Friday, February 14, 2014

FUN FROM FOLLOWERS: Four PreK Dice Games

I'm on vacation, followers! So, in my absence, a few non-bloggers but deceptively educational moms are offering up a post or two. First up, a friend who diligently incorporates community activities, Montessori-style learning,  and fun into her son's day. And without further adieu …  


When my dear friend since college asked me to write a blog post for her, I was thrilled. It is so much fun to share in her enthusiasm and creative ideas for educational activities. I feel honored to participate. Coming up with an activity was easy, we diced it up. 

My son, Sebastian, is in Pre K. He loves the typical little boy stuff: trains, cars, etc. But he also has an obsession for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Chicka Chicka 123. So any activity with either letters or numbers (and maybe a few skittles) has him jumping for joy. 


1. Roll, Color, Count, & Write (with candy)
Our first activity was with a color and count sheet he brought home from preschool. Essentially it is 5 different circles that he had colored a different color in, with a space to write numbers. I asked him to first to pick a color, roll the dice, then count the dots, and pick out that number of skittles for that color. So if choose red and rolled a five, he had to choose five red skittles. I then asked him to write the number in the square provided. Then we went on to the next color. This was a great activity because he had to find the color, count, and write. And eat candy.


2. Dice Roll Addition
Our second activity was simple addition. For this activity we used two dice and he rolled one and I rolled one. He wrote his number and then I wrote my number. Then we added them together. He seemed to enjoy this one a lot. You can also make it more challenging by adding more dice. You can get this great free printable from Lesson Plan Diva at Teachers Pay Teachers.



3. Dice Roll Value Recognition Competition
The next activity was value recognition: greater, less, and equal. Not only is he learning what is more or less, he also is learning the symbols. Again, we used two dice: I rolled one and he rolled one. My son is very competitive, so he enjoyed the opportunity to see if he could roll a higher number than me. Then he wrote in his number and I wrote in mine.


I tried tricking him by asking him which number is greater, which is less, etc. Then, to reinforce the concept, I told him the arrows were alligators, and the alligator eats the bigger number. He liked drawing in an alligator to eat the bigger number. I also enjoyed teaching him the concept of equal. Get this great free printable from Lesson Plan Diva at Teachers Pay Teachers.


4. Draw the Dots Addition
Our last activity was on our white board. Again, it was addition, he rolled the dice and then added the numbers and then put in the correct amount of dots. 









These were fun activities for us that reinforced number recognition, counting, addition, and writing. I also love to find free printables. So the next time you are looking for a fun and simple math activity, just get out your dice and roll on over to Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational. Thanks for letting me share! 

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Math Mission: Find the Secret of the Circle


Want a great activity that uses materials around your home? One that teaches math vocabulary? Introduces advanced math concepts simply? And is hands-on?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, this activity is a great one for your child. My third-grade son loved it!

What you need:
A ruler and/or a tape measure
pencil
paper
calculator
string
scissors
Circular objects (we used four)

This activity teaches:
  • The difference between circumference (measurement AROUND the circle) and diameter (measurement THROUGH the exact center of the circle) .
  • That the circumference of a circle is always in the same ratio to its diameter.
  • How no matter the size of the circle, the diameter is always approximately 3 times smaller than the circumference.
  • Math vocabulary (e.g. ratio, diameter, circumference).

Skills used: measuring, translating fractions into decimals, deductive reasoning, and division.


Before my son got home from school, I raided the kitchen cabinets and grabbed a glass, bowl small plastic food storage container, and a saucer. All of these objects were round and their shape could easily be traced onto paper.

After he dropped his backpack at the door and was sufficiently nourished with a tall glass  of milk and a homemade cookie, he got to work. One by one, he traced the shapes on blank pieces of paper. NOTE: all the objects I chose were small enough to trace onto standard office paper.

Next, he measured the diameter of each circle. To find the exact center, we folded the paper (making sure the edges of the circle lined up). Then he used yarn (I'd recommended a string that doesn't stretch; our yarn may have skewed some of the results slightly) to wrap around the base of each object. The yarn was the same size as the circles he'd drawn. Once it was measured, the circumference of each object recorded.

Now came the fun part, he divided the circumference by the diameter for each circle using a calculator. (This required figuring out what the decimal for 3/8, 5/8, 3/4, and 7/8 were.)



All of our answers were 3, plus a little. My son was able to deduce that no matter what the size of the circle, the ratio of the diameter to the circumference was basically the same. And THAT'S the secret of the circle!

If your measurements are precise enough, the number will  be PI (3.141592635). Even with our stretchy yarn, we ended up with 3.0163, 3.2, 3.11, and 3.1304. Not bad, I'd say!

This great activity came from Math Wizardry for Kids by Margaret Kenda and Phyllis S. Williams.

Monday, February 10, 2014

After School Linky Party (2-10)


Welcome to the After School Linky Party!


It is my great pleasure to co-host another week of this great link up.
If you missed last week's party, here are a few of the highlights.


Playing with Rocks at An Idea on Tuesday.


Kid-Made Origami Olympic Bracelets at Crayon Box Chronicles.






Reading Game with LEGOs at The Pleasantest Thing.


Sticky Math at Mess for Less.


FREE PRINTABLES
Gift of Curiosity: Valentine Do-a-Dot Printables
Kitchen Counter Chronicles: Valentines Jokes for Kids
Moms and Munchkins: Games to Play at the Airport
Mothers Madness: Train anagrams
The Pleasantest Thing: Olympic Flag Festival


We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school, homeschool, or on the weekend! When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board or Feature on our After School Party next week! Don't forget to follow along and join our After School Enrichment Community.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Snowboarding Math Slalom


The Winter Olympics have inspired me (perhaps you've noticed). This game sends kids on a downhill snowboarding race (i.e. the giant parallel slalom) as they compete to cross the finish first, solving division problems as they go.


DIY Mini Snowboard Game Pieces
The night before we played our game, we made some game pieces - miniature snowboards! Before our art project, I Googled snowboards to show my oldest son images of how diverse their designs were. Amazing artistry for sure!

Using Shrink Film, I traced several large snowboard shapes with permanent marker.

Download a 1-page PDF of the snowboard template from Google Drive here.

Once cut out, the boys and I decorated our boards with permanent Sharpie markers. Into the oven they went, and three minutes later, they'd shrunk to half their size.


While they were still warm, I carefully bent the ends of each board up slightly (while wearing oven mits) before the plastic hardened completely. The boys and I both loved watching our snowboards miniaturize through the window in the oven door.

TIPS: Space your boards about 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheet. When they shrink they can curl up and if they're too close, they might touch and fuse together. Be careful about adding words too; they might end up backwards.


Playing the Game
With the slalom course and division problem fact cards made, I printed just six pages of division facts (pgs 8-13). You don't need all of the facts to play this game, so feel free to pick and choose which will challenge your child. 

Download the free 3-page game board PDF from Google Drive here.
Download the free 14-page division math cards PDF (including one page of Uh Oh cards) here.

You'll need to print multiple copies of the "Uh-Oh" cards. I printed three pages of cards to go with six pages of problems. Once they were cut out and shuffled and the game board was printed and taped together, we were ready to race.



We placed our snowboards at the start. And then he turned over the first card in the deck. He solved the problem and moved his snowboard to the first snowflake on the mountain (keeping to his side of the course). Now it was my turn, I drew the "Uh Oh" card and had to stay put. Go figure.


Play alternates between players and so long as they draw a division problem and solve it correctly, they can proceed down the slalom course, moving their mini snowboard.


The first player's board to cross the finish wins. (In our case, that would be my son's.) What fun!

Monday, February 3, 2014

After School Linky (2-3)


Welcome to the After School Linky Party!


Happy Year of the Horse! Many shared great books, ideas, and activities
to celebrate Chinese New Year last week. Some other blogs caught my attention too. Here are just a few.


 Chinese New Year Yoga at Kids Yoga Stories.


 Colonial Games for Children at EducationPossible.




Two Ways to Build a Lego Catapult at Frugal Fun for Boys. 






FREE PRINTABLES
Bible Fun for Kids: Love in 1 Corinthians 13 and Samuel
Enchanted Homeschooling Mom: Hibernation Toss and Sort Game
Fifi's Closet: Dinosaur Valentine
Learning Parade: Thing 1 Pop-Up Craft
Sweet Silly Sara: Hug Me Coloring Page


We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school, homeschool, or on the weekend! When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board or Feature on our After School Party next week! Don't forget to follow along and join our After School Enrichment Community.