Preschool: Cactus Math and Other Desert Fun

"Momma, we live in the woods."

This has been one of my preschooler's recent observations, and I think it is because she's really understanding different climates as we have been enjoying our Desert Discovery box from Mother Goose Time.  As we studied the Mojave Desert this week, we had some special fun learning about Cacti.  

Cactus Simulation

My girl had never really seen cactus besides the little tiny ones at Lowe's.  I asked her what she thought was inside a cactus... "I don't know."

MGT had a great suggestion about using a sponge and bowl full of water to simulate a cactus holding water.  I found a dry as a bone sponge in my cabinet and put just a little bit of water in a plastic bowl.  I placed the sponge in the bowl and we observed what happened. 

Her eyes lit up!  "It's changing colors!  It's soaking up the water!"

This simple demonstration really hit home for her.  She could understand that a cactus plant soaks water up into its trunk, that it stores it there, and can hold it for a long period of time.

Squeezing the water out of our "cactus"

I really think doing that little experiment set the whole tone to our day.  

This was one of our more special learning days in just the attitude and desire to learn.

Pokey Playdough Cactus Math

She was eager to start playing Pokey Playdough Cactus Math after that demonstration.

Our MGT Teacher Guide stated:

Play Together:

• Make a large playdough cactus. Put number cards 1-10 face down next to the playdough and toothpicks.
• Encourage a child to draw a card and identify the number, then stick that many "spines" in the cactus.
• Repeat
• Challenge:  Invite child to select and add two cards, then put the total number of "spines" in the cactus.

I knew my preschooler had her number recognition down, so I chose to do the Challenge directions, but we haven't done a whole lot of adding.  Therefore I only used number cards 1-5 for her to do her 1 digit plus 1 digit math.  This way she could use her fingers to count.

Check out her work in the video below!

I was so impressed with her adding and she was proud of herself too!

Love those lightbulb moments!

What Am I? Storybook Writing

This week we also used our Sight Words and picture cards to practice writing.  Using a dry erase board, she practiced making her letters.   She dug out a desert animal picture card out of our sandbox (cornmeal and salt because I did not have any sand), and then told me the animal's name.

 I spelled out the animals' names as she wrote the letters.  I was so excited to see her lowercase "e" in the word "snake."  

Puzzles in the Sand

Each month we receive a puzzle from MGT that matches the Storybook they also send.

I hid the puzzle pieces in the sand/dirt box, and gave my girl a paintbrush to help her search for the hidden puzzle pieces.  Using the picture in our storybook as a guide, she placed her puzzle pieces where they belonged.

As our Desert Discovery month comes to a close, here are a few more pics of some rodeo fun my girl had with her daddy as I stayed home with our son and put him to bed (he had croup last week and had to miss the rodeo.) #momlife

Riding horses around the arena

Mutton Bustin'

Too excited to give a decent smile to daddy! Ha!

Check out our other Desert Discovery fun by checking out these posts:

Preschool Rodeo Learning Activities

Desert Night Activities for Preschoolers

Desert Discovery: Pyramids

Be sure to come back next month as we study Bees and Butterflies!

Want to see what is in the box? Check out my friend Stacy's post here!

Make Learning Fun, Yall!

Preschool Ocean Math Games

It's been an Ocean Commotion in our house this month and we have had a blast!

Avaleigh is obsessed with Octonauts, so all these ocean activities have been right up her ally.

Mother Goose Time has sent us some wonderful math games this month along with real shells to use as manipulatives! Here's how you can recreate some of these games at home.

Fishing for Shells

Build a cave with a large sheet and hide some seashells in your cave.  You will need a die or some type of number cards.  Explain to your little that they are going to be a deep sea diver and fish for the number of shells on the card.  Roll the die, or flip a card and have your little say the number.  Then let your child go fishing for the shells in the cave.  This game reinforces a one-to-one correspondence and number identification.

It's even better when you sing a song while they are diving for shells :) 

"Dive Avaleigh Dive. Dive into the Cave.  Get your shells.  Dive Avaleigh Dive"

Octopus Suckers

Isn't this octopus graphic the cutest?  Mother Goose Time makes some amazing things.

However, you could totally draw your own octopus on a chalkboard or outside.  Get some circle markers to be your suckers.  These could be pennies, stickers, a bingo dot marker, or these great little transparent discs we got from MGT.  Roll a die and place that many suckers on the octopus' arms.  Keep going until the arms are filled or each of the 8 arms has 8 suckers. 

Daddy got in on this game.... obviously. :) 

Rainbow Fish Shark Attack

This was Avaleigh's absolute favorite game!  We have played it over and over again for extended amounts of time.  We talked about rainbow fish swimming in schools to confuse predators like sharks.  We placed all these numbered fish in a school on the floor and grabbed a shark toy.  She had to close her eyes while the shark grabbed one of the fish.  After opening her eyes, she then had to figure out which number the shark took.  Sometimes she could just spout out the answer, baffling me, but most of the time she counted one by one until she figured out which numeral was missing. 

These are just a few of the games we have played.  We get a new math game everyday- 

20 different ones in a thematic unit! But ever since we learned about the Rainbow Fish Shark Attack game, that has been on repeat demand.

Preschoolers.

You know how they like to repeat the things they love.

So fortunate she loves MATH games!

So glad MGT taught us these, and I hope you have fun teaching them to your littles!

Happy Learning!

Preschool Moon Rock Math

Finally, we have seen the sun!  After weeks of gloom and rain, the most glorious days have arrived and we are soaking as much time outdoors as we can. 

So when our Mother Goose Time suggested a game called "Counting Moon Rocks" during our Space Unit, I tweaked it to be outdoors and it was perfect!  In fact, this game kept my girl busy for
 45 minutes straight!

Here's what we did...

I took the number cards suggested (0-14) and placed them on the wall outside.   You could place them on the ground or mix them all up and put them in a pile or in a container depending on if it's a windy day or not.

Astronaut Avaleigh then would turn over a card, any card, say the number outloud.

We then would "blast off" to the moon and collect moon rocks  using her Moon Rock bag 

(that we created earlier during our Make and Play time.  I'll post about that later...)

As she collected her moon rocks, she counted out loud placing 1 rock in the bag at a time.

This strengthens the math skill of one-to-one correspondence.

After she had gathered her moon rocks, we then bounded to the sand table, jumping like astronauts on the moon. 

Taking rock by rock out of her bag, we created a moon rock path in the sand while counting our rocks as we placed them.  Then it was time to "blast off" back to the number wall where it then became "Mommy Astronaut's turn."

Avaleigh decided that her lion needed to walk along the moon rock path.

45 minutes later, we had completed all our numbers and created the moon rock path below. 

"Let's play some more," she said as I was picking up the cards.

Isn't that what every educator wants to hear after some intense learning game has finished?

Although we didn't play again right after, it is my plan after naps and quiet time to head back outside and play Moon Rock Math some more.

I am so thankful for Mother Goose Time and the ideas they supply us with and the memories and learning that are taking place right here at home.

What are some of your favorite learning games to play outdoors?

             

Preschool Math: "Rocking" Out

We journeyed to Ayers Rock this week.

Have you ever heard of it?  I hadn't until our Mother Goose Time curriculum introduced me to this stunning red rock in Australia.

Using our monthly manipulatives, Avaleigh "rocked" out her math lesson on Ayers Rock day :)

Check out this 20 second video and catch some highlights of our day!

So much of math is understanding abstract concepts.

In order to make it concrete, especially for young learners, you need to use manipulatives.

Each month, we receive a new set of manipulatives in our box, and this month it was little colored game people (with smiley faces!)  Avaleigh used these people and a bowl turned upside down to help her reenact what her math card stated.  

Each card was about hikers doing something with the rock.  Some hiked, some went around, and some even left.  By reenacting the scenario on the card, Avaleigh was practicing adding and subtracting just through playing!

By incorporating the rock (bowl), Avaleigh also practiced prepositional phrases 

(around the rock; to the top; ect) and moved her game pieces accordingly.

Below you can see how she started taking her  manipulatives and making them go home.

I was really impressed with her math skills!

The manipulatives make such a difference.  

If I asked her what 5 minus 4 was, she would NEVER be able to tell me 1.  However by bringing out the manipulatives and actually acting out the problem, she could tell me 1 and understand why.

At this age, it's all about teachers and parents making math concrete and 

kids can do so much if we just give them the opportunities.

What are some of your favorite manipulatives?

Have fun learning this week!

Math Made Easy with Mother Goose Time

I am loving the new set up of teacher materials for Mother Goose Time. Instead of placing the theme web on my fridge like I had been in the past, I am now putting the large Activity Calendar. 

This bad boy lets me see exactly what activities MGT is providing that day, including what skills they fall under such as math (the ones highlighted below).

Another thing I am loving is the Quick Reference of  the Developmental Continuum of Skills... 

I know... I know...**nerd alert** I am a total teacher nerd at heart.

Anyway.  MGT sent this awesome guide that is easy to read and goes through 8 domains. Each domain is then broken down into specific skills and then those skills are broken down into specific goals.  It makes it really easy to see where your child is at along the continuum and allows the teacher (aka mom in my case) to see the child's strengths and weaknesses. 

I have no idea where my girl is at verses kids her age.  She plays often with others at the park or playdates or in the church nursery, but as far as schooling is concerned, I have no idea where she should be or what we should be aiming towards. Having this booklet helps me with just that.  It allows me to see where she falls, and it guides me to provide her with multiple learning experiences.

As a mom, I feel equipped to teach her well.

I went through the math section and placed stars on the spots where I think Sweet Pea falls.  For the most part, she's in the Preschool range (Benchmark D), but there are opportunities to create more learning fun with the items she still ranks as Toddler (Benchmark C).   Looking at the column Benchmark E, allows me to see where the next step is on Sweet' Pea's learning journey.  

I know where we are headed.

So what does this look like in real life?

Well, on our first day of My Amazing Body unit, Sweet Pea needed to measure her height using blocks. I had her stand against the wall, used some painters tape to show her height, and let her use her Duplo blocks to create a tower to measure her height.  She was so careful when building this tower to make sure it didn't fall over.  I was so proud of her. 

26 blocks tall.

She's been all about her BeatBo too... he had to be in the picture.  

However, she decided after the picture that she wanted to see how many blocks tall he was; 

so she got to building and counting.

8 blocks tall.

This task alone covered 2 math skills.

15.2: Counts to determine quantity.

Sweet Pea falls into the Benchmark D--Counts up to 10 objects  

19.1: Estimates and Measures.

Sweet Pea is falls into Benchmark D here as well (uses non-standard measurement tools to estimate approximate size or volume; verifies estimation with help.);

 although she is showing signs of progressing into Benchmark E 

(estimates-not always logically-size and volume; measures and describes findings)

So what do I do now?

I give Sweet Pea more and more opportunities to build and estimate.

Let's measure this book.  What about another book?  Which book is bigger? 

Which book do you think will be more blocks high?  Why?

Let's measure this stick outside.  

Do you think this pinecone will be more blocks tall or less blocks tall?  Why?  

How many do you think it will be?  Let's build and find out!

Oh, I am already excited about taking these blocks outdoors and doing measurement in this most beautiful weather God has gifted us after last week's destruction with Harvey.

What are some of your favorite ways to do math with your little one?

1, 2 Buckle My Shoe

1, 2 Buckle my shoe

3,4 Shut the door

5,6 Pick up sticks

7,8 Lay them straight

9,10 Do it again!

We are absolutely LOVING this month's Nursery Rhyme Unit from Mother Goose Time!

Each day we learn a new little rhyme with motions to go with it.

This rhyme was on our 2nd day, but Sweet Pea keeps coming back to it- she loves to act it out. 

My teacher guide gave some great examples of what to do with learning this rhyme.

"5,6 Pick up sticks"

The first thing we did was go outside to "pick up sticks" and other nature items.  We collected 6 of each throughout our yard, and then "laid them straight" on our driveway.  I sang the rhyme to Sweet Pea as we scavenged for our collection.  Even Peyton, our golden retriever, helped. 

(acutally he provided entertainment as we watched him chase a squirrel)

6 sticks, acorns, pine cones, acorn caps, more pine cones, and black walnuts.

We sat in our driveway and watched the squirrel dig searching for nuts from our oak trees.  We got to watch him nibble on some, and then almost die, because that squirrel would not run from Peyton, and my dog was excited about a new chew toy. 

" Momma, chase!"

After being outside for a good while, it was time to head indoors for our 

Invitation to Create: Doors.

"3, 4 Shut the door"

Mother Goose Time sends us the most beautiful graphics and fun supplies for kids to create with.

Because we do these Invitations so often, Sweet Pea has become great at knowing what and what not to do with the paint. I know painting with toddlers is a daunting task, but I PROMISE you the results are so worth the risk!  We use these finger paints and when they mix they produce some beautiful colors.

The sponges were great to try out stamping with the paint, and it really left some interesting results. 

MGT sent the 3 sponges to be used as paint brushes, and I provided a real paintbrush, but eventually Sweet Pea always returns to her favorite method of painting... fingers.

This was only day 2!  I can't wait to see what the rest of the month has in store.

Be sure the check back on MONDAY for a MGT Manipulative Giveaway!

Until then...Happy Rhyming!

This post has been linked to The Gathering Place on 1+1+1=1