Have your child play a matching game to match each pair of slippers.
What You Need:
• Pairs of slippers and shoes
What To Do:
1. Put several pairs of slippers or shoes into a pile and explain to your child what a “pair” is.
2. Pull one slipper or shoe out of the pile. Ask your child to find the matching slipper or shoe.
3. Have her continue until each “pair” is matched.
4. Talk about why they match. For example, “These two slippers are the same length and color.”
5. After she has matched all the shoes or slippers, ask her to count the number of pairs she has.
6. Ask her, “If one person wears a pair of slippers or shoes, how many people could wear the shoes and slippers you have here?” It is more important that she think about how to “solve” the problem than it is for her to give you the correct answer. (To help, count the pairs again, this time linking each pair with a person.)
VARIATION:
Do the same activity with socks. While folding laundry, ask your child to match all of the socks. Encourage her to talk about why some match and others do not. Help her count how many pairs of socks there are. Ask her, “If one person wears one pair of socks, how many people could wear the number of pairs of socks that are folded?” Count the pairs with her.
Strategies to use math talk with your infant.
What You Need:
None
What To Do:
- Count aloud as often as you can when you are with your infant. Even if your infant is not able to count with you, he will begin to make the association between numbers and what they stand for.
- For example, count the stairs when you are walking up and down; count the number of apples you put into a bag at the market; count the number of windows in your house, count his toes when changing his diaper, etc.
Arrange fruit chunks to make a fun treat!
What You Need:
- A variety of fruits, such as: apple, banana, watermelon, pineapple, and strawberries, cut into chunks
- 1 cup nonfat yogurt
- ¼ c. dried coconut, shredded
- Wooden skewer sticks
What To Do:
- Arrange the fruit chunks onto a large plate by type. Keep the coconut on a separate plate.
- Help your child slide pieces of fruit onto the skewer and design his own kabob by putting as much or as little of whatever fruit he wants. Do this until the stick is almost filled from end to end. Count the number of fruits used and encourage your child to make a pattern with the fruit. For example, “You put one apple then one banana then one apple and then one banana, what comes next?”
- Hold your kabob at the ends and roll it in the yogurt, so the fruit gets covered. Then roll it in the coconut.
- Eat and enjoy!
Adapted from KidsHealth
Take a walk outside with your child and collect natural materials to make a fun activity.
What You Need:
• Bag or box to hold collected objects
• Soap and water or disposable cleansing wipes
! Safety Alert. After playing outside, remember to wash your hands as well as your child’s hands with soap and water (or use a disposable cleansing wipe) to remove dirt and chemicals such as pesticides that may have been on the items you and your child played with.
What To Do:
1. Go for a walk outside with your child and collect natural materials such as small rocks, sticks, twigs, and dried leaves that you find on the ground.
2. Find a safe open area where all the collected items can be spread out and examined.
3. Encourage your child to sort the objects into piles of the same kinds of items. For example, she could make one pile of rocks, one of leaves, and so on. Talk about how the items in each pile are alike. Then talk about how the items in other piles are different.
4. Ask your child to sort the objects in a different way and ask her why she grouped them that way. You may be surprised at her reason.
5. Have her guess how many items are in each pile. Follow up by asking questions such as, “Which pile do you think has the most? Which one has the least?”
6. Confirm guesses by actually counting the items with her.
7. Let her create an outdoor collage (a picture made up of the objects) on the ground.
VARIATION:
Collect different types of leaves as you walk outside. Talk about the characteristics of the leaves. Ask questions such as, “Which leaf is the longest?” “Which one is the shortest?” and “What colors are they?” Once you have an assortment of leaves, put them in one pile. Ask your child to divide the leaves into different piles. Let her decide how to group the leaves and ask her why she sorted them that way. Together, count the number of leaves in each group and show her how to tally her findings on a piece of paper.
