School Ready!

Published Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Putting the FUN in Fundamentals!

School is right around the corner!

And parents are realizing the kids could use a refresher before heading into the classroom. Or maybe they're thinking ahead to what will be covered and what may be hard for their students.

Either way, the Happy Up stores have seen an uptick in questions about school skills. So collected here is a selection of items that we find really helpful.

We've also included a collection that focuses on social and emotional skills. After last year's isolation and distant-learning, lots of people (not just kids, grown ups too!) could use some practice communicating and empathizing with other people.

If you'd like suggestions for educational items specifically tailored to your child, stop by and talk to one of our friendly toy experts!

Matching and Memory

Often overlooked, this is a skill set that applies to just about every aspect of early education.

Being able to memorize something and recall it easily is the foundation of sight reading as well as basic math. Visual acuity (being able to spot differences and isolate objects) is needed for math and reading, too.

It may seem like fun and games, but training the eyes and brain to work quickly on these tasks are sooo worth while!

I Never Forget a Face

3 yrs & up

Racoon Rumpus

2 - 4 players, 3 yrs & up

Nickelodeon’s Blue's Clues Snack Match Game

2 - 4 players, 3 yrs & up

Spot It Jr

2 - 8 players, 4 yrs & up

Lemonade Shake Up Cooperative Game

2 - 4 players, 4 yrs & up

Stone Soup Cooperative Game

2 - 6 players, 5 yrs & up

Reading Rules!

These are a few of our favorite wordy skill builders. All of them are fun and will help your pre-readers move from sounding it out to reading mastery!

Zingo

2 or more players, 4 yrs & up

Zingo Sight Words

2 or more players, 4 yrs & up

Rhyming Words Puzzle Pairs

3 yrs & up

Magnetic ABC Expedition Set

4 yrs & up

Alphabet & Phonics Flash Cards

4 yrs & up

Alphabet Bingo

4 yrs & up

Mastering Math!

So much of basic arithmetic is memorization and recall. Skill drills are helpful, but if a child is struggling they can feel almost impossible. And the repetitive nature of worksheets can just grind everything to a halt.

This selection showcases some of our favorite ways to shake it up and make math feel less daunting.

And yes, we included flash cards because used in conjunction with other methods, they can be really useful!

$My First Math Dice from ThinkFun$

My First Math Dice

3 yrs & up

$Math Dice from ThinkFun$

Math Dice

8 yrs & up

$Monster Math Scale from Hape$

Monster Math Scale

3 yrs & up

Multiplication Swat Game

6 yrs & up

Addition Flash Cards

4 yrs & up

Multiplication Flash Cards

7 yrs & up

Pump Up Your People Skills!

This is a biggie.

The disruption of the 2020-2021 school year and so many pre-k programs means that social skills have gotten rusty. Or they haven't had a chance to develop!

Lots of kids aren't used to cooperating or considering others outside of their family units. Some children will rebound without blinking an eye. Others may need to practice and work at it.

Here are some of our favorite ways to boost social and emotional skills!