Penny a Pompom Game

Not only do my kids work on their fine motor skills (and so many of them this school year need it), but they also work on one-to-one correspondence.

I got the deviled egg trays at the dollar store. A handful of pompoms go in the center.
They shake the penny cup.
Heads = Put one pompom in one cup.
Tails = Take one pompom out.
Want to amp it up? Have them pick the pompoms with tweezers or clothespins.
Want to make it seasonal? Use orange pompoms in the fall (to resemble pumpkins.) You can even call it "Penny a Pumpkin"!
First person to fill up their tray wins!

More One-to-One Correspondence - and a Freebie!

I gave each student a "checker board" that I'd created and run off on colored tag (then laminated). Each table got their own set of math manipulatives: buttons, pom-poms, colored blocks, unifix cubes, and bears. All they had to do was put one object on each square. At first, they used all the colors, so I made them clear their boards, and do it again, but using only one color. (These pictures are from when they had done the activity a second time, using a single color.)

To extend the lesson, I ask them to put 2 items on each square. Then 3. I stop at 5 because the squares tend to get too crowded. For the blocks, I let them "build" a small tower on each square. (They love doing that.) The next time they do this lesson, I give each table a different set of manipulatives.

For your Freebie, I've uploaded a copy of the checker board, which you can download from here.

Science + Math + Fall = Fun!

 

We're working on composing and decomposing numbers up to 5 in math. Since it was such a beautiful day, we went outside and collected leaves and acorns, and brought them inside. Next we took a sheet of plain manila drawing paper, and I asked them to draw 5 circles. Then they were to glue a leaf or acorn inside the circle. (This made the project a multi-step activity, which I could observe and grade.) Right off the bat, I could tell which students had one-to-one correspondence skills, and which didn't.