premath learning activities

Kindergarten Readiness: Football for Number Learning and Fun

Did you know that football can help promote kindergarten readiness? Many homes had football on their tvs this weekend, and football certainly has numbers. There are numbers on jerseys, numbers on scores, big numbers on the field and more. Lots of experiences with numbers, in a variety of situations is what children need to build their understanding of numbers and other math concepts.
Football Team in a Huddle
Just learning the words for numbers can be quite a challenge, let alone being able to name them in order. Then, number words need to get connected to how numbers look. There’s a lot of brain connections that need to be made for learning numbers. Children need to hear the names of numbers over and over again and see what they look like. Reading books about numbers, singing number songs, counting the steps and stairs, looking for numbers in signs and displays, and even watching football are ways for kids to encounter numbers.

Are there some ways that you can include number fun and learning for your child again today?

Kindergarten Readiness: Halloween Learning & Early Math Fun

Halloween is almost a made-to-order opportunity for all sorts of early learning and play, kindergarten readiness activities and fun. Besides costumes and dressing up with a great deal of imaginative and pretend play, there’s lots of excitement and stimulation for the senses. Things to see, hear, eat, smell and taste, although parents and caregivers are not so keen on all the sugar.

The spiders, bats, ghosts, skeletons and more are also fun to count. When it comes to early math, children soon learn to say the numbers. Although kids may miss a few numbers in the sequence they enjoying counting. Even more important than saying numbers correctly, kids need to learn the idea of oneness. Oneness means that one number belongs to one item. As very young kids say each number they do not always point to just one object or a single object may have a few numbers accompanying it. The concept of one number-one item is basic to understanding what counting is all about.

hallow-countingTo help kids learn, they need lots and lots of experiences saying numbers and touching objects. Some of this they practice on their own, but parents and caregivers can drop in on their play every now and again and count with them. When you count with young children, let them see that each time you say a number you also touch or point to only one item. If they are counting and get confused, you can spread the objects out so that they can count them more easily. If counting is incorrect, the first step is to help kids say one number for each thing and then count them together. Again, much practice is needed and kids do make mistakes before they figure it out.

This bag of items from the dollar store was great fun to count, sort into groups, and to be pretend treats. What can you find at your house for some Halloween counting and early math fun?

Kindergarten Readiness Rocks! 1 to 1 Correspondence

Rocks may not seem like an educational material for early learning but just a few stones are needed for some kindergarten readiness math fun.

As children sort out that numbers mean ‘how many’, they begin to count. Have you ever noticed that as they learn, they count somethings more than once, sometimes over and over? In order for children to count, they need to figure out that one number goes with one thing.  This is called one-to-one correspondence and is a basic math concept. Being able to match one item to one number is a key to understanding how the number system works. Children may be able to say numbers in order but may not necessarily figure out that each time they count that means one more. Kids need to understand this 1-to-1 relationship first so they can link one number and one object.
rock-five
For kids to grasp this idea they need to have lots of play experiences with one to one matching. Since the rocks were out, it was easy to ask Lee to make a rock family just like her family. She needed a rock for mommy, daddy, herself and baby sister in the shoebox lid house. But there were five –another one for the cat! Math is about numbers but it is also about relationships. Using one rock to be each person in the family was creating a relationship, too. (Rock families will all be different.)

rock-oneThere are other ways to play with 1 to 1 matching. How many toes are on a foot? One rock for each toe, or one rock for each house; in this case it was one rock. As your child is able, you can make some easy or harder suggestions. One rock for each wheel on the car, one rock for each chair in the kitchen, one rock for each nose, etc. What happens when it’s one rock for each eye? Kids will think of their own ideas for matching (and mathing). Are there some rocks that your child can use for kindergarten readiness fun and learning?

Kindergarten Readiness – Plastic Bugs for Learning Fun

Plastic bugs – dollar store; kindergarten readiness learning and fun – priceless. A few bugs and stickers from the dollar store provided hours of play time for supported all different kinds of  early learning. Here are some photos from some of the activities: making groups: Being able to categorize is an important skill; it helps … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Plastic Bugs for Learning Fun

Kindergarten Readiness – June Bugs For Fun and Learning #7

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home but first can you help us support kids with some kindergarten readiness learning and some June bug fun? Supporting children as they learn and play can use whatever is close at hand, in any room of your home. The ingredients for this learning fun activity are simple, a round lid … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – June Bugs For Fun and Learning #7

Kindergarten Readiness – Easter Fun & Learning #4

Regular, ordinary objects that you already have at home can be learning materials for kindergarten readiness. This basket has been used to pretend trick or treat, as a bed for stuffies, a hat, an umbrella, and has now become an Easter basket.  Dice, emtpy spools, elastics and bottle lids have all been drafted as Easter eggs. And … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Easter Fun & Learning #4

Kindergarten Readiness – Spring Fun & Learning Activities #8

Spring is the time for planting and today’s kindergarten readiness fun is planting some math. Math is somewhat like a seed; it’s ideas that get planted in kids brains that grow into all kinds of connections. For kids to learn that numbers mean how many they first need to understand that one number means one … Continue reading Kindergarten Readiness – Spring Fun & Learning Activities #8

Readiness for Kindergarten, Learning With Dr. Seuss, #12

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss, is a double-your-fun book for both some math and colors. Add in some readiness for kindergarten, and that makes it a triple. Fishy crackers are a tasty math manipulative. Together L, who is three, and I counted out 10 fish crackers, saying the number … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten, Learning With Dr. Seuss, #12

Readiness for Kindergarten – Pancakes for Counting

Pancakes on a Saturday…learning and tasty! At our house, with more time for breakfast, we sometimes have pancakes. When I saw this snowman pancake post on The SEEDS Network, I thought of ways to include some counting. Using chocolate chips for features, kids can count out a specific number for a grownup to put on. … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Pancakes for Counting

Readiness for Kindergarten – Yummy Fun with 8

Now this is exploring numbers!! and when someone asks you what happened to 8, you just say you 8 it up!! Just found this yummy learning and kindergarten readiness activity on Deborah’s TeachPreschool blog using M & M’s. https://www.teachpreschool.org/2012/01/exploring-mm-math-concepts-in-preschool/ Using a bowl of small things like Cheerios, fishy crackers, Shreddies and M & M’s let … Continue reading Readiness for Kindergarten – Yummy Fun with 8