Math and Numbers

Math and Numbers

Halloween Monster Math (with Googly Eyes)

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Who knew a dollar store package of googly eyes could be used for some much Halloween fun and learning? Today, we used the eyes for some Monster Math.

halloween patterningBecause the googly eyes were different sizes, the first thing we did was sort them into groups. Little Sister helped make 2 groups, one group of ‘weally’ big eyes and one group of smaller ones.

Big Sister noticed that the small eyes were two similar sizes, but some were a little big bigger, so she made 3 groups. She used them to make a pattern of very small, just small, and really big.

halloween-math-monsterAfter they had sorted and played, I gave them some monster shapes cut out of bright paper and let them put eyes on the monster. For both kids, we practiced some counting. Little Sister wanted the big googly eyes with one little eye to be the baby.

While Little Sister had a nap, Big Sister and I played a game. Using a monster each as our playing board, we would shake a dice. Whatever number the dice showed, we would put that many eyes on our monster. This was both a counting and a matching activity. If there were 4 dots on the dice, we had to put 4 eyes on the monster.

halloween-monster-mathWe take for granted that the number 1 is 1 item but kids have to make this connection from their experiences. When our monsters had too many eyes, we played again, but this time we could only get one of the big googly eyes if we shook 1 on the dice. Now, the single dot was the best shake instead of the lowest one.

Sorting, patterns, counting, matching and more made for a number of monster math activities. Any math monsters at your house?

Math and Numbers

Apples Can Help With Patterning Skills

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One of the basic learning skills for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten kids, is also one of the skills that helps adults be very successful at their jobs. What is it? It’s the skill of patterning. People who are very competent at what they do notice patterns and use them to the best advantage. Being smart isn’t so much because of how much a person knows as it is how that information is stored in the brain. Patterns are a very efficient strategy for dealing with huge amounts of information.

patterning skillsToday’s play-of-the-day was unplanned. On the desk, there is a big apple container filled with little plastic apples. We’ve used these before for counting and playing with but all on her own, Big Sister began putting them in a line. I thought that was all she was doing, but she suddenly showed me that they were in a pattern: red-green, red-green, red-green, all along the front edge of the desk. She needed to use some that were a little different but, she explained, it was alright because they were a good color.

Paris-pattern-cynthia-morrisFrom wood on the floor, to the tiles on the wall, and the clothes we wear, we are surrounded by patterns. Our hearts beat in a pattern; we breath, walk, and talk in a pattern. Numbers and music are based on patterns. Given all that, it’s no surprise that our brains use patterns. Here is a quote from an article about the hockey legend, Wayne Gretsky: “the brain forms memories, assembled from experiences. Those  experiences get stored as patterns, and assembled into quickly-accessed chunks of information. The more experiences are repeated, the stronger and more complex the patterns become.” (The Two-Second Advantage, Ranadivé and Maney)

Kids need a variety of experiences with patterns to develop patterning skills. In the preschool years children develop recognition of patterns. Some will be able to make simple patterns such as red-green/red-green, or spoon-fork/spoon-fork, and some will be making more difficult ones such as red-red-green, or lego-car-dinosaur, lego-car-dinosaur. Anything can be used to create patterns. Does your child play with patterns?

Math and Numbers

Apples and Counting

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Counting is an activity that we do with kids from the time they are babies, and eventually, they start to count on their own. First, they learn the words for numbers in whatever language is used at home and use whatever numbers they happen to remember. Gradually, they use more numbers in the right order. As they repeat counting activities over and over, they figure out that 1 number goes with 1 thing. This helps develop their number sense.

counting apples fun and learningWhen picking apples, there was a nice spot with 3 apples in a row. We started with those 3 and counted some more while we picked. There were so many that we soon lost count! Good thing we didn’t lose any apples.

Are there some apples in the fruit bowl or fridge at home? Your child can count those. Depending on their age and development, kids will count more or less accurately. If needed, you can help your child by touching each apple and saying the appropriate number but don’t panic if the numbers are mixed up. Lots of practice in a great variety of situations is needed to get the words and number of objects coordinated. Years and years of it.

We sang a song too to help with counting:

1 little, 2 little, 3 little apples, 4 little, 5 little, 6 little apples.
7 little, 8 little, 9 little apples, 10 little apples for us.

When picking, sometimes I would say a number (usually a 2 or 3) and ask the kids if they could pick that many. You can say a number and ask your child to put that many apples in a basket. For older kids or ones who love numbers, you can use apples to tell some math stories, such as: If you have 3 apples in your basket and I give you 2 more, now how many apples do you have. Kids can make up and tell their own stories.

Here’s a fun video of the story Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins.
If you have 1 red apple for snack, and eat it, how many are left?

Infant and Toddler, Math and Numbers

Summer Fun and Learning Outside for Kids: Math

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Have you heard or read that some doctors are writing prescriptions for kids with the orders: Go Outside and Play? There is so much that kids can do outside, especially in summer. This is a series of posts on different ways of having fun outside for kids that supports early learning and later kindergarten readiness. … Continue reading Summer Fun and Learning Outside for Kids: Math →

Math and Numbers

Soccer Can Help Kids Learn Basic Math Concepts

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Have you been watching any World Cup Soccer? Soccer games use some basic math concepts–most important is the score–and can help kids as they learn and develop their number sense. It is easy for kids to understand that each time a ball goes in the net that it is counted. As children sort out that … Continue reading Soccer Can Help Kids Learn Basic Math Concepts →

Math and Numbers

Kindergarten Readiness: What Shape is a Snowman?

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Snowmen and snowballs are usually circles. Having a basic understanding of shapes is sometimes included on evaluations and screening for kindergarten readiness. This isn’t so much because it is critical knowledge but it gives an idea of the level of children’s thinking. For instance, a child may be asked to put shapes that are the … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness: What Shape is a Snowman? →