How 1st Grade Brain Gym All Began…

I was interested in finding resources for my classroom that would captivate students and provide challenging fun when they were finished with their assignments.

1st Grade Brain Gym started as a means to extend my gifted learners.

All of my students have benefited from the vast assortment of educational resources I have been able to provide to my students because of the AGATE mini-grant.

1st Grade Brain Gym is:

An opportunity for students in my classroom to continue their learning after their assignments are completed.

Full of challenging games and building tools for creation and extension.

Hands on fun while learning and exploring.

Promotes perseverance, improved spatial skills, memory, and problem solving on many levels.

Goobi is…

Magnetic Fun!

Goobi Magnetic Building Sets

Allows students to build with magnetic bars, spheres, and tripods.

Endless creative possibilities as students use their imaginations to assemble different projects.

Strengthens spatial skills and problem solving strategies.

Contraptions

Building with Wooden Planks

Contraptions

Building with wooden planks

A ball and wooden track building system

Award winning toy – Creative Child Toy Magazine,

Major Fun Award, and more!

Helps children to creatively build with wooden planks

Students strengthen team building and cooperation

with Contraptions

Crazy Action Contraptions

Lego Fun!

Lego building game that allows students to create cars, vehicles, or contraptions

Includes 16 different building cards

Includes all Lego brick pieces

Students can also make their own projects instead of following a step-by-step project card

Students have demonstrated great concentration with Crazy Action Contraptions!

Perplexus – Puzzle Balls

Move the metal ball through the mazes of tunnels, twists, and turns.

Can be a solitary or a partner activity

Helps to promote stronger hand eye coordination

Perplexus Rookie, Perplexus, and the more challenging Perplexus Epic have all been class favorites!

It has been so fun to watch students continue to work to master these mazes!

4th graders have even stopped by my classroom to give them a try!

ZOOB Mobile

Car Designer

ZOOB Mobile Car

Designer Contains 25 different building cards or students can make their own creations

Perseverance, step-by-step direction following, and problem solving skills can be tested by students.

Students enjoy collaborating or working solo in this building activity

Students have made some very unique and creative projects!

Q-Bit

Spatial Puzzles

Q-Bit

Spatial Puzzles

Sharpens memory and spatial skills

Students focus on recreating the color patterns

An award winning educational activity

This has also become a class favorite for some

even though it can be challenging for 1st graders.

Spirograph

Create intricate designs

Spirograph

Create intricate designs

This has appealed to all types of learners and

both girls and boys.

They are very interested in creating fun,

geometrical types of shapes and designs.

This does require patience and perseverance to

create interesting shapes, which has been very

helpful for many of my 1st grade students.

ColorKu

Sudoku with colors

ColoKu

Sudoku with colors

Helps students to improve in their logical

problem solving skills

Clue cards are used to recreate the correct

colored ball placement on the game board.

Students have enjoyed this activity

tremendously!

Banagrams

Word Building

Banagrams

Word Building

Spelling and Language game

Banagrams has been an award winning

educational toy nominee

Designed to replicate the game of Scrabble

Helpful for 1st graders as they improve in writing

and spelling

Extreme Mosaics

and Extreme Dot-to-Dots -

Persevere to find the picture!

Extreme Mosaics

Electronic Math Facts Practice

Electronic Math Facts Practice

Builds fluency in addition and subtraction facts

which corresponds with Common Core

Curriculum

Also has options to practice division and

multiplication

Challenges students to think quickly!

Extreme Mosaics

and Dot-to-Dots These puzzles have been very fun for students as they work to finish the different pages.

They are challenged to find numbers into the 100’s. This aligns with the Common Core Curriculum for 1st grade.

Sharpens students ability to follow directions, improve counting skills, and to follow the picture through to the end.

They are so proud when they can complete a picture!

1st Grade Brain Gym

My students were in awe each time a package was delivered to our classroom. They were so excited to learn about the next new “toy.”

The resources will encourage and challenge my young 1st grade students for many years to come.

A sincere “Thank You” to the Montana AGATE organization for providing me with the gift of a 2014 Mini-Grant.