Catch the Mouse Game -- Practicing the Six and Seven Times Tables

Goodness, we have been so busy here there's hardly been any time to write.  It's the end of the semester and many of the kids' (and my) activities are coming to a close. There have been extra practices and parties and we're still doing our slow but steady homeschool stuff. Lots of books and lots of games this time of year! Plus we're finishing up some old (unfinished) lapbook projects and starting on new ones.

LD is just starting out with his 7 times tables.  We've been singing many rounds of our 7s skip counting song:

Row, Row, Row Your Boat...
7, 14, 21
Gently down the stream...
28, 35
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...
42, 49, 56, 63
Life is but a dream...
70, we've arrived.

And here's a game I made to play with LD this next week for practicing 7x4 through 7x9.  Here is the link to the game board I made if anyone's interested. [LD liked this so much that I made another board to review his six times tables 6x4 through 6x9--at that same link.]

Here's how to play the "Catch the Mouse" game:

**Use a wooden cube and write the numerals 4 through 9 on each side. Each player takes a turn rolling the die and multiplying by 7.

 **The object is to try to catch the most mice by placing two of your own markers on a mouse to capture it.

 **Let's say you roll a 4.  Multiply that by 7 and place a marker on the 28 mouse.  The next player rolls.  If there is just one marker on the mouse they can bump the other player's marker off the mouse. If their own marker is on that mouse and they place a second marker, then that mouse has been captured.  

 **The game ends when all mice are caught. The winner is the player who has caught the most mice.

Catch the Mouse Game Boards

On another note, I am planning to start back up with our study of German... probably in the fall or perhaps slowly this summer.  I have a couple of number and color sorting cards I made. They're in the Free Downloads area--scroll way down to the very, very end in the blue section.  

Is anyone else teaching their kids German?? I have a few sources that I really like and will share them at some point. 

We're learning German because that's the language I studied in school. I spent a semester studying in Heidelberg.  I taught a beginner's German class years ago to high school students.  And I watched lots of German TV when I was in the Peace Corps and taught in Hungary. I'm no pro, but can teach the kids the basics! :-)  

I'd love to hear what's worked for other families teaching their young kids a foreign language.