It can be difficult to find educational activities for your children when they are out of school for the summer. Many parents want to still educate their children during the summer in a fun, educational way. File folder games are a great way to educate your child or just to play with. File folder games are a great way for children to learn colors, shapes, numbers, lettering, matching and a variety of other things.
A file folder game is simply a manila folder with a game of your choice inside. File folder games typically consist of laminated paper cut outs and Velcro all tucked into a manila envelope and are used to teach a wide variety of subjects. One of the greatest benefits to a file folder game is the fact that they don’t take up a lot of room and they don’t cause disruptions if you are in a quiet setting.
To create your own file folder game, you will need the following items:
• Computer with printer
• Velcro with adhesive strips
• Cardstock paper
• Scissors
• Laminator or clear contact paper
• Manila or colored file folders
• Double-stick tape
You can purchase a wide-variety of file folder games online that will come with all the necessary pieces you need. There are also file folder books at craft stores or hobby stores that can help you come up with different ideas for file folder games.
Usually a file folder book contains cutouts that you can photocopy, color and cut out for your game. This is a great way to involve your children in making the file folder book. Have your child color the pieces and help you cut them out and laminate them. Then, they can also help attach the Velcro strips to the pieces and the file folder.
Here is an easy file folder game to create:
Dress the Animal
Using an animal of your choice, trace it onto one side of the file folder and allow your child to color it. This is just like the old paper doll games of the past. With your child, create a wide array of clothes to dress the animal in. The clothes can be funny things like a clown suit, or you can do a theme like “emergency workers” and create a police uniform, paramedics’ uniform, doctor uniform, and firefighter uniform. This is a great way to teach your child about emergencies and who will come to their rescue in certain situations. On the opposite side of the manila folder, glue or use double sided tape to attach a medium sized zip lock bag. This way you can store all the pieces of the game in the folder and they won’t get lost. Each piece will need to have a small piece of Velcro attached to it so that they can stick it onto the animal. You can download templates online of different animals and the uniforms to go along with them.
Match
Another easy file folder game to create is the match game. Cut out 8 squares and draw 4 items (can be animals, food, places, etc.) and on the other 4 square write the appropriate name of the item. Then using Velcro, attach the squares to a manila folder and have your child match the proper item with its name. If you want to use string to match the items, it will be easier to see which item is matched with which name.
The possibilities are endless with file folder games. The best part is they are cheap and easy to make and can last a long time. You can create several file folder games and keep them with you in the car or for whenever you need something to entertain your child.