Do you have a magnet board in your preschool classroom?
I love to add learning fun into centers anyway I can! So, when I got on the Oil Drip Pan trend and got one for my classroom I was excited. But, it didn't take long for me to realize that switching out the magnet center wasn't going to be easy.
I'm not sure if you've searched for magnet manipulatives lately, but the options are kinda slim. You've got your letter and number magnets, maybe some shape magnets and possibly some pattern block magnets and those magnetic sticks and curves the kids can make letters with. But, that was about it -at least that is all I could find for a reasonable price.
So, this lack of magnetic manipulatives left my new magnet center kinda bland. I love changing out my centers to keep them fresh, but this one had be putting on my creation hat!
So, what's a girl to do? Create it yourself!!
Now, I have 12 different games that I can switch out on my oil drip pan magnet center! And they are skill-based so these games encourage learning in a hands-on way through a different medium (magnetism).
Take a look at the 12 games I created and see if there are any ideas you could take and use in your classroom:
Color Sorting
Students work to match colored items to the correct paint bucket.
Skills: Color Recognition & Sorting
Shape Sorting
Students work to match the shape pictures to the correct shape.
Skills: Shape Recognition & Sorting
Size Sorting
Students work to sort the fish by size. This game also includes an extra activity- sorting the fish by color
Skills: Color Recognition, Size Comparison & Sorting
Categorizing
Students work to sort picture cards into the correct category.
Skills: Sorting & Categorizing
Gem Counting
Students work to lift the lid on the treasure chest, count the gems and find the matching numeral key
Skills: Matching Quantity to Set
Rhyming Frogs
Students work to match a frog picture to the rhyming lily pad.
Skills: Rhyming
Pattern Blocks
Students work to re-create pattern block animals using the pattern blocks and pattern block mats.
Skills: Early Geometry Skills
Name Building
Students work to build their name or a classmate's name using the name strip and magnetic letters.
Skills: Name Recognition & Name Building
Feed Me
Students work to sort magnetic letters and numbers into the correct 'Feed Me' animals mouth.
Skills: Color Recognizing the differences in print
Number Stew
Students work to match magnetic numbers to the correct 'number stew' bowl.
Skills: Numeral Recognition
Upper and Lowercase Match
Students work to match uppercase letter magnets to the lowercase letter mats.
Skills: Uppercase and Lowercase Letter Matching
Letter Sounds
Students work to match letter magnets to the correct pictures of the beginning sounds.
Skills: Beginning Sounds
If you've been around here for awhile, you know I like to offer other early educators done-for-you options and these games are no different!
Snag a look at the Magnet Board Games in the Lovely Commotion Preschool Resources TpT Shop!