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Falling Shapes

All parents have moments when they're home with their young child and the cute bundle of joy runs up to them and screams, "Play with me!" and the parent stands there drawing a blank. Mom looks around the room and can't think of anything to do. The child starts to get antsy and begins to whine. Finally mom decides to take the child shopping which in the end proves to be a bad idea.

Instead of enduring yet another shopping excursion, next time you could create your own game by using some simple items you can find in your home.

The educational game is called Falling Shapes.

Items needed:

4 pieces of paper (per 2 player)
2 pencils or pens
Crayons of any color

Instructions to Create Game Pieces

Create 32 Shape Cards:
Take 2 pieces of paper and cut them each into 16 squares. You will have 32 cards total, 16 per player. The easy way to do this is to fold the paper in half and cut on the fold line. Then fold again and cut and continue until you have 16 even pieces. Do the same with the second piece of paper.

Give each person 16 cards. You and your child should draw the following shapes on your cards. Only draw 1 shape per card. You should have 2 cards that have 1 square on each, 2 cards that have 1 circle on each and so on.

2 Squares
2 Circles
2 Ovals
2 Rectangles
2 Stars
2 Triangles
2 Hearts

Create Score Sheet:
Take the other 2 pieces of blank paper and draw the same shapes listed above on each sheet. There should be 16 shapes on each piece of paper. 2 Squares, 2 Circles etc The shapes can be drawn in random places as long as there are 16 total.

Have fun coloring your cards and score sheet before you play the game. This will allow you to spend more time on the project and enjoy doing a craft before playing.

Game Instructions

Place your individual score sheets in front of you and your child. Place a writing utensil on the table or floor next to both score sheets. Each player should hold the 16 shape cards in their hand. When you say, "Go" both you and your child should take the first card off the top of each of your card piles and hold that card above your heads. Then drop the card and watch it fall to the table or ground.

If a player's shape card lands with the shape up then they get a point and should circle or color that shape on their score sheet. If the shape lands face down then that player doesn't get a point. Place the dropped cards in a discard pile. Continue holding up and dropping each card and marking your score sheets. When you've dropped all 16 cards the game is over.

Winner

The player with the most shapes circled on the score sheet is the winner.

This game is fun for all ages and it's a great way to teach young children about shapes.
If you want to print this game instead of drawing it you can do this at http://www.learnthroughgames.c om. LearnThroughGames.com offers free, printable, educational games for children. It's fun for the entire family.

Learn more about this author, Kim Proulx.
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