Kamii’s lists several types of games that support early math concepts. These are:

• Aiming Games
• Hiding Games
• Races and Chasing Games
• Guessing Games
• Board Games
• Card Games

My favorite game – completely made up by the fabulous teachers at my former preschool- was called “Steal the Jewels.”

The premise is simple.  Take a whole bunch of shiny strings of beads (the New Orleans Mardi Gras kind work really well) and make a pile of them in one area of your indoor gross motor area, or outside, if it is warm.

The children decide the rules.  They may choose to make it a chasing game, where some children are the Stealers and some children are the Rescuers.  The Stealers run to the jewels and steal one string (or two, if the children choose that) and try to get their jewels to the Stealers’ place.  The Rescuers try to tag the Stealers, and if successful, the Stealers give up their jewels and they are returned to the original spot.

Encourage the children to make rules that prohibit grabbing the jewels from each other, or tagging too hard.  It works best if the Rescuers assign one child to be the Protector of the jewels, and only the Protector can hover around the pile.

At the end of the designated time (5 minutes, 10 minutes), play is stopped and the children  either count the jewels or weigh them.  There are now two piles of jewels: the original jewels and the rescued jewels.  Compare the weights or the number of jewels, and play again. This game is fun, exciting, engaging, and the math possibilities are strong.

What kinds of gross motor games do you play?

Once kids have been exposed to the Balance Scale as a tool to explore weight, you can see if they want to make their own balances out of simple materials like paper plates and hangers.

Children can make holes on the edges of the plates with a hole-punch and then put the string through the holes.  They will need help tying them on and making sure the lengths are even.  Once they have two plates complete, they are tied to a hanger and the children can use them to move around the room balancing and weighing to their heart’s desire.

Paper plates can be flimsy, so choose sturdy ones so there is less frustration.  This can also be done with paper cups so items can be put inside and the children don’t have to worry about them sliding off.

Give it a try.