Once the children notice that she has polka dots on her back you can explain that counting the dots can be fun.  There is an old wives tale that says the number of dots on a ladybug’s back corresponds to her age, which isn’t true, but fun to play around with. The matching game pictures above is easy to create and simple enough for young children.  Make a set of matching cards with ladybugs having dots from 0-6.  Then create a set of cards with the cardinal numbers from 0-6. If you are playing with young two-year olds, you can play with only the cards marked 1, 2, and 3.  This will make the game more accessible to them.

In addition to playing the matching game be sure to sing  The Ladybug’s Picnic with your kids.  It reinforces counting up to 12 and is an all-time favorite.  This link to a youtube version will remind you of the tune and the lyrics.

The children in her classroom had been studying Eric Carle for a while, focusing primarily on the Bear books: Brown Bear, Polar Bear, Panda Bear, and Baby Bear. There was evidence of their ongoing exploration in the classroom. Below you can see a chart where the children voted for their favorite bear.

Here you can see another way that the children voted, this time between 2 books.

The teacher used two proven methods for voting both with visual clues that helped the children see which books were favored.  In the first example, the children wrote their names above the books, so it created a graph-like visual, and in the second, they put their name cards in slots below the titles which could easily be counted.

So not only was the exploration filled with mathematics, but the children also discovered the same author wrote versions of this story that could be compared and contrasted.  In Brown Bear – the bear sees.  In Polar Bear the bear hears.  It is the same but different.

My student took it all a step further and created a matching game with images from the story.  She started with images which were exactly the same,and then used images that were the same but different.  She found real images of a frog, and a red bird, a duck and a sheep.  These small changes presented some very interesting challenges for the children because they could identify the images for what they, were but found it very difficult to see that they were the same as the drawn pictures.  Watch the video below to see how the girl passes over the match a couple of times and needs the support of her teacher to find the matching green frog.

At this time of the year, we are all itching to get outside.  It feels like we’ve been cooped up inside for years, not months.  And even though the calendar says “May” it still may not feel like the spring has sprung. I say, “Bring the outdoors inside,” in order to get the ball rolling.  One great way to do this, it to start a planting activity inside the classroom that can be closely observed by the children before the plants are transplanted to your outdoor space.

To introduce the children to the theme of Flowers, read a copy of The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.  This book acquaints children with the life cycle of plants through the beautiful art and storytelling techniques unique to Eric Carle.  Children can watch as the tiny seed travels through the wind until it settles into the land and finally grows into a flower.  Later as you explore flowers in your classroom, you can have the children refer back to the book as a resource while they watch their own flowers grow and bloom.

One mom reported that she had heard that children were supposed to identify a pair of “trousers” in a picture.  She felt that the word “trousers” is no longer used and her child was at a disadvantage because their family does not use that word at home.  Perhaps this is true.  I might argue that most of us no longer use the word trousers to describe pants.  We say “pants” or “jeans” or “corduroys.”  However, children who read a lot, are read to a lot and who are exposed to the world of books, will have a vocabulary that will eventually include words like “trousers.”  Books are important for language learning.

That brings me to books for math.  If approached with intention, children’s books are rich with mathematical concepts.  Some are obvious (Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) and others have mathematical concepts embedded in the stories, through the use of patterns, rhythm, and predictability.

Nowhere is this more true than in Eric Carle books.

Take a look at this video and let us know what you think.  Watch how Ana reads “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and capitalizes on the mathematical concepts.  What do you think?

(The password for the video is Ana)

I know that at some point in the future I want to explore the mathematical possibilities of using Eric Carle books with young children as a vehicle for exploration.  Perhaps later on this year.  For now, I want to introduce you to his website that is filled with information about the books, about Mr. Carle himself, his blog, newsletters, and games.

Click here to check out the downloadable games he has posted.  There are matching games, mazes, connect-the-dots, etc.  Each of the pages is resplendent with the beautiful artwork of Eric Carle!