Homemade Matching and I-Spy Game Using a Photocopier

Homemade games are even more appealing when kids are involved in the process of creating them.  When I invited my girls (3 years old) to make their own games, they were ecstatic.  They got a lot of creative freedom to choose their own objects, lay them out, and photocopy them.  I was not at all surprised that they really enjoyed playing the activities they created over and over.  Here's what we did ..

I gave each child a plastic tray and asked her to collect small toys and objects.  The only direction I provided were little suggestions like trying to include a variety of objects, finding objects that are not too large, etc..

We took their trays downstairs and the girls took turns arranging the items on the photocopier:

They really had a good time feeling like grown-ups and operating the machine by themselves.  The results were these activity sheets:

Then the girls took their new activity sheets along with their trays upstairs and played the matching games they had created:

They really worked hard at their activities and had a good time.  These mats could also be used for an I-Spy game, practicing phonemic awareness, learning shapes, numbers, and letters, and many more creative activities.  Best of all it didn't take any planning on my parts and used items we already had around.

I'll have to remember to use my photocopier more often to create activities for the kids - I can see it being a handy little tool that bridges the gap between hands-on manipulatives and worksheets.