the quantity splitting box

I just have to show you this ingenious little

addition lesson I've been loving lately!
Prepare to be amazed...

First, the child counts how
many marbles are in the dish.
The quantity of marbles is up to you.

Next, he or she pours the marbles
onto the top of the box.
See that tab on the right side?

PULL!
The marbles drop to the next level,
and roll into the hole.

How many are on the green side?
How many are on the red side?
The red side plus the green side equals
the quantity of marbles that were in the dish!
The child can continue to pour the marbles
into the box to find out all the possible
addition combinations of that quantity.
Cool, huh?!

Almost as cool as these hubcaps
we found at the junkyard.
Maybe it's just me,
but I think they look lovely
hanging on a wall!
Find your own at the junkyard
for $2.50 each. :)

OH! Sidetracked! Sorry!
You can buy your own
Quantity Splitting Box here.
It's nearly $40, though. Yikes!
I have a feeling that some of you creative
mamas out there can create your own
clever variation of this game.
Please share if you do!

my new favorite game (the children dig it, too)

Here's the gist of it:

You have a child who's at a practicing point in his educational experience. For example, he's got a pretty good understanding of the symbols 1-9 and their quantities, but he doesn't have them quite mastered yet. Or, she knows her letter sounds, and she's really into identifying letter symbols. Maybe, he can match and name colors, but he's not exactly ready to grade them from darkest to lightest. Oh! The possibilities for this game are endless!

Ooops! Back to the gist of it:

Basically, this game is a variation of lessons the child has already done. It's like extreme matching...

Here, the child has set out the numerals from "numerals and counters" on a rug. The counters in this particular lesson are pigs, and we have placed them in a tin on a table across the room. Because I know she knows her number symbols, I point to the 8 and say, "Please bring me this many pigs." If I wasn't sure she was sure of the symbol, I might say, "Please bring me 8 pigs."

It's a fun challenge for the child to be able to go across the room and count out the right quantity of pigs to bring back to the rug.

Here's another variation of the game. A few children and I have placed letter cards on the blue line. The cards are like little books - the letter is on the cover, and inside is a picture of something that begins with that letter. Anyway, I sit across the room, far away from the blue line. I ask each child I'm playing with to bring me a letter (by sound not by name). For example, "Please bring me e." This game would work well at home, too - you could set the cards up in the living room, and then, as you cooked dinner or something, you could ask your child to bring you back certain letters.

This game can be played with all kinds of materials...
color tablets, rhyming objects, matching fabric, sound cylinders...seriously, aren't the possibilities endless?!

Doesn't it sound fun? It is! And, I forgot to say this earlier, it's perfect for the child who just needs to move!

button sorting/counting

One of the things I love

most about teaching
is that I'm able to be

resourceful
inventive
experimental
flexible
thrifty
creative...

oops... that was more than one!

As many of you Montessorians can relate, your eyes no longer see material objects for what they are, but for all the many purposes they could fulfill. This is not always so great if you're a pack rat like me. I do eventually find some sort of use for most things... hubs, if you're reading this, really, I promise...

Anyway, this lesson started as an empty water color tray. At first, I thought it would be perfect in a tonging lesson... paired with extra large pom poms or something. Then, my mind wandered to the dish of buttons in the art closet, just waiting to be used.

Here's what I ended up with:

** an empty water color tray labeled with the numerals 1-8 ( 1-9 would be better)
** a box of various buttons - quantities of different kinds from 1-8 (for example, 1 gray flower, 2 big pink, 3 black leaf)

The child sorts one particular kind of button out of the box. She lines them out across the table and counts from left to right. Next, she finds the corresponding numeral on the tray. This is where she'll place the buttons she's just counted.

At first, I thought I'd just have the children count the buttons out according to the numerals on the tray. I figured that they'd naturally want to sort them, though, so I counted out different quantities of each type of button. The lesson still works if the child just counts the buttons without the sorting, but I like the control of error the various types of buttons provide. For example, if the child ends up getting 5 of two different kinds of buttons, she'll know she miscounted or missed sorting out one of the buttons in the box.

Also, don't you just LOVE buttons? They're so juicy! Abbie, I know you'll appreciate this post. :) This photo is of a bracelet from Asta Dog Vintage. I haven't met her yet, but she lives in my town AND I love her button jewelry. It's all over in the shops around here. Check her out at etsy. I'm waiting to buy one of her bracelets because she sometimes gives classes at Tart... X-tine? Christy? Beth? Suz?

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!

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.