.
s
e
c
ie
p
many
her count
lp
e
h
,
Then
Let her
the items.
ifferent con
choose a d imate how
est
tainer and
cts
e same obje at one.
th
f
o
y
man
th
p
u
te.
ke to fill
it would ta t to check her estima
n
u
She can co
FEBRUARY 2013
SYMMETRY
Kaleidoscopes use mirrors
to make images that are
symmetrical (with mirrorimage halves). Here’s how
your child can make his
own kaleidoscope picture.
Have him fold a paper plate in half
and draw a design on one half. He can
place the plate with the folded edge
at
an angle in front of a mirror to see the
“whole” picture.
E
LANGUAG
h
ing game wit
Play this rhym p him hear sounds in
hel
can see
your child to
item that he
an
k
ic
P
n’t tell
words.
o
d
ample), but
(a mug, for ex y, “My
is. Sa
him what it
with rug.”
es
ym
rh
object
swers corWhen he an
choose an
rectly, let him you a
ve
object and gi
e.
u
cl
g
rhymin
Congratulations!
We finished
activities together on this poster.
Signed (parent or adult family member)
Signed (child)
Chaorrancetrer
C
■ FRIENDSHIP
Talk about what makes someone a good friend
(sense of humor, caring for others). Then,
read a book together, and ask your youngster
which character she would like as a friend and
why. Finally, let her tell you three qualities that
make her a good friend.
■ CONTROLLING ANGER
When your child gets angry, have him
write a “mad memo.” He can “lose his cool”
on paper by writing how he feels in capital
letters and with exclamation points until he
feels better. When he’s calm, talk about what
made him angry.
■ PEACEFULNESS
Together, brainstorm activities that are peaceful and not so peaceful. For example, watching
the sun set is peaceful, but watching an action
movie isn’t. Suggest that your youngster fill
a sheet of paper with drawings or magazine
pictures of peaceful activities. Then, encourage
her to make it a point to do
something peaceful every day.
SOCIAL
STUDIE
S
Ask your
youngster
to name
ways peo
ple
one place get from
to
(cars, walk another
in
How man g, camels).
y can he
think of?
For older
ch
list to a s ildren, limit the
ing
transport le categor y of
ation, suc
ha
mals or th
ings with s aniwheels.
© 2012 Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated • 128 N. Royal Avenue • Front Royal, VA 22630 • 540-636-4280 • [email protected] • www.rfeonline.com • ISSN 1540 -5664