Monkey in the Middle - Skip Counting Game

There was a lot of giggling going on at our house this afternoon.

I finally caved and bought a parachute for my kids at home and my 6-7 year old apprentices at Classical Conversations.  We needed some fun to accompany our memory work for the year and this seems to do the trick, for my own kids anyway. Our co-op doesn't start for another two weeks but I have a feeling this game will be a hit there as well.

We called the game we played today "Monkey in the Middle."  All you need is a parachute, a monkey (or other stuffed animal) and your amazing memory. 

To play, put the monkey in the middle of the parachute have the children hold parachute's handles of the while they gently pop the monkey up and down while skip counting: 2,4,6,8,10,12 . . . 24 or 4,8,12,16,20,24 . . . 48.  If the monkey (or other animal) pops out of the parachute onto the floor or the kids make a mistake counting, they start over.  When they get to the last number in the set, they get a reward like a sticker or an m&m or whatever I have on hand that floats their little boats.

I plan to use this game for learning other lists like the US presidents, states & capitals and books of the Bible.