Making a Dollar with Pennies!

Materials...

100 pennies

1 dollar bill

paper and pen

Directions...

Show your child the dollar bill and ask him/her how much it is? If they don't know you can show the number 1 and tell them that it's a one dollar bill.

Next show the pennies. Ask them if they remember what the name of this coin is? And how much it's worth.

On a sheet of paper write down that pennies are 1 cents and that a 100 pennies are equal to 1 dollar. Then tell your child 'we are going to make a dollar with pennies! Can you guess how many pennies we need to make a dollar?'

Start counting and lining up the pennies up to ten. Once you get to 10 start a new row of pennies. After you have two rows, write 10 on top of each row and put a plus sign in between and tell your child let's count how many pennies we have. "What's 10 + 10? 20. Now we have 20 cents does that make a dollar? why or why not? what should we do then? add more cents until we reach a 100." Every now and then stop and ask again "do we have enough?"

After each row of pennies write the number 10 on top and add by tens from the beginning. After you have 100 pennies emphasise that all of those pennies are equal to the 1 dollar bill.

You can say something like, "If you went to the store and wanted to buy a candy bar for 1 dollar, which one can you give the 100 pennies or the 1 dollar bill? You can give either one because they are equal! Which one do you think they would like you to give? and why? that's right, they wouldn't be too happy counting 100 pennies!!"

Go over this concept a couple of times on different days until your child completely understands the concept that 100 pennies make a dollar.

Enjoy!

Learning about Money...

Materials...

Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters.. empty out your change container!

4 paper plates or containers

Directions...

Sort all the money into the different containers. Keep using the names of the coins over and over. For example, 'I want to collect all the dimes. Can you help me find the dimes? Where is another dime."

This is a simple activity but a very important one! Not only are they learning about money but they are learning about sorting and classifying which is a math concept!

If you click on the link below you can go to one of my favorite websites and play a game to practice sorting and classifying.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_270_g_2_t_3.html

Enjoy!

Shapes!

Materials...

Paper

Glue

Different colored construction paper cut in small pieces

(if you did the activity 'scissors anyone' your pieces are ready for use!)

Directions...

Ask your child to draw a shape on a piece of paper. Demonstrate by picking a shape and drawing it yourself on a sheet of paper. Then tell them that they can glue the small pieces of paper cut-outs on the outline, or they can glue it on the outline and the inside of the shape.

If your child is younger you can draw the shape for them and have them glue it on. Or you can draw the shape using the glue bottle and they would just stick the papers on top. If you also want them to practice their colors, say the name of each color you are using as you glue them on. You can ask them to pass you a color piece you need or ask them what color they would like you to hand them, etc.

If your children are older they can try to make the shape free-hand without drawing it out first.

Have fun!

Patterns!

Materials...

Paper

Glue

Different colored construction paper cut in small pieces (if you did the activity 'scissors anyone' your pieces are ready for use!)

Directions...

Tell your child that you are going to try to make a secret pattern and then try to guess each others pattern! Model how to make it by showing an example. "I'm going to use red, red, yellow, blue. Red, red, yellow, blue. " Then put another red at the end and ask " can you guess what goes next on my secret pattern?" If the child has a hard time say the colors again slowly and rhythmically to help. If this pattern is still complicated don't stress over it. Give them the answer and then try a simpler pattern! Keep practicing and they will get better and better.

If you have school age children they have probably worked on patterns at school. Ask them to solve the pattern using letters or numbers instead of saying the colors. There's a sample pattern my 8-year-old made using the letters. You can make it more challenging by adding colors or making more complex combinations for your patterns.

Have fun!

Scissors anyone?!

Materials...

3,4 different colors of construction paper

scissors

3,4 containers (bowls, paper plates, etc. We used ice-cream bowls!)

Directions...

Give your child a sheet of paper and ask them to start cutting! (free cutting)

If you want to teach them to cut on the line, you can draw straight lines on the construction paper first then ask them to cut on the line. When you have the long strips cut out, start cutting into smaller pieces. You can get another color and also cut so you are modeling the activity and staying involved.

When you are done cutting all the papers have your child mix up the pile. This part is lots of fun for them. If they want to take a few minutes to mix and play with let them. This is a good sensory experience at the same time.

Then start sorting the colors into separate containers. Show and say the colors as you sort. This is an early math skill!

To make this activity more challenging you can use more colors 5, 6 different colors to sort. To make it easier you can choose to use only 2 colors.

Store the pieces in a zip lock bag for later use!

Catch Counting!

Materials...

ball

2 players

Directions...

Practice throwing and catching the ball. (a game loved by most!)

Tell your child that you will take turns saying a number when you catch the ball. For example when you throw your child will say 1 then when you catch you will say 2 and so on. Set a goal and say "let's see if we can count all the way up to 20! without dropping the ball!" If you drop the ball you start all over again.

You can make this game easier or harder depending on the age and ability of the child. For example to make it more challenging you can count in 2's 3's 5's 10's etc. You can also extend the game to end at a higher number. (count by 3's all the way to 99!) You can also stand further away from each other to make the catching and throwing challenging.

To make the game easier you can count up to 15, 10, or 5. If your child is having a hard time catching come closer to each other.

Have fun!

Ordering Numbers

Materials...

Construction paper (5)

Scissors

Marker

Directions...

Cut each paper into 4 equal sections. (1st cut the paper in half - then cut all of those papers in half) You will have 20 rectangular papers. I numbered mine from 23 to 43. You can number them according to your child's age and ability. If your child has never done something like this before, I suggest you start by numbering then 1 to 10.

After numbering the cards, ask your child to tell you what each number is (like a flashcard) if your child doesn't know his/her numbers yet this activity is not appropriate for them. If your child knows all the numbers, give him/her the cards and ask them to put the cards in order from smallest to biggest.

If this activity is difficult or somewhat confusing please jump in and help out. For example, if your child could name all the numbers but doesn't know which number is bigger you can use cheerios, buttons, large uncooked pasta (any manipulative you have handy) to help find out. For example count 3 buttons and put on the card with the number three and then count 5 buttons for the number five. Visually seeing it and being able to manipulate it can help them grasp the concept or more and less easier.

If this activity is easy, write down different numbers. The numbers don't have to be in order and they don't need to start from the number one! You can also give numbers in counts of 10's 5's 2's etc. to practice counting in that number sequence.

Remember please be patient with your children, if they don't know something or if they don't understand. If you get stressed out or get disappointed with them, they will not develop a love for the subject or the time they are spending with you! Just relax and have fun with it!