• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Shop
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

teach mama logo

teach mama

helps families connect & build bridges between home & school, by amy mascott

  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

early literacy and math grid games: rainy day

home / reading / concepts of print / early literacy and math grid games: rainy day
537 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Today, on this rainy, cool, gray Monday, we rocked it with an oldie but goodie:Sunny-Rainy Grid Games. Or Rainy-Sunny Grid Games, depending on how you’re feeling or the weather outside.

We’ve played this game before, but not for a while, and last time we did, Maddy, Owen, and I played; today, Owen, Cora, and I played.

We were feeling tired and lazy after lunch and before rest time, so we plopped onto Owen’s floor, pulled out our Rainy Boards, and got counting.

  • Rainy-Sunny Grid Games: We’ve played grid games many times before, so Owen knows the ropes.

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Cora, on the other hand, is the queen of independent play. She could easily trump Maddy and Owen in time spent alone, playing with dolls, cars, or stuffed animals, so it takes more of an effort for me to ‘reel her in’ and get her interested in the games and activities that Maddy and Owen would drop almost anything to play.

I grabbed our sunny rainy grid games, which can be downloaded as a pdf here. It’s now one document with four boards: Easy Rainy, Tough Rainy, Easy Sunny, and Tough Sunny.

I also chose to use the shiny ‘jewels’ that Cora loves to play with, hoping that they might entice her to join in our game. You can use any markers you’d like–Foamies, Cheerios, stickers, M & M’s, or you could have your little one practice making X’s or O’s.

 

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.commulti-tasking Cora . . .
early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

I said, Cora and Owen, it’s a super day for Rainy Grid Games because it’s just so rainy outside. Let’s take a minute to do some counting and see who can fill their board first! We can use these beautiful glass beads to keep count for us.

With all grid games, the goal is to be the first person to have all of the pictures on the board covered with markers. Players do this by rolling dice, counting the number of dots on the side, and then covering that number of objects on their board. Objects have to be covered from left to right, top to bottom, just like the left-right return sweep in reading.

Cora played with the Easy Rainy board, and Owen and I used a Tough Rainy board. Cora dumped and re-played her board three times before Owen beat me by one, covering his board first. She was only somewhat into it; it took a lot of cheerleading on my part to be more interesting than her Lego guys.

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

early literacy and math grid games sunny rainy | teachmama.com

Hmmmmm. Just when I thought I had things down, my number three throws me for a curve in every which way. I’ll be reaching for all new things to get this little one rolling with us this summer, I can see it now. . .

I’m trying really hard to look back into our game boxes for some activities that will benefit–and interest–Cora, since she is ready to start taking some bigger steps into school readiness. I anticipate having to re-vamp what I have and searching for and creating different ways of getting her moving. What better reason to keep reading and researching on my part!? Give me a hand, my smart friends!

And just a re-posted fyi on why we love grid games:

Grid games as I’ve said before, are a super tool for teaching one-to-one correspondence which emergent readers need to understand that every single number and letter is important and that a group of letters is makes one word. Grid games also work on emphasizing the movement of left to right on a page and the return sweep–reading one whole line from start to finish before moving to the line below.

Math-wise, grid games work on counting–whether it’s dots on a die or a number on a card–and then translating that number to a specific amount on a page, or the number of objects that are covered by a game piece.

(And that’s why I’ll keep trying grid games now and again with my tiniest one!)

Want to throw in a Grid Game now and again? Here are just a few. Read on if you really want to know why Grid Games deserve some love:

  • Rainy-Sunny Grid Games
  • Open Grid Games (for stamps or stickers or letter practice)
  • Cats, Hats, and Pumpkins Grid Games
  • Bunny Grid Game

You May Also Like...

  • how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
    how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
  • valentine's day class party ideas, 2.0
    valentine's day class party ideas, 2.0
  • Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond
    Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond

About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:new for us friday: rhubarb pie
Next Post:questioning and critical thinking: guess who?

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

amy mascott profile blog

join the coolest club around:

  • About
  • Contact
  • disclaimer
  • terms of use
  • privacy policy
  • Site-Map

Instagram


our books

setting the stage for rock-star readers
raise a reader

Find Us On Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Helpful Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us On Instagram

View
Open
UMD Womenโ€™s Basketball ROCKS!! โค๏ธ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ–ค๐Ÿ€

We absolutely love watching you play, @terpswbb !

We love watching you perform, @marylandcheer !

And @mightysoundofmd we love your music and your hilarious signs! ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜ณ

See you in Greenville! 

#terpsbasketball #terpswbb #umd #familyfun #marylandcheer #umdfamily
View
Open
Tomorrow is St. Patrickโ€™s Day!

Are you ready? 

https://shop.teachmama.com/

#saintpatricksfun #stpaddysforkids #familyfun #classroomactivities #teachmamashop
View
Open
This is how we use the St. Patrickโ€™s Day Brain Teaser Scavenger Hunt! ๐Ÿ€

Super easyโ€”and makes kids work a little for their golden chocolates! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Grab them here: https://shop.teachmama.com/product/st-patricks-day-scavenger-hunt-4-pack/

<< Tag a pal who needs to know about this and would LOVE to use it with kids or students! >>

#stpatricksdayfun #saintpaddysday #stpaddysforkids #stpatsfun #linkinbio
View
Open
and then there were six
๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฆ๐ŸฆŠ๐Ÿฆ„๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ

thank you @thewoobles for giving my mind, heart, and hands something fun to do during a really challenging few months. 

#crochet #thewoobles #brainbreak #teachersanitysaver #shescrafty
View
Open
With great sadness, I'm writing to share that my brother-in-law, Jeff Mascott passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier this week--at home, surrounded by family and friends. 

The family is very grateful for the community's immeasurable help, encouragement, and prayers over the past several months since Jeff's diagnosis. 

Jeff's obituary will run this weekend in the Post: 
https://www.collinsfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Jeff-Mascott?obId=27420280&fbclid=IwAR2YTRooCyaLTikfjLeqF4gM-GaB1amZI2OmVl1VtKLUOjWj3Wo4URD8lC8#/obituaryInfo
View
Open
Flowers and a basket of @traderjoes faves are salve for a tired and weepy soul. ๐ŸŒท

Thankful for great, longtime friends ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

#itshardtobeahuman #thankfulheart #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs
View
Open
Almost 30 years of friendship!! I love these smart, beautiful, strong and creative women who walked with me through my early days of teaching. 

๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

Thank you, Wilde Lake High School, for bringing us together way back when. 

๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

Missed you, jigofjoy ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

#weareteachers #andoneprincipal #wildelake #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs #wildelakehs #teachersofinstagram #celebratewewill
View
Open
Today marks the 4th time in 3 weeks that I have had to hang new Kindness Reminders Tear-off Sheets! 

Makes my heart ๐Ÿฅฐ!! 

Some kids come by every day and give one to a new person. Others take a bunch for the week. One 2nd grade girl comes by evey morning to tell me who she gave hers to the day before. 

Every little bit helps, friend. And every interaction matters!

#kindnessrocks #adoormadeforme #teachersofinstagram #makeadifference
View
Open
Best crew for one of the best @terpswbb games weโ€™ve seen all season! 

And of course super job by @marylandcheer and @mightysoundofmd too! 

#terpswbb #terpsbasketball #familyfun #marylandcheer

Copyright © 2023 · teach mama media, llc · All Rights Reserved

537 shares