• 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

sunny rainy grid games

home / math / counting / sunny rainy grid games
17 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Maddy asked me a few days ago if we could play more of those “bunny counting games” that we played a while back.

I said, Absolutely! and ran for the computer. I’m such a slave to my children’s learning (how could I not be excited when this stuff is so easy and fun?)

What Maddy meant was that she wanted to play grid games, and what she doesn’t know is that these games are super-awesome for teaching emergent readers about one-to-one correspondence and early math skills!

So, we’ve been trying to make our rainy afternoons a little more bright by playing some good ole-fashioned grid games:

  • Sunny Rainy Grid Games: I made several boards at different levels. I made an advanced sunny, easy sunny, advanced rainy, and easy rainy. Maddy, Owen, and I played the more difficult sunny several times before they wanted to switch to rainy. I wanted to have an easier board for Cora when we played later.

For grid games, all you need is the board, a die (or dice), and place markers. We used bingo chips this time, but in the past, we’ve used Foamies, stickers, Cheerios–you need a large quantity of anything small. Or, if you want to print off a few copies of the boards, you can have your little one work on writing, too, by drawing circles, squares, triangles, check marks, or x’s over each item.

Maddy and Owen on the more tricky rainy board. . .

The goal is to be the first person to have all of the pictures on the board covered. Players do this by rolling the dice, counting the number of dots on each die, and then covering that number of objects on the board. The objects have to be covered from left to right, top to bottom, the way words are read on a page, so that kiddos get in the habit of following the left-to-right return sweep.

Cora’s easy rainy board

Really, that’s all there is to grid games! Maddy and Owen were on a grid game kick for a few days, and even Cora got into the mix (though, at 2 years old, she really just likes to put bingo chips over each object); she’s just not ready for rolling the dice, counting the dots, and then placing them accordingly. And that’s fine with me.

I know I said this before, but here’s why grid games are so cool: Beginning readers need to understand that each letter has its own sound and each group of letters together is a word. They also need to know that they begin reading the words–one by one–from the left side of the page to the right. Sounds pretty basic, but it’s something that needs to be taught.

And what better way to teach it than by playing a game? Here’s to grid games!

Graves, M. F., Juel, C, & Graves, B.B. (2001) Teaching Reading in the 21st Century. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. (88-139)

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!

You May Also Like...

  • how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
    how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
  • Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond
    Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond
  • Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators
    Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators

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: « give plastic toys makeover | pimpin our cozy coupe pimpin’ our coupe
Next Post: traveling writing centers at home writing center | traveling writing center | teachmama.com »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Christy

    June 14, 2009 at 12:43 am

    I am going to do this tomorrow. I think my kids will be excited about it. Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Smiling Mama

    June 15, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    We're going to try this ASAP! Thanks!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Sidebar

our books & freebies

setting the stage for rock-star readers
raise a reader
amy mascott profile blog
subscribe teachmama

join the coolest club around:

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
Aaawwwhhhhh live this little Welcome Pack from @univofmaryland @umddining โ€” countdown is on! 

T-minus 8 days until our #1 hits campus!

#bts2022 #OldBay #marylandlife #universityofmaryland
View
Open
Super easy, homemade dog treats! 

Kids can helpโ€”they love the scraping into molds part!

Recipe below: 

ingredients 
1 egg
1 12.5 oz can chicken
1/4 cup chickpea (or tapioca) flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

instructions 
1. preheat oven to 350โ€ข

2. add all ingredients to blender and mix on high

3. pour into silicon molds

4. bake 10 min then switch trays to opposite oven racksโ€”our racks cannot fit two trays). bake for another 10-12 min or until treats pop easily out of molds. 

5. let cool on tray so they get a little more crispy. 

store in airtight container for up to a week!

#kidsinthekitchen #homemadedogtreats #pettreats #diydogtreats #dogtraining #familyfun
View
Open
Pop Up Shops for Musikfest!

New tees and tanksโ€”super cool and perfect for โ€˜festing!

@bethlum.shop is where itโ€™s at!
View
Open
happy saturday ๐Ÿš™
View
Open
Painted rocks are a lifesaver most days, arenโ€™t they?
View
Open
Hello, Teacher Wish List.

You are welcome here. In fact, we are incredibly glad that youโ€™ve made your way into our culture.

Youโ€™re like the Wedding Registry or Baby Registryโ€“but better. 

You are a dream because you are the list that gives and gives and gives. Youโ€™re not full of weird kitchen appliances or ugly China patterns or tiny baby Air Jordans. You are made of books, pens, pencils, journals, math manipulatives, bulletin board letters, lab goggles, staplers, and hole punchers.

You are helping to equip and educate the youth of the world and are taking a tiny bit of stress off of the shoulders of our educators. And we all know that our educatorsโ€“especially in the last few yearsโ€“have been stretched to the absolute max. They are tired, worn down, and stepped on. Theyโ€™re pushed and pulled every which way and are expected to do the job of 27 different people.

What an amazing thing you are, you little Classroom Wish List! Just a simple Amazon Wish List, you let us all feel like we are helping in a teeny way, and we thank you.

We hope you never, ever leave and that youโ€™re here to stay.

Sincerely,

Everyone

Want to help #ClearTheList ? 

Please visit: bit.ly/HELPclearthelist

#BTS2022 #HelpClearTheList #ISupportTeachers #TeachersRock #linkinbio
View
Open
TEACHERS! 

We appreciate you. 

We know that you have been spending your own money for AGES for your classroom and students, and we want to help. 

Hereโ€™s everything you need to know about creating your own Amazon Wish List: https://teachmama.com/help-teachers-clear-the-list/

Am I missing anything? Please let me know! 

#ClearTheList #CreateTeacherWishList #ClassroomWishList #AmazonWishList #BTS2022
View
Open
Friends, if you have an extra $5 or $10 that you could spare to help some amazing educators, we would be SO GRATEFUL.

Head on over to find out what I'm talking about and to learn how you can help.

And? If you're a teacher, add YOUR list to the mix so it gets more eyes (and more support!)

Check it out: https://teachmama.com/help-teachers-clear-the-list/

#ClearTheList #linkinbio #BTS2022 #ShareYourList #AmazonClearTheList
View
Open
nosotros votamos!

Find YOUR Gun Sense Candidates here: https://gunsensevoter.org/candidates/

#FirstTimeVoter #GunSenseVoter #AppleBallotVoter #yovotรฉ

Copyright © 2022 · teach mama media, llc · All Rights Reserved

17 shares