Do you remember using geoboards in your elementary classroom? I always got so excited when the teacher pulled out fun math manipulatives/ geoboards because it meant less of the mundane pencil-and-paper practice and more of the fun hands-on activities that I loved! As a former teacher and now home preschool mom, I realize kids need more of this- more opportunities to be excited about learning. More hands-on lessons. More FUN in learning! What would be more inviting if you were a kid- a pencil and paper matching worksheet, or rubber bands and a geoboard activity? I know what I would have chosen, and what my kids choose now- the geoboard! What would your kids choose?
Because I have a feeling your kids would also go for the geoboard, here’s the list of supplies to put this simple activity together:
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- Geoboard
- Rubber bands
- Alphabet Stickers
To prepare the activity, I stuck several coordinating upper and lowercase letters right on the geoboard. The geoboards only have room for a few letters, not the whole alphabet, but I like that because it will hold a preschooler’s short attention span and provide a chance to focus on a small set of letters without becoming overwhelmed.
I started our activity with the first few letters of the alphabet, but feel free to mix it up with letters your students find more challenging (I’m looking at you b/d/p/q).
This activity shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete alongside your preschooler. If you’re a homeschool mom, it would serve as a great warm-up while you prepare other lessons (or coffee). If you’re a classroom teacher, this would make an excellent center activity as well.
Stretching and pinning the rubber bands to the geoboard is also a great fine-motor muscle builder!
When you’re through with the activity, make sure to give your preschooler a chance to remove the rubber bands themselves. This is a great sequencing activity because the rubber bands are easier to remove if they’re done in order!
It’s like a mini-critical thinking activity built right in! You can help by asking “which rubber band is on top? that’s the one we should remove first”…and so on.
Are you planning on doing this geoboard matching activity with your students? I’d love to see how it turns out! Share a picture with me on Instagram when you get a minute (side note- I first shared this gem of an activity several months ago on Instagram and I’m just now getting around to writing this post for it, so make sure to follow Munchkins and Moms while you’re there to see everything we’re up to lately!)
Other geoboard activities that might interest you:
DIY Travel Geoboard from Left Brain Craft Brain
Lego Duplo Geoboard from Still Playing School
Art with Geoboards from The Artful Parent
This is awesome; it is pre-school nail and twine art! I want to come over and play.
Haha, it is like art!! I have a special place in my heart for the geoboards, they were one of my favorite math tools and still are!