I am NOT fancy; simple is more doable for everyone 🙂
 Here is a SIMPLE activity to practice counting, comparing, and using a chart/table to record information.
You may notice that I went with “take one” here haha. I have a reason for that, I am not trying to impress film-makers or people who give presentations regularly. I am a mommy teacher myself and I am just sharing ideas from one mom to another and I want it to be as authentic as possible 🙂
However, I did forget to mention one thing in the video! If your little one doesn’t know which number is greater or smaller then there are ways to help them figure this out….turn the activity into another teachable moment:
Show your little one a number line and explain that one is the smallest number amount and the amount grows as the numbers get higher. Show your little one using skittles or something they would rather have the greater number of. So, would you rather have 1 skittle or 2 skittles….probably the pile with MORE skittles! And then explain that 12 skittles is more than 11 skittles. I will write a post soon about how to teach more or less so that your little one will gain experience with comparing quantities 🙂
I can’t wait to share my activity ideas and schedule that I am setting up for my little one, as well as another great giveaway on the way!
In the meantime, here is a freebie that I made for your little one to practice drawing sets of objects. Don’t just hand your little one a set of crayons/markers and say “get busy.”
First, lay the Christmas Tree Counting Printable on the table with something small and colorful (like skittles) that you and your little one can use to practice counting sets together.
Then, point to one of the trees and show your little one how you might “decorate the tree.” “Ooh, this tree has the number nine on the star, I’m going to decorate the tree with nine colorful skittles! One, two, three, four, …..etc.”
This is a great way to model the directions by showing your little one how to recognize the number and count out that given quantity, AND by modeling one-to-one correspondence (counting one object per given number).
After you have your little one complete the hands-on round of the printable, on their own (assisting and prompting where necessary), then explain that instead of skittles, this time they will draw the number of ornaments (circles, candy canes, snowflakes, or whatever shape he/she wants). Before they begin, model an example of how to do this on a separate sheet of paper. And that’s it; now you have purposefully used a printable 🙂
One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is when my cousins and I would gather together to make crafts that my Aunt had prepared in advance. So, I couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to make a Thanksgiving-themed activity.
As I talked about in my post “Number Sense,” children need to learn that a number is a symbol that represents a quantity. Counting slowly, touching one object at a time, is one way to start. Drawing ojects one object at a time is the next step to practice representing a number. After your child is exposed to counting through hands-on activities over a period of time, they will start to be able to recognize a group of 3 objects as 3 objects without even needing to count. So, today’s activity is:
2) Cut out the turkeys; let your child assist you, teaching him/her how to hold the scissors and take small “bites” carefully.
3) Encourage your child to identify the number on the turkey and draw that many tailfeathers on the tukey’s bottom, making it as colorful or simple as they like using crayons, markers, or even paint (with fingers or brush) if you want to make it more of a craft.
A lot of parents assume their super verbal and proficient little ones have a wider speaking vocabulary than listening vocabulary. It is not that your little one doesn’t “know” the words they are looking for, but there are certain language concepts that are not yet part of their speaking vocabulary.
For instance, if I asked your little one to look “under” the table to find my pencil, he or she probably wouldn’t hesitate. Your little one probably knows the word “under” in context enough to search in the direction that I am referring to. Or, if I am “under” a table and I asked your little one where I was he or she might state, “Under the table” using the position word “under.” But, in the context that I had a doll “under” something and asked your little one to describe where the doll is in their words. He/she may or may not use words to describe directionality like (under, next to, through, between, back, on top, over, above, etc.)
So, to work on developing this skill through a natural progression from head knowledge to incorporating these words into their oral voacbulary and using them abstractly, I am going to give you a series of position word activities using pictures of Casey’s little ones because she is such an awesome mommy teacher – check out her kidspiration blog 🙂
1) Playing Copy Cat Games: Casey loves to play these games with her little “Leyson man.” This is very similar to “simon says” – ask your little one to copy you as you place your hands “Over” your head, “between” your knees, “beside” your cheeks, etc.
Casey's little one, James, hiding under the bed!
2) Hide and Seek: Hide a toy and give directions using position words for your little one to find it, “The block is between the couch pillows.”
3) Act it out with your whole body: “Can you hide under the bed? Can you climb on top of the stool? Can you jump over the pillow?” This part of the activity helps little ones meet the needs of learning through movement!Casey’s little one, Leyson, practicing position words with his farm animals!
Casey's little one, Leyson, practicing position words with his farm animals!
 4) Act it out with toys: “Can your cow jump over the farmhouse? Can your pig squeeze through the doorway?” This helps the little ones needs to learn in a hands-on way!
5) Use words to give directions: Place something (like a doll’s purse) between two chairs, then dialogue with your little one “Pretend that I cant find the Barbie’s favorite purse, but you know where it is! Without showing me, can you use your words to tell me where it is?”
Are we already a week into the month of October? Believe it or not, I am just now making and printing my October Calendar to post in my kitchen. So, go back and read my September Post about Weather Tracking for some of my thoughts on teachable opportunities with Weather Tracking and try to start October’s tracking (a little late thanks to yours truly).
