Are you the type of person who likes to play around with fonts in a Word Document before you “feel” like you have picked the right one.
Well, if so, you will love the concept of this post.
I have made a template of numbers in several different fonts that you can print onto cardstock for your little one. Cardstock is much more durable than computer paper so I definitely recommend investing in some for free printables 🙂
Then, you can cut out the numbers – or let your little one practice their scissor skills and cut them out.
Explain to your little one that the line under the number needs to be at the bottom so you know that the numbers aren’t upside down.
Then, let your little one sort by number….putting all the ones together, twos, threes, etc.
This is a great activity to practice sorting, number recognition, and concentration on number formation! So here is your free printable: Number Font Sorting
Today’s math skill is going to incorporate number sense, by counting and writing the numeral that represents the group of objects, in a mommy/daddy teacher-made graph. Whew! That was a mouthful, but this it is because this activity is packed with opportunities for extensions and repetition.
YOU are going to look through a counting book (or other family favorite book with pictures) and then fill in the first two columns of a graph with the animal/object names and images for your little one to search through the book to find and count. My example is below from the book “Count!”, but you can free-hand the image….it doesn’t have to be perfect. Your goal is to give your little one a researching task that causes them to find, count, and write the information into the correct spaces on the graph. You will be there, by their side, helping with this task. Your little one doesn’t have to sound out the number word in order to write it….he/she can use their book resource to write the numbers and spell the number words.
This is a great counting book extension to give your little one an independent activity to do and to learn from.
Today I wanted to tell you about a little geometry game for little ones that you can modify for your young learner. If your little one is already familiar with several two-dimensional shapes (squares, rhombus, trapezoid, circles, etc.), then you can accommodate and teach your little ones three-dimensional shapes (spheres, cylinders, cones, etc.). I know you might be thinking….you want me to teach my 3 year old what a trapezoid is? And I say….why not? Teach the simple and basic shapes first, but go ahead and introduce the “fancy” shapes that your little one will learn later anyway.
If you have not yet invested in some form of pattern blocks, you might want to….OR make them yourself by printing some shapes onto cardstock and cutting them out.
Basically, you want to teach your little one shapes by introducing the shape, some of its features (how many sides, how many sides are the same, what types of things in the house are shaped like it, etc.) and then you can play the following guessing game to see if your little one can become familiar with these shapes.
Basically, with my lack of artistic ability, I wrote on a brown bag and drew shapes to make it my official shape grab bag. There are three ways you can play (more if you are creative):
1) Place shapes in the bag and have your little one pull one out and guess the name of the shape. If he/she gets it wrong he has to put it back in the bag, but if he/she names it right he gets to “keep” it.
2) Place shapes in the bag, and grab hold of one without taking it out of the bag. Describe the shape you are feeling to your little one in detail as best you can. Draw the shape in the palm of their hand with your finger, or use other ways to hint at what the shape is until they guess it.
3) Place shapes in the bag, and have your little one stick their hand inside and describe the shape to you until you guess it.
I know most of us grew up playing hopscotch and didnt think twice about what math skills we might be learning. But when your little one is playing hopscotch, he or she is interacting with a lifesize number line. And children learn so naturally through movement.
So, on this pretty day, I propose that you get outside with your little one, chalk up a hopscotch grid OR go to your local park or school that has a hopscotch painted on the concrete and keep these skills in mind:
1. Counting practice – draw the hopscotch with numbers up to twenty! I know that is a long hopscotch but children need more practice with numbers 10-20.
Start off just asking your little one to help you count the number spaces out in order.
2. Identifying numbers
Try to hop on one foot from 1 to 20 so that your little one has to identify the numbers in one- to- one correspondance. If you toss a rock to a number, have them call out the number they are hopping to and then call out the numbers they hop on to get there.
3. Identify the numbers coming before or after a given number
After playing the game regularly at first, tell your little one that it’s time to play a new version of the game. “This time we are going to play ‘hop to the number that comes BEFORE the number that the rock lands on.'” Play this again but then hopping to the number that comes AFTER the number the rock lands on.
4. Identifying a number coming between two numbers.
Play “Can You hop to the number that comes between _ and __.”
5. Count forward or backward from a given number.
Have your little one count out loud as he/she hops forward or backward from the number they land on. You want your little one to have the skill of knowing how to “count on” or “count back” from any given number because this will help your little one solve math problems in the future.
6. You can even use the hopscotch grid to practice simple addition and subtraction:
-examples of addition: if you hop one space and then two more what number will you land on? (three) or if you are on the number five and hop two spaces what number will you land on? (seven)
-examples of subtraction: if you are on the number 8 and you hop back three spaces what number will you land on? (five). Or, if you are on the number three and hop back two spaces which number would you land on? (one)
Did you have any idea there could be six plus versions of hopscotch teaching all those skills? Have fun!
My kindergarteners used to love to act out story problems, but I always had trouble coming up with new problems on the spot. So, I came up with some today so that you could use them without having a creativity block. This skill is the first of 3 steps when it comes to learning addition, subtraction, etc. Children learn strategies for solving problems in an age-appropriate way when they have the opportunity to practice in ways that they understand. The following is a sequential process of teaching children how to practice solving math problems:
1 a) Acting out story problems using their bodies.
1 b) Using objects to represent the problems.
2) Using pictures to solve the problems.
3) Solving problems with a pencil and paper.
Today, you are going to have your little one use dolls, action figures, toys, puppets, etc. to act out the following story problems. You can even let them use their snack – goldfish, grapes, etc.
– Three brown horses were resting in their barn stable. Two black horses were saddled and ready to ride. How many horses are in the barn all together? (addition)
— Four girls were swinging together and two boys wanted to swing to. How many children will swing all together? (addition)
– Two friends were jumping on the trampoline when two more friends joined them to jump. How many friends are jumping together? (addition)
-Five teddy bears were snuggled up in your bed, Mommy took away two and put them back on the shelf to make room for you. How many bears will you sleep with tonight? (subtraction)
-I counted six goldfish on my plate, but then I took two away and put them in my mouth to eat. How many goldfish are left on my plate? (subtraction)
-Five puppies were in the pet store waiting to for someone to take them home. A family came in and bought one puppy. How many puppies still need a home? (subtraction)
This is an oldschool picture of me, my cousin Claire, and my sister, playing with toys in bed back in 1988….any time can be learning time.
