This is a very simple activity that my kids have been loving as part of our calendar time. I choose a number (usually the date and I try to stick to less than 12) and select that many small manipulatives. I am using bears because we have also been working with Venn Diagrams and these are great for sorting, and we are reading Golidlocks. But you can use legos, pennies, anything that fits in the cup.
To Play:
1. Count the objects and verify the amount. Because our younger child has just turned three I use this control card from one of our works, He can set the bears on the dots and count, as well as use as a tool to help determine how many are hidden.
2. Ask the child to close their eyes and then hide some of the manipulatives under the cup
3. Have them open their eyes and try and determine how many are hiding.
4. Ask them to talk about how they figured it out. Our five year olds might say, "Four are in there, because I see three and it takes four to make seven" or " There are four in there because all the yellow ones are gone." or "Four, five, six, seven are missing, (counting on fingers) there are four numbers missing." Our three year old will use counters to cover three of his dots and then count how many dots are left.
5. Verify the right amount and talk about which methods are reliable.
6. If desired write the math sentence.
Sometimes we make a list on the whiteboard of all the combinations that make the total, but not everytime. I make sure that each of the kids get to be the leader of the game and I make guesses too. Sometimes I am right, and sometimes I am wrong and they enjoy catching the error of my thinking. The most important part of this exercise for me is having them explain how they thought through/figured things out. One part that has been very revealing to me is that they very rarely use subtraction, and instead tend to think of a total as a number that can be broken down. I'm sure this will change as their math abilities increase.
It has been a hit everytime. When we get past the 12th of the month we have a few other games I like to work in instead. That way this becomes more interesting when it comes back into rotation and really helps us focus on our basic math facts.
