Symbaloo & Kindergarten Mouse Skills

Anyone who has taken Kindergartners in the computer lab knows that mouse skills are the very first thing they need to work on! Those fine motor skills are tough for many and in a world of touch screens it can be a challenge!

I start off my lab lessons with Kindergarten talking about the mouse itself.  We talk about why it is called that, we meet our "mouse finger" and learn how to hold the mouse.  We also talk about only pushing the left button as well.

Following that discussion it is time for practice! I use Symbaloo for EVERYTHING in the lab. I create a symbaloo that is the home page and I create a link for each grade level from there.  It is so easy for kids to get to where they need to go and for me to add or remove links as needed.  The visual aspect of Symbaloo is also ideal for young children.

This is my homepage.  Some links stay here all year others come and go as needed.

Kindergartners click on the K and from there I have easy links to the Mouse skills games I have found online.  A little note. Use an Ad Blocker! While some of these games are great for learning to use a mouse the ads are OUT OF CONTROL!  I use AdBlock in the Chrome Web Store but I'm sure any would be fine!

This is the Kindergarten Page as of now.  As they get better with the computer they learn more navigation skills and terms like window and tab. The top row has the three links to Mouse Games I like to use.

Here is a close up those mouse games. Symbaloo creates an image for each tile but I am pretty picky so I usually save images and upload my own.

The first game is Bees & Honey by TVO Kids.  This one is awesome and adds a skill with each of the three levels.  First just move the mouse, then click, then click and drag.

The second two sets of choices are where the ad blocker comes in! Minimouse.Us has lots of great games that are simple and get kids using their mouse either by click, dragging or just moving it in general. A few favorites are the Pickle Bubble Popping, Frog Eating Flies and The Jumping Pig.  I show the kids these three, but they often end up on others as well.

The last game is Take a Trip from ABCYa and it teaches the skills of click and dragging. It also gives little facts about the different locations when they reach them. This one can be kind of tricky but the kids always seem to like it! It get harder with each level!

I'm sure there are lots more out there but these are just a few I have tried and the kids seems to respond to.  We spend a good couple of weeks working on mouse skills during their computer lab time!

Pokemon in the Library

Last year we all know Pokemon Go! was all the rage.  Keeping that in mind I created a library version of Pokemon Go! where I hide Pokemon characters in the different sections of the library.

Students work in groups to find the Pokemon and check them off their Pokedex that shows silhouettes of the characters and what section they can be found in.

This is an activity that can span grades K-6 and ALL of my students enjoyed it! Plus it gets them up, moving and having fun!  I pull them all back together at the end and review where the sections are.  It is just a different take on learning or reviewing the sections of the library.

Here is the link to the Google Drive Folder with the Images.  It is view only but all images are downloadable. This folder includes an image file of the Pokedex. I will link an editable Google Drawings file on the image below!! That way you can change your section names if needed.