Pasta Snakes

This is a great fine motor activity that practices not only color recognition but math patterns.  Check out I Can Teach My Child‘s blog post:

Preschoolers and Toddlers Learning Together: Pasta Snakes

 

Educational Objectives for Toddler:

Fine motor skills

Color Recognition

 

Educational Objectives for Preschooler:

Following written instructions

Pattern Recognition

Fine Motor Skills

 

Materials:

Rubbing Alcohol

Food Dye (found out the hard way that it must be liquid dye and not gel; the gel doesn’t dissolve in alcohol)

Pasta (hollow and tubular- penne, etc.)

String or Yarn

Paper

Crayons

Scotch Tape

 

1.  Fill small containers with rubbing alcohol and mix a different color of food dye in each vat.  Submerge noodles in vats and leave for about a minute.

2.  Take out pasta and dry on paper towels for about an hour.

3.  Tie a crayon to one end of a piece of string or yarn (to keep the pasta from slipping off).  Wrap the other end of the string in scotch tape (to make it stiff for threading the pasta)

 

For Your Toddler:

Teach them to thread pasta pieces on to the snake.  When they have that down, let them practice color recognition by following instructions about which color to add to their snake next.

For Your Preschooler:

Write down several color patterns on paper.  At the end of each written pattern, ask your preschooler to predict what color comes next.  Then have them make a pasta snake modeled after each written pattern.

I found that both the toddler and the preschooler could work happily on their respective projects at the same time- without over-extention for mom.  Horray!

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Kwanzaa Activity: Counting

Reinforce number awareness with this small-group activity! Display five ears of corn (still in the husks) on a woven placemat. Invite a small group of students to sit with you. Explain that during Kwanzaa, each family places an ear of corn on the mkeka mat to represent each child. Have students count the ears and decide how many children would be in that imaginary family. Remove one ear of corn and ask students to count the remaining ears and tell you how many children are in that family. Remove another ear and again ask youngsters how many children there are. Continue in this manner, adding and removing ears of corn for several rounds. Wow—that family has five children!

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Counting Cherry Pie

Color a paper plate brown so it resembles a pie and cut it into five equal slices. Make a different number of red fingerprints (cherries) from one through five on each slice. When the prints are dry, place the slices in a pie tin. Write each matching numeral on a different paper plate. Then place the pie tin and plates at a center. A visiting youngster counts the number of cherries on a slice of pie. Then he dishes up the slice on the matching paper plate. He repeats the process for each remaining slice of pie.

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Stick Shapes

Give each child ten craft sticks; then challenge her to create a given shape using a specified number of sticks. For example, ask, ”Can you make a triangle with three sticks?“ or ”Who can make a rectangle using all ten sticks?“ This is a great way to shape up youngsters’ stick-to-itiveness!

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Shaping up with turkeys!

(From Teach Preschool)

Circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares from all different colors of construction paper can be used to make shape turkeys.

To make the turkeys, the children started by gluing their circles on their piece of white paper…

And then they began adding shapes to their circles to create the rest of their turkeys…

And some of the children used a marker to add facial features and legs and turkey feet….

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Ready, Set, Count!

Creativity, exploration, and counting skills are evident when you do this math activity. Stock a center with one manipulative, such as buttons, pattern blocks, golf tees, tongue depressors, beans, or pebbles. Each day, place a large index card programmed with the numeral you wish to study at the center. To use the center, a child looks at the numeral on the card and uses the manipulatives to create a variety of arrangements that correspond with the numeral. For example, if the card is programmed with the numeral 5, the child may use the manipulatives to make several sets of five by creating a different arrangement with the blocks in each set.

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Math: Comparing Weight

Preparation: Obtain a medium-size pumpkin and display it in your group area. Also make a large pumpkin cutout.

Lead students in a discussion about how heavy they think the pumpkin is. Ask several student volunteers to try to lift the pumpkin. Then help students name items that are heavier or lighter than the pumpkin and list students’ responses on the pumpkin cutout. Prompt discussion about the weight of the pumpkin compared to other items as appropriate.

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Shape Sort and Hunt

(from I Can Teach My Child blog)

Shape Hunt and Sort Posted: 23 Sep 2011 11:03 AM PDT After using the painter’s tape yesterday for our walk the line toddler activity, I decided to “recycle” the tape for an activity for Big Brother as well.  I just tore strips of tape and arranged them into 4 shapes:  a triangle, square, rectangle, and a circle.   The circle was slightly difficult.  I just took a long piece of tape and connected the two ends together while I held it in the air.  Then I laid the tape on its side and attempted (as best as I could) to create a circle shape.  After that I pressed the tape down on the ground.  Big Brother informed me that it looked more like an octagon.  He was exactly right, but we forged ahead…pretending that it was, in fact, a circle!   Next, go on a hunt around the house to find objects that can go inside of each shape on the floor!  This was Big Brother’s favorite part…he worked for over 30 minutes finding shapes!   This was not only a fun hands-on approach to learning about shapes, but it also allowed for more discussion on how many sides each shape has, which shapes had an equal number of sides, and what the differences were between the rectangle and square. We’ll definitely be doing this activity again…perhaps with more complex shapes next time (all the -gons, for example).

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3-D Pumpkin Puzzles

(from I Can Teach My Child blog)

3-D Pumpkin PuzzlesPosted: 28 Sep 2011 11:48 AM PDT Sometimes people ask me where I come up with my ideas.  I’m REALLY not a very creative person (I’m not even a fan of crafting, at least on the adult level…mostly because I am completely inept).  In all honestly, a lot of times I look at a piece of trash and wonder what I can do with it.  This activity was no exception. Here’s what you’ll need:  an egg carton, either an orange Sharpie or orange paint (depending on whether your egg carton is styrofoam or cardboard), and a black permanent marker. Start cutting your egg carton into individual cups (pumpkins). Color your egg carton with the Sharpie.  If you have a cardboard egg carton, use paint.  The paint flakes off the styrofoam…hence the need for the Sharpie. Use a black marker to write the numerals on one side and the number of corresponding dots on the other side. Use scissors or an Xacto knife to cut your pumpkins.  Try to make each one different. Throw all the pieces on the floor… And let your little one get started putting the 3D pumpkin puzzles together! This activity is great for number recognition… and one-to-one correspondence!

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Visual Discrimination Activity

Lace up some learning fun with a matching activity that uses a preschooler’s favorite article of clothing—shoes! Direct each child to remove one shoe and place it in the middle of the circle. Have students close their eyes as you mix up the shoes. Then have each child, in turn, pick a shoe from the pile and find the proper owner. So many shoes to choose!

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