Early Math Counts

• Sandwich shop menus:
  • Bread: 1 cent
  • Ham: 2 cents
  • Lettuce: 3 cents
  • Tomatoes: 4 cents
  • Cheese: 5 cents
  • Onions: 6 cents
• Sandwich items (I use craft foam sheets or laminated colored construction paper to preserve the life of the game. Depending on the number of children, you will want about 24 pieces of each kind of food.)
  • Bread (Brown and cut out to look like a slice of bread. I make a lot of these because the children usually have two slices of bread for their sandwiches. I write 1¢ on top of the bread.
  • Ham (Pink and cut out to look like a square with rounded edges. Write 2¢ cents on the ham.)
  • Lettuce (A green circle with frilly edges. Write 3¢ on the lettuce.)
  • Tomato (A red circle. Write 4¢ cents on the tomato.)
  • Cheese (A yellow square with rounded edges. Write 5¢ on the cheese.)
  • Onion (A white circle. Write 6¢ on the onion.)
    (You can be creative and adapt your ingredient selection as needed. I work in a nut-free environment, so peanut butter is not an option)
• Trays or low-edged baskets that the children can use to collect their sandwich ingredients.
• Recording sheets that will enable each child to record the number of each ingredients that he/she collected and the price of the child’s sandwich.

Note: Small parts pose a choking hazard and are not appropriate for children age five or under. Be sure to choose lesson materials that meet safety requirements.

1. Ask the children if they have ever made a sandwich before or been at a deli or a restaurant and ordered a sandwich. Explain that today they are going to make their own sandwiches and figure out how much their sandwiches cost. Say: “The name of the game is The Sandwich Shop.”
2. Explain the directions of the game. Using the items available, the children will make a sandwich. Model what that would look like. Say: “Let’s see… I want two pieces of bread, a piece of ham, one piece of cheese and a tomato.” Assemble your sandwich. Say: “Now I need to add up all of my sandwich ingredients. I will use my recording sheet to do this.” On your recording sheet, put the number 2 next to the bread quantity and the number 1 next the cheese, tomato and ham quantities.
3. Add up the ingredients. Say: “A piece of bread costs 1¢ and I have two of them: 1+1=2. I have a piece of ham. Who can look on the menu and see how much a piece of ham costs? (2¢) So 2+2=4.” Add up the cost of the remaining sandwich items. Say: “My sandwich costs 13¢. Now you will get a chance to assemble a sandwich and figure out the cost of your own sandwich.”

1. Place the menus and the sandwich pieces at different stations around the room. Each child should have his/her own recording sheet and access to a menu and the sandwich pieces.
2. Once the children are done constructing their sandwiches, circulate to see if any of the children need help adding up the cost of their sandwiches. You might need to put out counters to help the children add.
3. When all of the children have made their sandwiches and added up the prices of their sandwich ingredients, have them compare their sandwiches. Ask: “Who has the most expensive sandwich? Who has the least expensive sandwich? Why?”

Additional Extensions

• Once the children have assembled and calculated the price of one sandwich, have them build another sandwich using different items or more items. The children can do this activity more than once, always changing it up.

• Add more items (chicken for 7¢, jelly for 8¢, etc.). It is easy to replicate these items using the craft foam sheets. You don’t even necessarily need to increase the price, especially if your children are just beginning to add. You can keep the cost of all of the items below 5 cents and have multiple items for the same price.

• Add: Increase in amount or number (e.g.,”When we add a piece of cheese and a tomato together, how much will that be?”)
• Calculate: To determine the amount or number of something (e.g.,”Let’s calculate the price of this sandwich.”)
• Most: Having the greatest quantity or number (e.g.,”Who has the most expensive sandwich?”)
• Least: Having the smallest quantity or number (e.g.,”Who has the least expensive sandwich?”)

Early Math Glossary

Adapt Lesson for Toddlers

Toddlers may:

• Not yet identify numbers
• Be capable of number recognition, but not addition

Child care providers may:

• Read the menu to the children and have the children count out the number of pieces called out (The children will be making the same sandwiches and gathering the items for their sandwiches.)
• Design a different menu that has the children constructing sandwiches on the menu, but not calculating the prices of their sandwiches (The menu should contain different variations of a sandwich using the provided items. For example, Sandwich #1 has one piece of bread, two pieces of cheese, one tomato and one onion. The children will count out and collect those items for their sandwiches. Sandwich #2 will be a different sandwich, using the provided items on the menu.)

Adapt Lesson for Preschoolers

Preschoolers may:

• Add single-digit numbers fluently and be starting to expand into numbers 10-20

Child care providers may:

• Once the children have assembled and calculated the price of one sandwich, have them build another sandwich using different items or more items. The children can do this activity more than once, always changing it up.
• Add more items, e.g., chicken for 7¢, jelly for 8¢ (It is easy to replicate these items using the craft foam sheets. You don’t even necessarily need to increase the prices of the ingredients, especially if your children are just beginning to add. You can keep the cost of all items below 5 cents and have multiple items for the same price.)