Bubble gum machine letters and numbers

     My daughter got this bunny gumball machine in the mail from my mom for Easter.  I really had no intension of filling it with gumballs for my daughter to just empty.  I saw this cute idea to use a gumball machine for a center game.

     So, we made it into a game I could use to help my kids at school and to push my daughter to the next level of reading without using the paper flash cards she came home with.  We put letter sticker, number stickers, and some site word stickers on these little glass beads found at the dollar store.


     They fit nicely into the gumball machine, so when you pull on the lever you get a bead with a surprise letter, number, or word on it.  The children have to find the symbol on a pre-made letter, number, or word list.  They could use a stamp or sticker to cover the symbol, but I decided to get some hand muscle strengthening work in, too.  They have to use the whole puncher to punch the symbol.
For older children, you could have them practice writing the letters, numbers or words.

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