Children need the opportunity to use hands on materials to practice their math skills. Providing them with meaningful materials allows them to practice these math skills and makes learning fun. It's often difficult to find commercial activities to support classification, one to one matching, number conservation, conservation, as many as/more than/the same as etc. These concepts underlie the important mathematical concepts that children will eventually become involved in when they begin school I rely on using typical toys and household items to provide most of the math opportunities in my classroom. All of these activities can be done at home. Once you get the hang of it, I'm sure that you can come up with many more!
This sorting activity was a hit with the kids. I took a cardboard egg carton and painted a different color in each cup. I then filled each cup with small items of each color that I found in the odds and ends box as well as the art shelf.
This sorting/counting/patterning activity was as easy as buying plastic fishing worms.
I emptied my piggy bank for this money sorting activity.
Sometimes, math activities just present themselves. This child picked out the colored loops that were in her cereal bowl and encouraged her friends to do the same. I saw sorting and counting going on. Some compared amounts and used math vocabulary like more than and less than. This activity was completely child initiated.
Play dough is always a favorite. I added number stampers, birthday candles and birthday hats. The kids made birthday cakes and stamped a number in the cake. They then found that number of candles for the cake. The best part - they got to sing Happy Birthday.
What activities/games/materials do you use in your classroom or at home?
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