Flower Patterns

When a bouquet starts going south, get a little educational enjoyment out of it by lining up patterns of flowers. Let your child discern the patterns and place the next few flowers in each row.

Counting Activities

Looking for fun and simple ways to practice counting with your little one?  Here are some cute ideas from around the web.

1.  Paper rolls and twigs from Montessori on a Budget
2.  Roll and Stamp Man from Pre-K Pages
3.  Pipe Cleaner Counters from Kids Matter
4.  Marshmallow Teeth Game from Mama Bee from the Hive

1.  Jumbo Clothes Pin Letters from Counting Coconuts
2.  Shells and Glass Beads from RockaBye Butterfly
3.  Peanut Butter and Jelly Counting from Time for Play
4.  Gumball Machines from Michelle's Charm World

Introducing Coins

In an attempt to insert some new math skills into M's very verbally slanted preschool activities (I'm afraid I just love words soooo much more than numbers) today I introduced her to pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.

First, we counted out the right number of pennies to represent each coin so she could get a visual impression for how much each is worth.
 
We talked about the names for each coin, and then I had her do some independent work matching the right coins to circles on a page (I had traced the coins and written their numbers on each circle).  That worked pretty well; she mostly paid attention to the sizes of the circles and not the numbers, but when I went back and checked her work with her, I had a chance to review the numbers.  (e.g. "You put the quarter on the number 25; that's right!")  

Of course the trickiest two are the pennies and dimes because they are so close in size.  To make it a little more obvious to her when she had gotten it right or gotten it wrong we made a little play dough puzzle.  I impressed the shape of each coin onto a flattened piece of play dough and imprinted each shape with the number of the coin.  That worked well and M enjoyed squishing the coins into the play dough.