Today I’m going to start by linking you to FOUR direct drawings! Yep… 4! They are all different drawings of candy. As you can tell, I really like Arts for Kids Hub for direct drawings!
Today’s project… provide your child white, yellow and orange paper. Show your child the shape of candy corn. Encourage your child to draw and cut out a candy corn shape. Now tear or cut the white, yellow and orange paper to cover and create your own paper candy corn. (These pictures are from when my own sons were 3 and 4)
I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween… I will see you again on Monday when we start a new month and new theme… Animals get ready for winter!
Have your child draw and/or write out the steps they remember in the processes. This is about looking at things step by step. If they miss a major detail, ask questions.
Today we will listen to the story Twizzlers Shapes and Patterns by Jerry Pallotta. This story talks about a lot of math terms and describes shapes and other geometrical terms as well as making patterns.
Today we aren’t going to make shapes or patterns as it is Words Wednesday, but you are certainly welcome to try out some of this Twizzlers fun.
But, we will use Twizzlers for our learning today. If you don’t have Twizzlers, you can use chenille stems, yarn, wiki sticks or other long thin manipulatives.
Today use your Twizzlers to make letters and or words. Here are a few suggestions!
Say a letter name and have your child make the letter
Say a word and have your child make the beginning or ending sound
Make word family cards and have your child add the beginning sounds with the Twizzlers
Have your child make a letter with Twizzlers and then go on a beginning sounds hunt. You can search for objects around the house, in magazines or just draw pictures
Just notice, I had to hold the candy in shape while taking the picture. Twizzlers do not like to stay in a curved shape, but it is doable!
Let’s start by watching this segment from Unwrapped on How M&M’s are made. I always like sharing this type of information with children as they often have no concept of how the items are created. This episode give a bit of the backstory as well as a tour of the facility where the candy is produced!
Now lets read another M&M book… yes, another fun math book using M&Ms! This one is called More M&M Math by Barbara Barbieri McGrath. In this book you will sort and then graph candy… so guess what we are going to do today!?! Sort and graph!
Instead, I sorted the collection of odd Lego pieces I have in my kitchen. Don’t you have an odd Lego collection somewhere? No? Well sort any odd collection you have. Maybe you can then convince your child to put them away when they are done sorting?
Help your child create a graph grid to fill in with the materials you are choosing to graph. I was lazy and didn’t get out a ruler, but doing it with straight lines helps a bit. Now sort! Talk about what you see. Which is the least? Which is the most? Are any the same? How many more gray than red? How many fewer gold than clear?
Today we are going to listen to two M & M math books. The first book’s math skills are a lot simpler than the second book.
The M&Ms Counting Book by Barbara Barieri McGrath… this book uses a bag of M&Ms to count, pattern and makes shapes
The M&Ms Addition Book by Barbara Barieri McGrath… this book uses a bag of M&Ms to practice addition.
Ok… so let’s do some math with M&Ms (or Skittles, or Lego blocks, or… whatever colored items you have on hand!)
Today we will work on patterns. A pattern is something that repeats itself. When we start patterns we begin with simple AB patterns 1 green, 1 brown, 1 green, 1 brown. Then move on from there. ABB 1 orange, 2 blue, 1 orange, 2 blue or AAB 2 blue, 1 orange, 2 blue, 1 orange. We then typically add in a third color 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 green 1 blue etc.
First have your child recognize the pattern. Talk about the pattern put words to what you see. Next have them copy the pattern, make it with their own set of materials. Then they can extend your pattern… can you add on to my pattern? What comes next? Finally have the child make their own version of that pattern. Can you make an AB pattern with your own color, material, whatever change in variable.
Notice that I showed the pattern broken into chunks. This helps your child see the repeat of the pattern. Once children get good at creating their own and understanding the concept of patterns, they can make more and more complex patterns.
I decide that since it is Easter week we should do a bit of candy math fun. This activity can be done with any type of candy that comes in multiple colors. Don’t want use candy? You can do the same activity with rainbow goldfish, multicolored cereal or any other small items that are various colors, yes even Lego blocks.
M&M
I am using M&Ms because my son had some in his candy bag leftover from Halloween… my kids are weird, yes I know, but hey it is.
You will need 2 sheets paper, crayons, a pencil and whatever you are using to sort/graph.
sorting
First draw circles on the paper and label them with the colors of your candy. Have your child sort the candy by color. Remind them that sorting means to group things by attribute in this case color. (I did not use the whole bag, as I would typically do this with a fun size bag, but only had full size bags)
graphing without lines
On the second sheet of paper, or just on the table, have your child line up the candies into a line graph formation. If this is new to your child, you may want to draw the grid to make it easier. You can also draw the grid if you want your child to record the information with crayons.
Your child needs to line things up side-by-side (which is one-to-one correspondence). This will give a true representation for comparison.
recording graph information
After the graph is complete you now can ask questions to compare. Which color has the most? Which has the least? How many more yellow than blue? How many more oranges do you need to have the same amount as green? How many blue and red together?
My Day in Pre-K 