Alphabet Walk

Make binoculars with your children out of toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls. Cover them with construction paper and decorate them with markers, crayons, sticker, etc. Hole punch two holes (one on each side of the binoculars) and tie a string to go around their necks. Then take them on a walk around the neighborhood and look for letters on signs, houses, license plates, cars, etc. Have the children call out the letters they see and try to sound out the words. You could also do this same thing with shapes, colors, or numbers.

Dinosaur Fishing Game

Dinosaur Shape Fishing Game

Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored dinosaur shapes from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each dinosaur shape. Spread the dinosaur shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the dinosaur shape. Have them try to catch the biggest dinosaur or the red dinosaur. For a twist, label the dinosaur shapes with letters or numbers.

Ants go marching

Sorry I don't have a tune for this one.

The ants go marching One by one hurrah... hurrah..
The ants go marching One by one Hurrah... Hurrah
The ants go marching One by one the littlest one stops to (something that rhymes ex: to suck his thumb.)
And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom

The ants go marching Two by Two Hurrah.. Hurrah..
The ants go marching Two by Two Hurrah.. Hurrah.
The ants go marching Two by Two the littlest one stops to (another rhyme, ex: tie his shoe)
And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom

You repeat this until you get to the number Ten
Ex:
The ants go marching 10 by 10 Hurrah... Hurrah..
The Ants go marching 10 by 10 Hurrah.. Hurrah.
The ants go marching 10 by 10 the littlest one stops
and Shouts that's the End.
Then that's the end of the song.

Let the children take turns coming up with a rhyme for each number. It's also fun to start singing the song faster and faster so that it cuts down on time. This one may or may not work depending on the ages of you kids.

Math Activities involving bugs

· Take a walk a look for bugs. Count them as you go

· Find a picture of a bug and count the legs. Explain to your child that not all bugs have the same amount of legs (ex. Centipeds, spiders…)

· Look at different bugs and compare the shapes and sizes

· Butterfly Match -Create several diferent colored butterflies. Cut them in half and then have your children match the butterfly halves.

Get a box of "Bug Bites" (Keebler) and make patterns out of the bugs. Start with a 2 bug pattern and then when they get the hang of that, do a 3 bug pattern.

Sort the "Bug Bites" bugs and count them. Graph or chart them if you like.

Divide a piece a piece of paper into 9 squares and randomly # them. Have your child put that many "Bug Bites" in that square. You could obviously use goldfish crackers or other snacks if you like. You could also get bug stickers and have your child put that # bug stickers on that square.

Get bug stickers and put one on and index card. Two on another and so forth until #20. Then, depending on age/ability, have your child put them in order. You could write the # on the front or back depending on what you want your child to focus on. I like to put it on the back and have my child focus on counting the bugs and not just # recognition.

Play the Cootie Game

Shapes are Everywhere

Look through magazines and cut out objects of different shapes. A table, a clock, a stop sign, etc. Then show them to the children and have them tell you the shape it is. Have a posterboard or large piece of butcher paper and make rows for each shape. Sort/chart them. Put all of the circles into a row, the squares, etc. Then you could count how many each row has and write the number at the bottom. This helps them to work on their shapes, charting, counting, and number recognition. Let the children play with the shapes and chart during free play. You could also leave out magazines and scissors and let them find their own shapes and cut them out.

Look around the room and point out shapes that are in the room. Hold up a picture of a square and ask a child what shape it is. Have that child look around the room for something that is that shape. Do this with all of the shapes. Be creative. Tiles, lights, pictures on the wall, patterns on clothing, anything counts.

Musical Flowers

Make flowers out of construction paper and laminate them. Make one for every child in your class plus a few extra (just in case). I made my flowers different colors and put # in the center of them. You could put shapes on them too if you wish. Then you put on some music (something to do with spring or plants or gardens would be fun) and have then children walk around the flowers. Then when the music stops, you call out a number, shape or color (adjust to their age/ability). The child standing near that flower holds it up and then they get to choose a treat/sticker and then be your helper and watch the other children until the activity is over. This is great because you can ask your 2 year old what color their flowers is, your 3 year old what shape they have, and your 4 year old the number. It is quickly and easily changed to fit every age.

Apple # Activity

Apple Activity-Numbers
Have apples # 1-10 laminated (optional-they last longer). Staple them on craft sticks. Take a green pipe cleaner and cut it small enough to hide behind the apples. Have one child leave the room while you tape the "worm" to the back of one apple. The child comes back into the room and says, "Little worm, little worm are you behind # ___?" You turn over the apple he asked about and continue until you find the worm. If you have enough children in you preschool, let the children hold the apples in front of the room. It will help them to recognize the # as well.