Using Shopkins To Teach

Yesterday was my daughters birthday, and as requested she received a bunch and bunch of Shopkins. If you do not know what Shopkins are, they are small toys that resemble things in daily life, food, shoes, items. These toys encourage imagination, take up little space, and make little noise. They are a great teaching tool. Counting the first thing we did was count how many shopkins she had now. Ordering We separated the shopkins out by order. The food went in a pile with the food. The shoes went in a different pile. The appliances went in a pile, and so on like that. She also separated out all the petkins, rares and ultra rares. Matching We made matches as well. Not only did we match shopkins that looked alike, but we also matched shopkins that went with each other. The baseball glove and the baseball bat, for example, were matched as a pair since they were both needed to play baseball. Reading The shopkins come with the list that you can read. The kids can read the list and see what Shopkins that they have. Pattering. We made patterns with the shopkins. A food shopkins, A shoe shopkins, a food shopkins, a shoe shopkins. We took turns making patterns and seeing if the other person could guess what it was. Math We added the food and the shoe shopkins together. Then we took some away. Besides adding and subtracting the shopkins, you can set up a little store. Give the children a certain amount of fake dollars that they can give you to pay for the shopkins. This is a good way to help teach children money sense. Here are some worksheets and other activities involving shopkins. https://www.totschooling.net/2016/08/free-shopkins-sorting-printables.html- shopkins sorting printouts- https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shopkins-Math-Dash-2451335- Shopkis addition game-

Thanksgiving Gratitude Pack

Thanksgiving day is almost upon us.  This is a good time to teach children about gratitude. In a recent study by the Wall Street Journal children who practiced gratitude had better grades and were less likely to be depressed. When a child practices gratitude the child is more likely to have pleasant interactions with other children and adults.

Its important for us all to appreciate what we have. Thinking back on all I have to be thankful for this year, I can see times myself when I failed to practice gratitude. I have used these mistakes as teaching moments. When we discussed gratitude  I brought up times when I should have been more grateful. Then we discussed what could have gone differently.

I have made this packet to help go with the gratitude theme.

There are leaves where you can write what you are thankful for and attach it to the thankfulness tree.
You can do one leaf a day until Thanksgiving, or give a couple of leaves per child and let them write what they are thankful for.

There are worksheets that help us think about what we are thankful for. The worksheets feature God, Family, Friends, Country, and Needs. There are ten places to write what you are thankful for each subject, but you do not have to use them all. It could be overwhelming for some children.

There are Thankfulness place cards that you can use for Thanksgiving day.  These cards have a place for a name on the front. On the back people can take turns writing why they are thankful for that person. Then the person can read the cards during Thanksgiving Dinner.

There are also Gratitude Cards. These cards can be handed out to anyone who has made his life a little better. There are special cards for mailmen, garbage men, cashiers, doctors, librarians, teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and anyone else you think needs a special thank you.