Have A Blast With Homework Helpers Number Puzzles & Games!
Written: Jul 31 '03 (Updated Nov 20 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Educational, fun, lots of activities and inexpensive.
Cons: None!
The Bottom Line: Want to give your little learner an edge over the competition? Check out the entire series of workbooks in the Homework Helpers series.
Freak369's Full Review: Number Puzzles and Games Books
When it comes to early learning I am a firm believer that if you make it fun, kids will retain more of what they are exposed it, won’t consider it a chore and will have a strong educational base to build on. Even though my boys are far too old to benefit from these, I purchased the entire series for my neighbor’s daughter. She spends her days at my house and has really grown to love all of the workbooks in the series. She has so much fun coloring the pictures, finding the hidden animals and counting the stars that she doesn’t consider it school work – to her this is pure fun. Since she started with the series she’s learned to count to 50, mastered her alphabet and started with early phonics applications. I can’t say that this series of workbooks are the sole credit for her academic advancement but I know that these are among her favorite.
Number Puzzles & Games
This workbook covers counting from one to twenty five through a variety of fun activities that are targeted to the kindergarten and first grade age groups although I do think that most first graders will already know most of what is covered, it does serve as a good refresher before they start back to school. The pages work in progression starting with the smaller numbers and working up to number twenty five. The activated include connect-the-dots, finding hidden animals and shapes, number sequences, counting various items in a picuture then selecting the correct answer and finding hidden animals and images by coloring in a series of numbers. A lot of these themes are repeated over and over through the workbook so kids will get a real ego boost when they can flip the page and know exactly what they are doing without mom or dad having to explain things.
Depending on the age of the child and how much exposure to numbers and counting he or she has had, the pages can take anywhere from two to ten minutes to complete. My neighbor’s daughter spends a lot of time doing photocopies of the hidden pictures and takes a lot of pride in her “artwork”. These are great exercises that help kids with their eye and hand coordination, coloring between the lines and sticking with something until its completed. The basic premise of this exercise is that you have a hidden picture – almost like a stained glass image. There are three numbers [7, 8, 9 for example] inside the various shapes, the child is told to color all the ones numbered seven green, all eights orange and all nines yellow. While it’s pretty easy for an adult to be able to look at it and see exactly what the hidden image is – some kids might not get it right away so don’t blow the surprise for them and blurt it out. As the child progresses through the book the numbers increase but the pictures are still simple and easy to complete. Another great activity is to count the number of items that are hidden in the picture [frogs, bugs, squares etc] then circle the correct number at the bottom of the page. There’s no answer key with this workbook so you’ll have to sit down and count the items to see if your child answered these correctly.
As I said in the introduction, the book is pretty basic but more than adequate for the kindergarten crowd. The size of the book makes it easy for little hands to hold and work with and while it might sound silly, kids really seem to like something that is “their size”. No scissors are needed to do any of the activities in the book, all you need are crayons or if you are making photocopies you can use markers. I don’t suggest using markers on the pages of the book, while the pages are strong and sturdy, most markers will bleed through an ruin the pack side. The only real parental interaction necessary is removing the color game card from the center of the book, cutting out the pieces and showing a child how to play the game. Please make sure that when you remove the game card you press the metal staples back into place so little hands and fingers don’t get scratched or cut on them.
Things To Know
If you are a homeschooler or teacher, you have the permission of the publisher to make copies of this book for educational purposes. Since all of the pages are black and white it is extremely easy to copy the pages although I do suggest that you enlarge them a little for the younger kids. You can arrange the pages any way you like but my neighbor’s daughter really liked working on one theme at a time – like all the connect-the-dot pages then all the hidden pictures etc. This is one of the real advantages of being able to photocopy the book, especially if your little one really likes certain exercises or activities, it eliminates the need of having to purchase multiple books.
The color game pull out makes for a lot of fun. It is easy to set up and the instructions are simple. Remove the color insert from the middle of the book, cut out the pieces and give each player a game piece. Place the numbered pieced face down and let the kids take turns picking them and moving their game piece across the path. Who ever gets to the pike of peanuts at the end of the path first win. Some reading is involved with the game pieces [go back 2, miss a turn etc] but these can be skipped or left out of the game if kids get confused by them or just want to play a quick round or two.
The Bottom Line
I really wish I had these book when my boys were younger, they are a great way to get kids started with the basics of numbers, working in sequence, eye and hand coordination, simple math problems and more. I consider the $2.49 suggested retail price of this workbook to be more than fair when you see all the things that your child will be exposed to and learn from it. Plus, the small size makes it easier for them to handle, turn the pages and work with. IF you are the parent or care giver of a kindergartner or first grader and want to give them a boost, I highly suggest checking out the entire series of Homework Helpers.
Stats
Name: Number Puzzles & Games
[A Homework Helpers book]
Author: Kathy Zaun
Pages: 56
ISBN: 0-7682-0691-X
Price: $ 2.49
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