In the early childhood classroom, a teacher can use a popular directional song such as Going on a Bear Hunt and modify the movements to teaching math concepts. The lyrics can be composed by the children using the premise of going on a hunt (lion hunt, princess hunt snowman hunt etc.) to find a treasure or make it to a destination. Integrating the developmental areas of movement and math will give the teacher a perspective on the child’s ability in these areas as well. 

A board game can be created with large poster boards taped together to create a walking path. Create lines for spaces  on the boards so the children can move to and from them during the game. For this game, a large life size die would be the most fun and creative for the children. 

To introduce the game, teachers can play the bear hunt song before the game to get the children excited about the activity they are going to engage in. Then during the game, the children can roll the die and pick a directional card that says (for example), “move 3 spaces to grab your backpack for the bear hunt”. These directional cards can incorporate the theme of the song, having the child collect the items they need in order to be prepared for the hunt. After the game has been played, the teacher can play the song again to recreate connections for the children.

This game can be played as a cooperative game with young children to collectively make it to the finish line with all of the items needed for the bear hunt or as a competitive game. The children can change the rules of the game each time they play. For example, “the player that collects the backpack can automatically proceed to the finish line”, might be a rule that the children come up with.  Thus, getting the backpack makes you get to the finish line first! This technique can assist with keeping children engaged once they have mastered one set of rules. Later children can add new directional cards to the game, for example “Move 2 spaces then do 5 jumping jacks”. This can challenge children at different cognitive levels. Interactive games can increase engagement, which will give children a chance to learn new information or recall previously learned knowledge. Adding this to a classroom can be fun and engaging while promoting team building and math skills.

This can be a small group activity in the class and can span multiple days. The teacher can assign small groups based on children’s similar interests. To create the board game you need supplies such as a large white board, colored sharpies, rulers, tape, glue, and your book related themed items such as stickers and other fun decorative items. Reading the book and presenting the idea of making a game from the theme of the book will most likely help get the children intrigued. Once the board game is created, the adult can guide children in writing the rules of the game. Use the children’s own words and help guide them to create sensible and manageable game rules.

The game can cover many different math concepts such as one-to-one correspondence or basic counting. Creating a board game allows you to modify the rules based on a young child’s ability and frustration level. Making a game with a spinner with the numbers 1-5 is a great way to foster numeral recognition.  Then, when a child moves a token the correct number of spaces, cognitive connections start to be made about the number symbol and the amount it represents. To make a game more challenging, a die can be used or multiple dies where the the child must add up the total pips and then move the correct spaces.

One of the benefits of creating your own board or card game is that the child can decide when they are ready to challenge themselves. The child can create a game that can be played with one player, and this can help the individual child learn without having the pressure of others watching. Other games can be played with multiple players, using partners or the collective.

Creating games can also help children connect with their artistic personality by giving them the freedom to decorate the board and game pieces based off of their interests. This will keep the child stay engaged, and encourage self initiative. Learning is most powerful when connected to a child’s interests and making games can be a rewarding and fun part of the learning process

One strategy involves the parent or caregiver making a daily mealtime chart and marking or logging whether the child ate their meal or tried a new item; the child should be a part of this process. The chart can state the date and the number or tally mark indicating that a meal was completed that day. If a new food item was tried, that item can be logged as well. A parent or teacher can create this chart with the young child, explaining that each time they eat their meal or try a new item they will receive a mark on their meal chart. The parent can incentivize the child by including an end reward if that is a factor they want to include.

At mealtime you can have the child mark their chart and ask them “How many marks do you have today?” You can assist the child in counting the tally marks. Then, once the child states the number you can ask “If you try a new food item tomorrow, how many will you have then?” This requires the child to mentally count or add on, which is a more complex mathematical skill than simple one to one correspondence. For example, if the current tally is 5, when the young child eats a meal the next day the number would be 6. Once the numbers begin to increase the parent or caregiver can state, “You have 6 meals, if you add one more meal how many meals will you have eaten?” This statement is slightly more complex then the first, because now the child is being challenged with the concept of adding on.

Creating this chart, using it daily, then analyzing the data can be fun for young children because they have been involved in the process of creating the chart/game. This can help make mealtime an enjoyable part of their day. This mealtime game can be played at any time and any where eating takes place. It can be used for snack, dinner, lunch or even drinking water. Children tend to become more intrigued and engaged if they are involved in creating their learning tools. Mealtime can now become fun and exciting while learning!

From the moment school lets out for summer vacation, anxiety about how to avoid the summer slide sets in. Summer slide refers to the loss of skills many children experience during summer vacation.

As a parent, the idea of “practicing” skills over the summer was dreadful and daunting. Forcing my children to do workbook pages, flashcards or mandated work from school was not my idea of how to best spend our summer vacation. But as a teacher, I want children to practice their skills over the summer so they are sharp and ready for their upcoming year. Not surprising that reading seems to be easier to include into summer. We would have designated times each day where we would all read and weekly trips to the library to check out new books was a part of our summer routine. Math seems to be the activity that gets neglected and according to research, math skills drop more over the summer than any other academic skill.

There are many ways in which to keep up math skills without resorting to workbooks or relying solely on iPad apps. (Though there are so many comprehensive math apps available and the iPad is a great “down time” activity!) Games, sports, cooking & baking, planning a trip, math stories, museum trips, time telling to plan their day, and lemonade stands and trips to the candy and/or toy store or all fun activities to reinforce numeracy skills.

For years, my college friends and our children go on a beach vacation to Rhode Island. And each year, the trip to the coveted candy store is “must do” activity. The trip to the candy store does not come without a lot of frontloading as to how much money they can spend, what kind of candy they can buy, and when they can eat the candy. This year, I brought my 6-year-old godson and since I only see him one or two times a year, and my job is to spoil him, none of the previous rules I had for my own children applied.

Instead, I gave him $5.00 and told him that he could buy whatever he wanted but he had to ask the price of each item and ask the person at the counter to let him know when he had gone over $5.00. Luckily, the woman at the counter was very accommodating and not too busy to help us out. As he was picking up items and asking their cost, I was calculating his possible candy stash on my iPhone calculator and showing him what his items totaled and how much more money he had to spend before he got to $5.00. Unfortunately or fortunately for the sake of this experience, $5.00 does not go far in this particular candy store. He chose Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum for $2.65 and a Whistle Pop for $1.50 for a total of $4.15. I calculated and then showed him that $5.00 minus $4.15 was $0.85 and that was the amount he had left to spend on another piece of candy. I told him that he could spend it now or save it for another trip to the candy store at a later date. He chose to save it and a good thing too because after a brief survey, there wasn’t anything in that candy store that was under $1.50. I had him put his $0.85 in his pocket and he happily exited the candy store with a mouth full of bubble gum. I think that next year I will have him earn the money by doing small chores such as taking the garbage out, sweeping the deck and after he has earned a bit of money, I’ll take him to the candy store. Teaching children the basics such as how to budget, spend and save will establish good money habits for life.

Another “summer slide” activity we like to do on vacation is play games. We are a game playing family and love the down time of vacation to relax and play the games we love.

Shut the Box has been a favorite beach game for forever and appeals to all age groups.

This game can be played with a partner, alone, or with a group and teaches math and logic skills. Younger children can use it as a counting game while older children can use it as a game of strategy. The fun part is that the game takes about five minutes to learn but can take a while to learn how to “Shut the Box”. Players roll two dice (at first) and flip down numbers that equal the sum of the total rolled. Each player continues until he can no longer flip down a tile and then adds up the total of the remaining numbers. The box passes to the next player and the winner is the one with the lowest score (unless someone “shuts the box” and automatically wins by successfully flipping all of the numbers down) I’ve actually seen this game at my local bar and have witnessed adults get into heated round robin competitions of Shut the Box.

This year, my friend introduced us to a new game that quickly became an obsessive hit.

Simplexity is absolutely addicting. It is easy to learn, but sophisticated with multiplayer layers of strategies and can get very competitive (which we like!) The object of Simplexity is simple; be the first player to connect four pieces in row by shape or by color. But, be careful, your next move may actually help your opponent. The nice thing about both of these games is that they are sturdy and are made of wood so that they last a long time and transport is easy. There are so many great games that children can play to reinforce skills whether it be number sense, spatial reasoning, or good sportsmanship, the trick is to find one that your child enjoys playing.

Along with playing games, I love logic puzzles, mind teasers, and math word problems. Last summer I blogged about logic puzzles, brain teasers, & games. They boost brain activity, increase fluency and memory, improves concentration, promotes harmonious group dynamics, and gives one a sense of pride whe they have successfully completed a challenge. Instead of giving my 4^th graders a math packet for the summer, I give them a one big math problem to solve. They can work on it throughout the summer and they can work on it with friends and family but they need to clearly show their work and explain how they got to their answer. I give them Marilyn Burns’ The Double-Dip Ice Cream Problem from the book, About Teaching Mathematics. Marilyn Burns is a well respected math educator and has many math books for children of all ages. She is a wonderful resource for skill and concept extensions, games, and logic problems. She has her own blog that I often use as a resource www.marilynburnsmathblog.com.

The Double-Dip Ice Cream Problem: In an ice-cream store that has 31 flavors,

how many different combinations of double-scoop ice cream cones can you get?

Show your work.

I send this to my upcoming class and have them bring it in the first day of school. I take a look at their work and then group them accordingly as to how they solved the problem. I also tell them that, for this activity, I am far more interested in their process than in their final product. Some kids draw out the whole problem with different colors representing each double-dip ice cream cone until they get to the final answer. Some kids will start out making a picture, will recognize that there is a pattern involved and switch over to a table t-chart to continue the pattern until they’ve reached the answer and some of the children solve the problem using an algebraic operation. Nine out of ten times, the ones who try and solve using the operation, do not get the answer correct and have little work to show for their thinking. I group the children accordingly and have the children go over the problem and compare answers. Each group need to agree on one answer and then explain how they got the answer. The Double-Dip Ice Cream Problem has proven to be an insightful diagnostic tool and tells me a lot about the children as mathematical learners. The problem is also a low stakes way of getting them back into the swing of mathematical thinking. Once all the groups have presented, we come up with the most efficient way to solve the problem and make a class graph that represents our thinking.

It is important to have children thinking about math all throughout the summer and there are many creative ways to make sure that that happens. Here are some websites to give you some additional ideas:

Gideonmathand reading.com

Mathinsider.com

Splashmath.com

I’ve been out of that game for some time, so I now live vicariously through other people’s fabulous equipment.  This week I saw this new mat.

This mat reminds me of “stepping-stones” or “tree stumps” that children traverse in the great outdoors.  I can’t help but think about all of the math possibilities for children as they play here.  Everything from jumping on two feet from stump to stump, to a simple version of “Twister’ where the teacher calls out “one foot and one hand” or “two feet and two hands”.

Can you think of any other math games you could play on this cool mat?