'Race to the Basket' game and other counting fun!

   So, last Friday's Freebie was a fun Easter themed gameboard that can be used in different ways. Today, I want to share how the litttle munchkin used the gameboard today to practice counting and one to one correspondence.

I found the cute animal shaped eggs at Target (but anything can be used, really) as markers. We each took a board and an animal marker, rolled the die and moved that number of spaces.

The first to the basket was the winner.

(As you can see here, she only needed to roll a one and she would win!)

    This is a fun, quick game to practice taking turns, work on counting and one to one correspondence (by moving the marker the correct number of spaces)... and of course, encouraging good sportmanship since she did not win each time!

    We played it at least 7 times and then older brother played with her a few times.

Here is the link to the gameboard in case you missed it (click on the picture):

Here is another quick learning activity that she worked on to practice counting and worked on some fine motor skills by peeling off the stickers and putting it on the egg.

 She had eggs numbered all  the way to twenty five.

    We will be working on some more math skills later this week, so if you are looking for fun math activities to keep little ones busy and learning, stay tuned!

Fishy Math Fun plus * FREEBIES*

    Well, I have had quite the busy week! We had familly from Texas visiting this week and it was tons of fun! We went to Niagara Falls (American Side) and my husband and I literally walked across the border to Canada, with my cousin! 

    Then we went on a boat tour along Lake Erie. It was so fun to have famliy visitng because being out here without family and friends can get lonely, so we are more than ecstatic when we have visitors!  =)

    Now that the kids and I are settling back into our routine, I am back here blogging! I have some fun Fishy Math activities to share, and since Teaching Blog Addict is hosting FREEBIE FRIDAY, I also have 2 FREEBIES for you! =)

    My little munchkin and I do a lot of math activities throughout the day. She loves to count everything and she is very good at it! Here are a few activities that we did this week.

   We start everyday with our calendar, which gives her practice counting and I try to  focus on one number a day to help her with number identification. 

    I saw this bulletin board idea in this Mailbox Ocean Animals Theme magazine and loved it. 

    All you need is some fish cutouts, magnetic strips and a chalkboard or magnetic whiteboard. Everyday I change the amount of fish that I put out and I also put out 2 numbers that she can chose from. This helps her identify numbers and match it to the set of fish that are on the board. 

I absolutely LOVE The Mailbox magazines!

     Also using another Mailbox resource (Literacy Envelope Centers), I used these Fish Twins mats to help her with her visual discrimination and matching skills.

    

** FREEBIE ALERT! **

     Since I loved this mat so much and figured other moms and teachers might too, I created my own. I had a fishing set from Lake Shore learning and instead of having her use paper cards, I used the plastic fish that were in our Scoop & Play Fishing kit, from Lakeshore Learning.

(There are several other things that can be used, like other types of plastic fish, fish erasers, goldfish crackers, etc.)

    We took the learning fun outside on a warm day, and I poured some colorful gravel into  her water table along with the fishing set… Water Table Fun!

    Another thing that my little munchkin is working on is matching number to set. So I made another math mat, similar to the Fishy Twins mat. I gave her fish erasers and some magnetic numbers. I helped her identify the numbers and then she counted out the erasers and put them on the Fish Bowl mat.

Click either of the pictures below for your FREEBIES!

I also linked up with TBA's Freebie Friday! Click here or below for more fun freebies!

    Today we are heading to Michael's to pick up some arts & crafts materials to create some fun fish art! =) Stay tuned....

Mighty Math Powers with Flowers !

   My little munchkin has been doing really well with her counting so I wanted to take some time to make a few math mat games for her to practice her counting and one to one correspondence.

   I love my Cricut machine and try to find ways to just use it! I saw an idea in one of my Mailbox magazines and rather than using the blackline masters that were in the magazine,  I whipped out my Cricut machine and made my own version!

    The math mats I made can be used in many different ways. Here is how I used them with my little one:

Bee & Flower Clip Game

 She matched the Bee Number Clip to the Number on the Flower Petals. 

(She got a little frustrated because she had a hard time opening up the clothespins.)

Bee & Flower Counting Mats

    We identified the numbers and then used bee counters to cover up the flower. I decided to put some magnetic strips on the bees so that it became a Cookie Sheet Math game! =)  She was even role playing a "teacher"!  =)

  It was much more fun for her that way, but it can be used as an ordinary math mat- which is how I will probably use it in my preschool classroom next school year!


Math Counting Mats with Flower Erasers:

I also remembered these play-doh math mats from Home School Creations, that I had used in many different ways in the classroom. I had her use our mini flower erasers instead of play-doh to play and count. 

Click here or on the picture for a link to the Home School Creations blog and for your own FREE copy of these versatile math counting mats.

Flower Number Order:

    I wanted to do some work on identifying the numbers and the order of the numbers. So I made some counting cards, up to number 10. 

Click here for your own copy!

    

    I helped her to put them in order and once they were all lined up, she grabbed her My Little Pony toys and did some one-to-one correspondence work- all on her own!

 It was a proud momma moment! I guess she wanted to see just how many My Little Pony toys she had! 

We sure have done a lot of math work these past few days! 

Hope you enjoyed our Mighty Math Power Fun with Flowers!