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Math Game With Recycled Materials

 

We had an old mattress that broke, so I decided to make this easy game for practicing colours and numbers. The kids got really curious while watching me make it, so we had to try it as soon as it was ready.

 

It’s very easy to make and you don’t need a lot of things. If you don’t have beads or mattress that you can spare, just replace the beads with cheerios and the pad with polystyrene.

 

 

An Easy Shape Game

 

I had some popsicle sticks around, so I made these easy 2 piece puzzles. We will use the game during our morning circle routine, to practice shape recognition.

 

 

 

Free Christmas Puzzles (for number recognition)

 

Dear friends,

I have something cute for you! Free Christmas puzzles for kindergarteners. The pieces are numbered, so the kids can practice number recognition, as well. Just click here and download the file from my TPT shop.

 

Happy holidays!

 

 

Math Pipe Cleaner Game

 

Materials: polystyrene, pipe cleaners (different colours), straws, scissors, beads (the same colours as the pipe cleaners), dice.

 

Instructions: This game can be used as a number game – Roll the die and put as many straws/beads as the number indicates – or as a sorting game – place the beads of a certain colour over the pipe cleaner that is the same colour.

It’s a useful game to work on children’s hand-eye coordination, number and colour recognition, and fine motor skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowman Bowling Game

 

Here in Finland everybody has an advent calendar in December. It’s a big tradition, or so I’ve been told. Kids enjoy opening the envelopes to see what’s inside. You know how kids are about surprises, no matter how small they are.

This year, we’ve made an advent calendar with songs, rhymes, games and dances. The Snowman Bowling Game is one of them.

 

What you'll need: paper cups, googly eyes, glue, construction paper, buttons, and a hole punch. You can be more creative and don’t even need these craft supplies – use sequins, markers, paint, play dough, anything that comes to your mind.

 

Instructions: Make the snowmen, then find a white ball that’s heavy enough. Each snowman counts as 1 point. Have fun and enjoy!

Addition Machine

 

Materials: 2 kitchen towel rolls, wrapping paper, coloured paper (for the background), 2 plastic/paper cups, 1 basket, pompoms (or other small objects that can fit through the rolls), scotch tape.

 

Age: kindergarten and primary school kids

 

Instructions: The photo is probably clear enough...you don’t even need to cover the rolls, but I wanted them to look nice. I must admit that I “stole” this idea from www.motheringwithcreativity.com, but I thought I should also share it. The only thing that I added was some contact paper above the cups, so that the children can stick the numbers we are adding with blue tack.

 

The kids in my group enjoyed it and they are always eager to use it again. Thanks for the idea, Jessica!

 

 

 

Coloured Rice Math Game

 

Materials: rice, food colouring, a spoon of vinegar, ½ lemon or lemon juice, a deep tray, kitchen tweezers (from IKEA kids), foam or cardboard letters/numbers

 

Age: any

 

Instructions: Put a spoon of vinegar, the amount of food colouring you want and then the rice. The vinegar will help keep the rice more colourful. 

 

You can use the sensory tray for games. Today we played a math game with it. It goes like this: the child takes two numbers using kitchen tweezers, and then he has to calculate their sum. We used the Addition machine to get the correct result.  Crazy fun! Too bad it takes a little bit too long: it’s more suitable for small groups (max. 5 kids).

Pompom Math Game

 

 

Here are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when you want to teach children Math:

  • Children ask questions because they want to learn how things work; Don’t ignore their questions just because they might sound silly;

  • Children are creative and curious – take advantage of their thirst for knowledge;

  • The result is not as important as the process – finding out the best way to get to the correct solution by trying out one or more ways will just help them understand the problem better;

  • Math is all around us! – use money in imaginative play, use a broken watch to learn numbers, use a scale while you cook together, read the microwave timer while waiting, count the carrot sticks when you put them on a plate, compare the length of your straws when you drink juice, count how many ducks you see on the street (I live in Finland…ha ha) and how many there are when one stays behind…anything you can think of!

 

Although some children might be able to count from 1 to 10, that doesn’t mean that they already know the numbers. Some of them can count without skipping, but if they miss a number, they are unable to go back. That means that they learnt to count, as a poem or a rhyme, without having understood the notion of number and quantity.

 

This is an easy game just for that: recognising numbers. It can be done with smaller kids. It also helps learning how to read the die when playing board games.

 

Materials: paper cups, markers, foam/paper numbers (you can just write the numbers with a marker), pompoms, kitchen tweezers (we have them from IKEA kids)

 

Age: 3-5 y.o. (use more cups for older kids)

 

Instructions: The teacher gives each child a number (use flashcards, a die, or just say the number). The child will have to put the right amount of pompoms in the right cup (the one that has the number on it). At the end, the others check if everything is right, by counting together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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