Ladybug Math

There is something about ladybugs that is just fun and cute! 

 I made this math set for my almost 4 year old daughter and she loves it!

The spots are movable, so there are so many ways to play...
-match the ladybugs spots to the dot cards
-count the dots as you add and subtract them from the felt body
-practice making symmetrical designs with the dots
-use your imagination!

I created the ladybug spot cards with paint and word, printed them out, laminated them and cut them out.  If you're interested in a word copy of the file I made, just leave a comment and let me know.  I'd be happy to email it to you.

This ladybug math set is also now in my etsy shop!

Acorn Counting

For this simple math activity we collected acorns from the backyard (although you could use anything: sticks, leaves, rocks, etc).  Amy (22 months) loved helping me find acorns to use.

I was thinking we would find the acorns, line them up, and count them.  Amy had other plans.  She wanted to find the acorns, let me line them up, and then throw them one by one.

But that was okay too.  We just counted (or rather I counted and she repeated the numbers) as she threw them.  She had fun and we practiced one-to-one number correspondence, all while using things in nature.

We are trying to take advantage of some wonderful early fall weather this week!

How Many Apples on the Tree? Felt Game

I saw a paper version of this on a blog (I can't remember which one!) recently and immediately thought, I can make that out of felt!  It's also similar to the children's board game, Hi Ho Cherry-O.

The premise of the game is taking turns rolling a dice and placing that many apples on the tree.  This is great counting practice!  You can also do addition and subtraction.  We used one die at first, then added a second to practice larger numbers.  I've added a How Many Apples on the Tree? felt game to my etsy shop, check it out here.

Happy Counting!

Counting Containers

Here's a fun learning activity involving counting, estimating, and one to one correspondence.

You'll need a container (we used a large mouthed water bottle) and a number of small objects (we used matchbox cars.

Have your child guess how many of the objects will fit into the container. Then fill the container. You can count the objects going in and count them coming out again.

We did this several times in a row. And then Isaac lined up the cars on the windowsill.

For extra fun, change the container or the object you're putting inside. Does the number that fits inside change?

Number Forest

I loved this idea for Counting Coconuts! I cut out and numbered 11 trees and taped them to popsicle sticks. Isaac then helped me put the right number of stickers on each tree.

I learned a lot about his number knowledge. Like what numbers he recognizes, how well he can count, and that he thinks a "5" is a "s". Not that I blame him, they do look a lot a like!



For the forest floor I covered two sides of a box with brown paper, then jammed my scissors into the top to make holes just the right size for the popsicle sticks to go in. Now Isaac can arrange and rearrange his number forest to his heart's delight!

Looking through a Glass

This science activity came about during lunch with my curious kiddo. While eating, Isaac had his head resting on the table and began looking at everything through my empty glass, making comments like: "It looks like an oval," "It looks bigger," and "It looks taller."

We then filled the glass with water and looked again. Things seemed to change! Isaac was fascinated at seeing for the glass and the water made objects look different. We experimented with different objects and glasses. We'll call it a learning lunch hour! It's all about refraction my dear little one!

Fruit Loop Pattern Necklace

It hasn't been too long since we made fruit loop necklaces, and so when I got out the supplies today my son said, "I already made mine Mom." To which I responded, "Oh yes, but you haven't made one like this!"

You see, we've been working on patterns and I though the cereal necklaces would be a fun way to practice more patterns.

Isaac decided on an A-B-C pattern of purple-yellow-blue. He helped me sort out those colors into piles (and happily ate the other colors left over). We used a cord rather than string or ribbon because it is a bit stiffer and makes stringing on the cereal easier for small hands. I tied on loop on the end and away he went...

It was good fine motor practice!

The finished product. You can see that we need to keep practicing patterns, and that Isaac still wanted to finish the piles of cereal, even when blue was the only color left. :)

Giant Venn Diagram

To practice categorizing I made a giant Venn Diagram (two large circles that overlap) on a piece of tag board. My son helped me pull out all of his little toys that were white, black or both. Then we set about sorting them. White in one circle, black in another, and those toys that had both black and white were placed in the overlap of the circles.



He caught on to this quickly and was able to complete the project with only a little intervention from me.

Other ideas for sorting with a Venn diagram:

-herbivore, carnivore, omnivore (although using these titles is up to you and the age of your child!)

-Animals are how they move (swim, walk, hop, run). A duck can overlap walk and swim because it does both.

-things that are smooth, poky, or smooth and poky

-other colors besides white and black

You can use actual object, clip art printed out, or sketches drawn by hand.