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Part 2: Charts and Graphs
A. Flip a Coin: This is the
easy way for the children to learn about charts. The teacher makes a large
chart with 20 rows and 2 columns. One column is for heads and the
other for tails. If you like, you can also give a piece of paper
with a smaller version of the chart to each child. After each flip
of the coin, the teacher the children put an X in either to heads
column or the tails column. The game is the most for the children if
they each get one of 2 chances to flip the coin for the game. After
all the children have had their turns to flip the coin and which
side the coin landed on was chronicled on the chart, the children
will use the chart to count which side was landed on more at the end
of the game heads or tails.
B. Clothing Color Graph
Get a large poster
board and make an outline for a bar graph. Tell the children we are
going to make a graph of the colors of the children’s shirts. Have a
child count how many children have on red shirts, blue shirts, black
shirts, etc. Then indicate that amount on the bar graph. After the
child has counted how many children are wearing a certain colored
shirt, have either that same child or a different one color in the
bar in the graph the same color as the shirt color it represents.
(I.e. a red bar for red shirts) After the graph is made ask the
children to look at the graph and tell you which color shirt the
most children wearing.
C. Unifix Cube Color
Graph: This is a great hands on graphing activity that
also includes counting, reading and color identification lessons.
Before the activity, the teacher should get a poster board and draw
a graph and write down the names of different colors at the bottom
axis of the graph. I usually write down each color in that
respective color. ( i.e. Red should
be written in Red) This is to help
children learn to read those colors. In the middle of circle, should
be a bucket of Unifix cubes. Then at circle, ask each child if they
like each of the colors one at a time. (i.e. Do you like blue? Do
you like green? Ext) Every time that a child says
they like a color have them take a Unifix cube of the same color out
of the bucket and add it to that color’s Unifix cube tower. After
you have asked each child if they like each color, tape all of the
Unifix cube towers on to the poster board graph that you have
created. Then have a child come up and count how many Unifix cubes
are in each colors tower and write that number above the tower.
After this has been done, have the children look at the graph they
have helped create, and ask them questions about it: Which color do
the most children in the class like? Which color do the least number
of children in the class like? Are their any colors with the same
number of children who like them? And so on. Picture below of a
completed Unifix cube color graph.
D. Favorite Foods Graph:
This is similar to the unifix cube color graph; except that
instead of what colors the children like, you ask them if they like
a certain food. I usually do the graph around a theme such as
favorite holiday foods. (Picture below). You can either make it a
traditional bar graph with the help of the children, but I find that
the children get more out of it when you have pictures of each food
that you can tape on to the graph. That way they can watch each
column of food get bigger.
Part 3:
Estimating Lessons
A.
Estimating Jar: Each week the children will get to
guess the amount of something in the estimating jar. What you put in
the estimating jar can also be based upon the overall theme for the
week. (I.e. put pennies in the jar during Money Week or put
Marshmallows in the jar during camping week) The children look in
the jar and guess how many items you have put in it. After all the
children have guessed a number, the teacher and the children will
count together to see how many items are in the jar. Following this,
a discussion will be held as to how to go about guessing. Ask the
children question such as “what if I used large coins like quarters
instead of small coins like pennies in the jar but they reached the
same height on the jar? Would you have more quarters then the
pennies or less?” This type of questioning can be used with whatever
item you end up putting in the jar.
B. How
many Unifix cubes long is the room? This is a fun hands on
estimation and counting activity. Have the children guess how many
Unifix cubes it would take to stretch across the entire room. (note:
if you don’t have Unifix cubes or don’t have enough then another
counting building toy can be used) After all the children have
guessed, have them work together to build a line of Unifix cubes
across the room. Then, help the children count all the cubes. That
might take a while; it was 467 in my classroom picture
below
Part 4
Shape Lessons:
A.
Shapes in the Room?: Bring out the shape blocks and
have the children identify all the shapes. Then have the children
look around the room and identify things of a certain shape and draw
them. The children will then go out in front of the classroom and
show the picture they drew of the class room object and identify the
shape that it resembles.
Part 5
Fraction Lessons
A.
Sorting Fractions Game: Use a piece of tape to
divide the rug into halves, thirds, or fourths depending on
what type of fraction you are learning about. (Note: fourths are
usually the limit for fraction learning in the preschool age group)
For the sake of explaining the activity I will give an example on a
lesson on halves. Give the child 8 small blocks that are all the
same size. Tell the child to put half of the blocks on one side of
the dividing line and the other half of blocks on the other side of
the dividing line. This activity can be repeated with dividing
things into thirds and fourths.
B.
Pizza/Pie Fractions: This is a pretty self
explanatory activity where you divide a pizza or pie into different
fractions. If at all possible, the activity engages the children the
most if you actually bake a pizza or pie as an activity prior to the
fraction game and separate the actual pizza or pie into different
fractions. If this is
not possible then you can either buy pizza toys that are designed
for this type of fraction activity or the teacher and children
can create to the pizza or pie to be separated into fractions as an
art activity.
Part 6. Patterns
A. Finish The
Pattern: Finish the pattern activities can be done a
variety of ways. For example, you can make a finish the color
pattern worksheet for small activity time or on a larger poster
activity for circle. Make patterns of varying types and have the
children use the crayons to finish the pattern themselves. The
finish the color pattern can also be done using unfix cubes or other
blocks that are more hands on for the children. Other finish the
pattern style activities can be done using shapes, numbers, letters,
or colors. (examples of activities in pictures below)
 
B.
Boy/Girl
Class Pattern: Challenge the entire class to make a line that
alternates between boy-girl-boy-girl-boy-girl. If there is not an
even number of boys and girls try to have the children make patterns
using other characteristics including clothing. This is a good
pattern activity for children who learn via movement.
C. Create Their Own
Pattern: Have the children create their own patterns using
unifix cubes, colored blocks, crayons, coins, et al.
Part 7 Sorting Lessons
A. Sorting Clean Up
Game: Most preschools have some sort of sorting
materials. Examples I have seen our shapes, different color and
sizes of dinosaurs, fruits and vegetables, different color cubes
ext. In this activity you will spill out a bucket of something that
can be sorted such as one of the aforementioned examples all over
the room. The children then sort everything that is spilled onto the
floor into a certain categories; i.e. put all the red cubes in a
pile, all the green cubes in another pile or put all the small cubes
in one pile and the larger cubes in another. After everything on the
floor has been correctly sorted into piles, the teacher and children
will count how many are in each pile and record that number. After
all the piles have been counted the children determine which pile
has the most and the least. Below is a picture of sorted
unifix cubes. 
Part 8 Measuring Games
A. How Tall Are You?
This is pretty self
explanatory; use a tape measure to see how tall the children are.
Also have the children measure how long their fingers, arms, feet,
et al are.
B. Measuring
Fun
Materials: Rulers, Tape
Measure and various things to measure: Blocks, pencils, paper,
markers, legos, toys, books et al.
Procedure: 1. the start of
circle hold up the ruler and the tape measure and ask the children
what they are used for. 2. Demonstrate how you can use them to
measure how long something is. 3. Ask the children one by one to
come to the middle of circle and pick something from the classroom
they want to measure. 4. Have the child measure their object.
(Assist them if necessary) After, have the child write how many
inches the object is on a chart. 5. Repeat with all the children at
circle. 6. After everything has been measured, have the children
look at the chart to state what objects were the longest and the
shortest. 7. Ask the children how else they can measure objects.
Goals: 1. Have the children
understand the concept of measuring. 2. For the children to get
first hand experience using rulers and tape measures. 3. For the
children increase their number recognition by identifying the
numbers on the ruler.
Part 9: Bracket
To help
the children understand how a tournament of bracket works, create a
bracket using something the children can vote on such as favorite
animal. Then have the children vote for their favorite and the
winner moves on to the next round until a champion is determined.
Below is an example:
Part 10: Real
Life CandyLand “A Counting Game”
This is a good game
to play if you have children with a lot of energy that learn via
active/physical learning. To play the game, you first need to tape
off a pathway in your room into squares. Then, number the squares
from 1-20. (Or a lesser or higher number depending on how you want
to play.) Have the children roll a dice and depending on what number
they get, that is how many spaces forward they hop. After they reach
their new square, have them tell you what number they are standing
on. This game teaches counting ability and number recognition
skills. You can even spice up the game as much as you like by adding
extra aspects to it such as signs that signal what area of the class
you are in or bonus squares that allow the child to move up an extra
space.
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