Easy Dollar Store Game Pieces for Kid's Activities

I wanted to share an easy way to make game pieces for both reading, math, and just for fun too.  I was at the Dollar Tree last week and saw these cupcake toppers hanging in the aisle.   They were colorful and seasonal.  So I decided to bring them home and make some games with them.

The first thing you need to do is to remove the stick.  Carefully slide the stick back and forth (not much) and it will release from the object.  Pull the stick out and you have 24 game pieces to use for all types of games.  They are thick and slick, so they do not need to be laminated.

Here are some ways to use these pieces.  First, put dot stickers on one side of the pumpkins or other cupcake topper pieces.  Write the ABC's on them.  You can put the capital letter on one side and the lowercase letter on the other side. Put them in a container and have the children draw one out of the bag, say the letter, make the sound.  You can even leave one blank.  If they draw the blank one, they say "Jack-o-Lantern" and everyone has to put their game pieces back in the container.  Or your children can draw them out of a container and put them in ABC order.

Make word family game pieces with them.  Make sets for individual word families.  Put them in a baggie.  Children see how many words they can make.  They can record the words in a word notebook or on a piece of blank paper.

MATCHING GAMES

• Write the uppercase and lowercase letters on the same side
• Write sight words on side.  
• Write numbers on one side.
• Draw shapes on one side.
• Color in the circle with different color markers.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION GAMES

Write numbers and corresponding dots to make math games.

You can also find these cupcake toppers at party supply stores, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby.  I found spiders and skeletons too.

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