I am blessed to have the Learning Resources send me a box of something every once in a while to check out with my kiddos. This last box was no exception. I have to say, they really hit a home run with their new Mental Blox Activity Set.
In this bright colored box are 20 colorful, fun 3D shaped blocks to challenge, engage and fascinate your students. My own 5 and 6 year old were immediately intrigued with what they could do with these fun blocks.
There are also 20 double-sided picture cards included that pose building challenges. At first, the boys just looked at the pictures to see who could make theirs mirror it first. Then, I hid the pictures and only gave them verbal cues to make the structure. When they had theirs built, I would show them the picture to see how close they got to the real thing. Finally, I had them describe structures to build to each other. Wow! That was a huge challenge, but man was it fun!!! You can really see how this activity can build verbal skills and increase visual discrimination.
The cards also have questions in addition to the pictures where can create more challenge and extend the activity.
I really love this product. It’s fun, engaging, students have to use strategy to meet balancing and building demand, it meets common core standards for speaking and listening (SL.K.3) and math (K.GA.1) and creates so much interest that little people don’t even realize that they’re learning.
Here’s the best part! They are letting me give a set of these wonderful building blocks to one of you. Get entered below before April 1st (no fooling) for your chance to win.
Also, if you happened to have purchased my Easter Dolch Word pack in the past, I did some spring cleaning and revamped the recording pages to include black and white as well as color, the entire 11 Dolch word lists and some better fonts. You will want to redownload it to get these up-dates. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can do so by clicking on the picture.
With more than 20 years of teaching experience, it is my pleasure to bring you my most favorite ideas and activities to keep young learners engaged and loving learning.
With nearly 20 years of experience as a full-time kindergarten teacher, I’m committed to creating a classroom where learning is joyful, engaging, challenging, and fun. Each day, I work to ensure that my students feel successful through instruction that considers their unique interests, learning profiles, and readiness levels. I believe that students should be excited to come to class and enjoy a myriad of hands-on activities that encourage exploration and discovery.
While I continue to teach full-time, I find so much joy in connecting and building friendships with teachers worldwide. It’s why I started this blog back in 2012. My hope has become a reality as I have been able to forge relationships with teachers, sharing ideas and building friendships beyond my little neck of the woods through professional development sessions and this blog.
So by all means, take some time to look around and explore A Differentiated Kindergarten. Gather some new ideas, fun tips, and most importantly, don’t forget to reach out and say, ‘Hi!’
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