Too many worksheets make for one uncooperative boy. It’s easy to get in a rut. Ask a soon-to-be-first-grader and they’ll tell you: ruts are NOT fun. To mix it up, I put together a guessing game for my son that I discovered in “Rainy Days and Saturdays” by Linda Hetzer. I labeled brown lunch sacks with the numbers one through 10. Then I ran around the house and collected 10 objects (e.g., an apple, crayon, flip-flop sandal, etc.) when my son was out of the house, stuffed one object in each bag, and stapled the top shut. When he got home, the fun began. I gave him the bags to feel and guess what was inside. A scotch tape dispenser is the same shape as a snail. I had never noticed this before, but my son sure did. (Clever, huh?) He listed the guesses on a page of his spiral notebook. When he finished touching, smashing, and squeezing each bag, he opened them and wrote down each of the objects in the second column next to his guesses. My son only guessed one object correctly and he was disappointed. I told him that we sure rely on our eyes a lot to tell us what things are; he agreed. I applauded his creative guesses and his mood changed from deflated to proud. I have a feeling we’ll be playing this little game again sometime.