Re-purposed Games for Preschool Stations

My preschool has begun- and this group of kids are so adorable. It has only been a week... but their personalities, interests and talents are so apparent! I've got one child who always builds amazing contraptions. I've got another child who loves to sings- and belts out each song during singing time. I've got another child who loves to color. I've got another who is always making connections/ observations, "Hey! My play dough is the same color as YOUR shirt!"

I love preschool- and this age group! They are so adorable.
As I mentioned before- I am starting preschool from SCRATCH. (We moved here last year from Hawaii and couldn't bring much of our household with us.) It can be overwhelming at times- thinking of ALL the things I would LOVE to have in my preschool... but I've got to stay in my budget.

So- I've been looking for ways to come up with engaging station activities by using things I DO have around the house. (Wouldn't we all love to shop and buy all our preschool toys at one of those Educational stores?) Well- that is just not a reality for me. And perhaps not for YOU either.

So here are a few stations I have created for our first month of preschool. 

This month we are learning the letters: A-B-C , numbers 1-2-3, RED and CIRCLES.

For Christmas last year, one of my sons received a Connect 4 game.

For one station- we used the circle/disks from Connect 4 to sort- into their colors and then place the RED circles into the game. (Using and refining those small motor skills!) They love to see the circles drop from the bottom when they are done with the activity.

 
 
 

 

Another station using Connect 4 pieces- is this pattern activity.

You can't tell in the picture, but I glued dots onto paper- to make the pattern cards

and then used contact paper- to make the cards more sturdy.

 

The kids enjoyed the challenge of matching the pattern and then extending the pattern- predicting what color would come next.


Another game I have found helpful- is SCRABBLE!

Here I used alphabet stickers to make the game board.





I laminated the game with contact paper- and the children pull scrabble letters from a bag- and try to match the letter on the game board. This is a challenge for some children- while others were easily up to the task.


I'll share more ideas- as I come up with them. I just thought I would share- I know as preschool teachers we are always trying to think of inexpensive ways to engage our children.






numbers: 1-2-3 and color RED and the shape: CIRCLE.