rollin' rollin' rollin'...

I posted about The Letter Dice Game a few days ago, so I thought I'd post about The Number Dice Game today. The child rolls the dice, and when it lands, he counts the dots. If it's a 5, he traces a 5 in the 5 column. When the child first plays this game, he uses a worksheet that has pictures of the sides of the dice at the top of each column. The child can double-check that he's tracing the right symbol by matching the dice side he's rolled to its corresponding picture. He can do this by either counting the dots on the pictures or using his visual discrimination. Whichever number reaches the "finish line" first wins - most children love finding out which number will be 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc, too. :)

As the child becomes more confident with his symbols, he can write them on his own instead of tracing. This game can be made even more challenging by using 2 or 3 dice and rolling for higher numbers - we call this variation The Super Dice Game!

scrubbing fish...

I just had to post about this fish scrubbing lesson I put together last week! Doesn't it look like a real fish?!

It looks even more real when it's wet!

Object scrubbing lessons are quite popular in my classroom. They're kind of like the next step after water transfer lessons like basting and droppering. They require fine motor control and organization, but not quite as much as the grating lessons. Scrubbing definitely builds muscular strength, as-well-as provides children with plain-old, satisfying work! :) It's relatively easy to set up - just look for something scrubbable!

Sometimes, we scrub the little house from the fish tank...













or teeth...
















or maybe a big rock.














What kind of things do you and your children like to scrub? I'm always searching for new ideas! :)

matching objects to pictures

I've been thinking about making this particular variation of matching objects to pictures for awhile now, and I am so glad I finally got around to it! First I picked out the objects: mouse, squash, rake, carrot, pine cone, and corn kernel - I was envisioning a harvest kind of theme.

Then, I made a collage that incorporated pictures that would correspond with my objects. They're not perfect matches because I didn't want to fuss over it too much! :) I ran it through the laminator (I love laminating things)...

... and voila!... a lesson that I can't wait to bring to school tomorrow! The main purpose of this lesson is to provide practice in visual discrimination for pre-readers. The child will choose an object and match it to a picture. I think it will also be a fun way to bring a 2-D picture to life and spark a little imagination! :)

an alphabet extension

The Letter Dice Game is a popular lesson extension in our school. The main purpose of this activity is to provide children with letter writing practice, but it's also an exercise in matching, letter recognition, and initial sound/letter association.

This is an o, k, z, q, l dice. The corresponding worksheet has a column for each of these letters. When first associating initial sounds with letters of the alphabet, we always use the same pictures. So, at the top of the "o" column, there's a picture of an octopus - k-kite, z-zebra, q-queen, l-lamp. I'll try to go into more detail on all of that sometime soon, but the gist of it is that we say the sounds, not the names, of the letters.

Anyway, the child rolls the dice. If he gets a "z," he traces a "z." The star column is kind of a free space - if the child rolls a star, he can write whatever letter he wants (usually, he makes a star, though :). It's a "race" to see which letter will cross the "finish line" first, second, third, etc. The children really enjoy this!

stringing beads...

This is probably my favorite new lesson on the practical life shelves this month - it's quite possibly the children's fave, too. :) The little wooden container has lengths of yarn with pony beads tied to the end (my prep work). The little sake cup in the middle holds the needle, and the little dish holds the pony beads. The little heart stickers are numbered 1-6, but you could use as many stickers as you wanted - the child will use them to count beads.


First, the child threads the yarn through the eye of the needle. Then, this is the part I really like, she counts out the beads she is going to by placing one on each heart sticker. This is a point of interest for many of the children. When I present this lesson to a younger child, I say, "Let's see what's written on the hearts." Then we count together, "One, two, three, etc." Older children enjoy using the hearts to make a pattern.









Next, the child strings her beads by pushing them over the needle and onto the yarn. After she's strung all six of her beads, I tell her, "You can string six beads as many times as you want." Some of the children will come up to me and say, "I strung six beads two times!" Then, I take this opportunity to count them with the child - kind of a play on skip counting! I usually tie the knot for the child, but some of them have figured out how to do it all by themselves.