Number Tree - Theme Reveal

To reveal our next theme to the boys, I put together this tray activity one night after they had gone to bed. I hadn’t told them to expect it, but instead just left it for them to find.

Jet noticed it early the next morning….too early the next morning. Once Spudder was awake I let them get to work on it together. I explained to them that each cup contained a group of legos with numbers on them. It would be the boys job to put the numbers in each cup in order. The catch was that only one cup started at 1. For the other cups the boys would have to pick out the lowest number and then count on from there. This is a skill that’ll not only help the boys get more familiar with numbers, but will be especially beneficial when they’re perfecting their addition & subtraction skills.

Next they sequenced the rows from largest to smallest. Now they could see where this was headed!

The boys with their completed number tree

More TREE fun to come!

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Free Printable Math Activity: Feed the Penguin Boxes

I made these cute little Feed the Penguin boxes to use in math & counting games with my boys, and thought I’d share with you, my wonderful readers.

 

I was a bit indecisive so there’s both a free-standing option as well as a flatter variety that’s sized just right to fit over these Dixie 10oz Paper Bowls. You only need one sheet of paper (or cardstock), a few cuts, a little folding, and a bit of tape to make each box. My 3 year-old used his for counting, My 5 year-old addition, and my 7 year-old multiplication. We fed our penguins goldfish, of course!

 

I also laminated our flatter box so that I could use a dry erase marker to write on the penguin’s chest. Here my 3yo, Jet, is getting an early lesson on addition. I had him feed the penguin the two numbers from some simple addition problems, then raise the box to count (& eat!) the total. This boys LOVES his snacks, so this was a perfect activity for him.

Want to make your own Feed the Penguin Boxes?

Click on the links below to download your free printables:

Feed the Penguin “Bowl-Topper” Box Printable

Feed the Penguin "Free-Standing" Box Printable

Each file contains the instructions and printables necessary to make the boxes in either color or black & white. And because Valentine’s day is approaching, I also added a heart to the penguin’s chest, so you can choose to print with or without that.

Enjoy!

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Sticker Slap! – Counting Game

Dude and I have been playing this fun little game for the past couple of days. I’m not sure he’s realized it yet, but he’s also practicing his math skills!

All you need to play is two (or more) sets of cards with increasing numbers of stickers on them. I made mine with two different colors of cardstock so they’d be easier to sort for the next game. And if your child is anything like mine there WILL be a next game!I only did the numbers 1-10 for now but you could easily go higher.

For the game each player takes one color of card and places them face down (in random order) in a pile in front of them. On the count of three, each player turns over a card, puts it in the middle of the table and then tries to be the first to slap the card with the most stickers. If you’re first you take both cards and put them in your discard pile. The person with the biggest discard pile at the end of the game WINS! Super simple, but being able to both race and slap has made this a big hit with Dude. It’s great counting and greater than/less than comparison as well.

This was one of the bonus ideas in our Shoe Box Learning Centers: Counting book.

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