Teaching Tip Tuesday: Color Code Your Classroom Games!

Do you love to have your students play games to reinforce concepts you've taught?  Who doesn't?  The kids are having fun and learning at the same time!  But, we all know those games take us quite a while to make.  We have to print them, laminate them, cut them, assemble them, bag them, etc.  Then we hand them over to our kiddos and before you know it, they've left pieces around the classroom during "clean up time" and now our games are missing pieces!  We could go through all the games to try to decide which piece goes where, but that could take hours!

Teaching Tip:
Color Code or Number all of your classroom games!  Before bagging game pieces, put colored-dots on each piece in a set (pink dot set, blue dot set, green dot set, etc).  Or, if you don't have access to enough colors for all of the games in a set, you could number the backs of each game piece (game #1, game #2, game #3, etc).  Just be sure to number all cards, game boards, and the baggie that holds them.  Now, when pieces are left out, it takes just a second for the students to return them to the correct place!  Labeling all of the game pieces is a great job for a volunteer and it will pay off BIG TIME for you in the long run!

If only I had used this system from the start of my teaching career! #hindsightis20/20

Do you have any other tips for organizing your classroom games?


7 comments

  1. What a wonderful idea! I am forever chasing after lost game pieces and this will be a wonderful solution.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ~Jessica
    Joy in the Journey

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  2. Love it!! So smart!! I have only done this with my puzzles (numbers on the back), but I need to do this with my games!
    Thanks for the wonderful idea! :)

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  3. Great idea for the games AND the puzzles!

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  4. Such a simple, yet great idea that saves such time. I do that with my cards and dominoes because the kids are always mixing them together!

    Brandi
    Success in Second Grade

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  5. Love it Amanda!! There's nothing I like more than staying organized :) someday if I have time I will try and label all my math center games!!

    Laura
    http://lovetoteach123.blogspot.com

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  6. Awesome idea!! Thanks for sharing :)

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