10 Second Tip

Try counting the house. A clipboard makes this learning activity officially fun!
Count The House PDF

Butterfly Match

I bought two packages of butterfly party favors so the children can play a matching game. C also likes to sort them by color and line them up in patterns.

Dog Bones Counting and Addition

I found bone-shaped paperclips at Walmart. The puppy pictures were from the back of an old calendar. Children count and place the same number of bones on the picture as there is puppies. Some children will then be able to count the total number of bones.

Coin Sort

Rummage up a handful of change and have your child sort the coins. Identify coins and explain their values.

*Extension: Open up shop and "sell" a few items to your child so he or she can practice counting the money.

Pony Bead Patterning

Pipe cleaners make a great "string" to pattern on. It stands steady when pony beads are pushed on, unlike string which can be frustrating to little fingers holding and pushing beads on all at once. Bend one end so beads don't come cascading off. Encourage pattern making and then finish by turning the final product into wearable bracelets, or rings if they don't extend the pattern that far!

Kindergarten Screening Tools - Numeral Identification

Area Tested: Numeral Identification

Recognition of numbers - your child is asked to identify the numbers 0-5 on a piece of paper that are in random order.

Activities to strengthen numeral identification:

1. Make flash cards and once the numeral is identified, count out the same number of objects

2. After counting a group of objects, write the numeral

3. Observe the calendar or clock

4. Write the numbers down on cards then shuffle and order them

5. Invent domino games

Kindergarten Screening Tools - Counting

Area tested: Counting

Counting of blocks - your child is asked to count blocks (6). We are checking for number recognition associated with the value.

Activities to strengthen counting:

1. Count objects, hands-on

2. Kitchen helper

3. Fingerplays

4. Count by listening to the sound of items dropped into a can and saying the numbers out loud

5. Count down to an exciting event in the child's life

Visual Addition

This little contraption is a hardware store purchase. It's a PVC plumbing elbow with a drain and screw-on drain cap. The idea is to show children that combining sets of objects creates a new set. For example, in one hand you have 3 red beads and in the other 2 blue beads. If you drop them in either side at the same time, they combine to make a new set of 5. Remove from the cup and count. Practice with different objects and amounts to show that computation doesn't have to be frustration! Great for visual learners.

*Variation: Edible math, Cheerios and Kix for example...guess the number and you get to eat it.

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

**As part of the bedtime routine, you can teach this time concept that will later make calendar skills easier. Talk about what happened yesterday, what you did today, and what to expect tomorrow.**

Finals Week Notice

I'm getting into finals week for the last time ever. I am one week away from graduating with high honors in the field of early childhood education! Please forgive my condensed activities until I can resume regular posting.

**Find 10 things in your house that are BLUE (or your child's favorite color.)**

Patternpillars

Pattern + caterpillars= patternpillars! Glue pom poms to a craft stick in a pattern. C's pattern was A B C A B C. Add wiggly ears and antennae if you'd like. The kids made so many of these today it was like a visit to the butterfly gardens, well before butterfly season.

*Variation: Glue on beans or buttons.

*Extension: For a chrysallis you can slip the caterpillars into a sock, and before the kids see them next, you slip in and add some wings of cellephane, tissue paper, or gift wrap so when they pull out their caterpillar it is no longer. Suprise, beautiful butterflies!

Paint Sample Color Seriation

This is a freebie activity! Next time you are at a home supply store or any store that carries paint, pick up doubles of a few paint sample cards.

For younger kids:

With one card, leave whole.

With its match, cut apart.

Match the cut-outs to the whole card.

For older kids:

Use cut apart cards with no reference card to match to. It's tricky- the more shades on the card, the more visual discrimination comes into play.

Storage Idea: Envelopes

*Variation: Seriate sandpaper by roughness, fabric by texture, objects by physical characteristics like height or weight.

Grow an Animal

Dollar Tree has these neat little sponge-like critters that you can purchase that when you put them into water they grow and grow. The alligator works well for this activity.

To make this "educational" you check in on your animal daily for a week. With a simple measuring tape, measure the length and make a graph or chart to show its growth progress. You can also take pictures of the animal each day next to the measuring tape, print them, and challenge your child to sequence them.

There you have it, $1 math & science!

Pattern Pocket

Materials: Stickers, construction paper, computer paper

Fold a sheet of construction paper in half, tape the edge opposite the fold. Next, cut some sheets of plain white paper (computer paper is good) so they fit easily through your construction paper pocket. Make patterns on these sheets with stickers.

Now you can slide a pattern sheet out one sticker at a time so your child can guess what comes next!

Patterns to try: A B A B, A A B B , A A B A A B, A B C A B C, etc.

*Extension: Your child can make a pattern with stickers.

Blueberries For Sal

Today we read Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey.

In this classic picture book, little Sal becomes so involved in her blueberry picking, she doesn't notice that she's following the wrong mother - an equally startled mother bear! "Amusing and suspenseful and entirely childlike in appeal." - Booklist

Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!

Meet math standards: Number and Operations
*Computation
*Adding and subtracting
*Using objects to computer; using mental computation

((We used pony beads and a small metal pail from Target's Dollar Spot.))

Ask the child to listen as you drop a number of blueberries into the bucket one at a time. How many are in the bucket? Pour and count.

Add a small number to that. Pour and count.

Divide the blueberries into two or three groups and have the child pick which group has the most and which group has the least. Try it several times.

Have the child drop one blueberry at a time into the bucket and count out loud. How high can you count?

Write a numeral (for younger children) or a number sentence (such as 3+4 for older children). See if the child can put the right amount into the bucket.

Great Zoo Escape

Hide several of your child's plastic or stuffed animals, counting as you go so that none get left behind later. For younger children, you might find it easier to stick to one room of the house. Exclaim "Oh no, (number) of animals have escaped from the zoo!" Ask your child for their help returning the animals safely. Count as you go.

*Variation: Take the game outside for an outdoor safari. Colorful gardens work especially well.

*Variation: Have a sandbox? Bury some treasures for later discovery. Jewels from the craft store are especially exciting, or rocks painted gold. Be sure not to give away the secret and watch your child's reaction.

Pom Pom Sort

80 ct. assorted Pom Poms, $1 @ Dollar Tree

Collapsible Storage Box, $1 @ Dollar Tree

Another color sorting activity requires crafting pom poms and a divided container of some sort. I found this one with 8 sections at Dollar Tree, but you could use cups, dishes, plastic lids, 6-pack rings, dessert cups, pinch bowls, recycled clean plastic fruit cups...just about anything that makes for clear visual "dividers" so children can easily see groupings.

I just poured the pom poms onto the ground and let C decide how he was going to sort them. It was tricky because a few of the shades were visually hard for him to discriminate (white, pink) and he had to decide what shades could be put together (green, neon green).

*Variation: Buy a package with different sizes and colors of pom poms and challenge children to find new ways to sort them.

*Variation: For younger children, choose basic colors and remove some of the shades. Give them a jump start by placing one pom pom of each color into the groupings you are looking for.

Clothespin Color Sort

This is a hit with the younger preschool crowd.

Plastic Tumblers set x 6, $1 @ Dollar Tree
Plastic Clothespins set x 15, $1 @ Dollar Tree

Opportunity for color sorting and fine motor development, priceless! Pile the clothespins and your child can pinch them open to attach to the right color of cup. Fine motor development helps your child strengthen finger and hand muscles, useful for learning to hold and manipulate writing utensils.

*Variation: Younger children can drop them into the cups.

*Variation: Go on a search around the house for items of each color that fit in the cup.

*Variation: Color with marker on wooden clothespins to match the color of cups you already have available. The more colors and cups you have, the more challenging it will be!