Math Idea: Patterning

Preschoolers pretend to be turtles during this claw-tapping, beak-snapping activity! Explain that a turtle uses its feet and claws to help it walk and its beaklike mouth to help it eat. Have children follow along as you begin an AABB pattern by slapping your thighs (tap, tap) and clapping your hands (snap, snap). If desired, use accompanying verbal descriptions to go with the movements, such as “Tap, tap!” and “Snap, snap!” Repeat the activity with patterns that relate to other pond critters.

 

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Math Idea: Comparing Lengths

Preparation: Cut both long and short lengths of brown yarn (I have some you can have!) to make a class supply of worms plus two extras. Label a length of brown bulletin board paper as shown. Then glue a corresponding piece of yarn below each label.

Seat youngsters in a circle around the prepared paper (garden). Then give each of two children a worm. Direct the two students to wiggle their worms to the garden while you lead the rest of the group in singing the song shown. At the end of the song, encourage the two children to compare the lengths of their worms to the lengths of the short and long worms already in the garden. Then have each youngster place his worm on the appropriate side of the garden. Continue in this manner with different students until all the worms have wiggled their way into the garden!

(sung to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)

Wiggly, wiggly, wiggly worms.
Wiggly worms, wiggly worms.
Wiggly, wiggly, wiggly worms.
The garden’s where they’ll go.

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Math Activity: Number Recognition!

Preparation: Attach a sheet of brown construction paper to a cookie sheet so it resembles a garden. Add details as desired. Cut out ten craft foam seeds and attach a piece of a self-adhesive magnet strip to the back of each one. Gather a set of number cards that show the numerals 1 to 10 and place them in a bag.

Display the garden in your circle-time area. Invite a youngster to choose a number card from the bag. Encourage students to identify the number. Then invite a child to place the corresponding number of seeds in the garden. After youngsters count the seeds to confirm that the number is correct, remove the seeds. Then repeat the process with a new number card.

 

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April is National Mathematics Education Month!

In honor of National Mathematics Education Month, check out The Mailbox Blog’s ideas on using math manipulatives in your classroom.

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Math Center: Ladybug Counting

Little ones will spread their wings and fly over to your math area for some number fun with ladybugs! Make a set of ten ladybug manipulatives to help your students practice counting and numeral recognition. To make one ladybug, cut two circles of the same size from red, laminated construction paper and a smaller circle from black, laminated construction paper. Cut one of the red circles in half to create two wings. Use a permanent marker to label the uncut red circle with a numeral from 1 to 10; then draw the corresponding number of dots on the wing set. Fasten all four pieces together with a metal brad as shown. Invite a child at this center to count the dots on a ladybug’s wings and then spread the wings to see the corresponding numeral.

 

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Math Idea: Patterning

Have students really get a feel for patterning when they use themselves! Seat students in a circle. Choose one child to start the pattern. Ask him to take a position to represent an object of his choice. He might sit hugging his knees to be a rock, sit cross-legged to be a pretzel, stand straight to be a stick, or stand in jumping jack position to be an X. Then have the child next to him choose a different position/object. Establish the pattern (for example, say, “Rock, pretzel”); then have the next child in the circle assume the correct position to keep the pattern going. Continue until everyone is part of the pattern!

Can your preschool pattern detectives solve the case of the colored footprints? Bet they’ll want to try! To prepare, cut a large supply of footprint shapes from various colors of construction paper. Lay five or six of the footprints on the floor to create a simple pattern, such as red, blue, red, blue, red. Place the remaining footprints in a box nearby. Give a child a magnifying glass and ask her to examine this “evidence.” Can she detect what color should come next? Have her remove a footprint in the appropriate color from the box and continue the trail. After a few of your preschool sleuths have had a turn, review the pattern with the whole group and start again with a new trail of evidence!

 

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Shapely Pretzels

This shape exploration is hard to resist! Give each student 12 pretzel sticks on a paper towel. Then announce various shape-related tasks for students to complete with their pretzels (see the suggestions below). After a desired number of tasks, invite each youngster to eat his tempting manipulatives!

• Make as many different triangles as you can.
• Make one triangle with all of your pretzels.
• Make one triangle and then compare it with a classmate’s triangle.
• Make a square and a rectangle.
• Make a rectangle with six pretzels.
• Make a rectangle with eight pretzels.

 

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Playdough Math Mats

Shape up math skills with these durable, fun playdough mats. To make a mat, laminate a 12” x 18” piece of construction paper. Use a permanent marker to program the mat with shapes and numbers. Invite a student to roll dough into long ropes and use them to outline each shape and number. Then challenge the child to cut small pieces of dough to create sets that match each number on the mat. As a variation, you can also program mats with the alphabet. Now that’s play with a purpose!

 

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Math Center: Counting

Some fabric (or patterned paper) and a photocopier will help you prepare for this marvelous math activity! Purchase a yard of interesting fabric that ties in to your current theme (or sheets of paper with different patterns/designs/pictures on it). Copy various images from the fabric to make a reproducible similar to the one shown. Spread the fabric over a table; then ask students to search the design and count the number of each image on their recording sheets. Have students fill in the numbers or the number words for the totals they find.

 

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Valentine’s Math

Math Idea: number sense

A number-related search launches this versatile idea! In advance, use various colors of construction paper to prepare two seasonal cutouts per student. (Or purchase seasonal craft foam cutouts.) Number the cutouts sequentially and then hide them throughout your classroom when your students are not present. Later, set your students in search of the cutouts, asking each youngster to find two of them. After the search, have students work together to complete one or more of the activities below.

• Estimate the number of cutouts. Count by twos to determine the actual number.
• Use reusable adhesive to arrange the cutouts on a wall in numerical order.
• Sort the cutouts by color and then prepare a graph to show how many cutouts there are of each color.

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