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I’m so happy to tell you about a great new book that I co-authored with my friends from the Kid Blogger Network. Learn With Play: 150+ Activities for Year-Round Fun & Learning is packed full of good stuff.
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Check it out:
This book stands out in a lot of ways. Not only are there a ton of fun activities, but:
Whether your child is just learning a new math concept or needs help reinforcing a skill, math manipulatives are always a big help.
Manipulatives aren’t just a fancy new math term, nor is it something you need to run out and purchase. It’s simply a group of small items used to illustrate a math concept.
I’m teaming up with a group of bloggers to showcase ordinary items you probably already have at home and the fun ways you can use them to reinforce math concepts. We’ll be doing some addition with rocks. It’s a great indoor or outdoor math activity.
We’re using a basic item, rocks.
With rocks, you can do math anywhere… in your house, in your backyard, on a camping trip, in the park.
They’re easy to find. And, if your kids are anything like mine, you may already have a nice collection of rocks at home.
We’re using them to reinforce addition skills, but they can be used in many other ways.
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My youngest daughter just finished kindergarten where they started learning the basics of addition.
She understands the concept, but doesn’t have her facts memorized. (It’s a bit too early for that anyway.)
Right now, the reinforcement she needs is to work on is the concept and manipulatives are perfect for the job.
It’s simple.
Check out the picture above. The problem we need to solve is 3 + 2.
Add 3 rocks and then another 2 rocks. Add the rocks together and you have 5. Easy peasy.
Even before a child is writing the number sentences, they can start learning the basics with manipulatives.
Make 2 piles of rocks and ask your child how many rocks they have all together.
Or, start with a small group of 3 rocks. Ask your child to add 2 more to the pile, and then ask them how many they have all together.
It can be a very simple way to sneak in a bit of math practice.
Practice subtraction. Start with a pile of 7 rocks and ask your child to take away 3 rocks. How many do they have left?
Use the rocks to help when adding 3 or more numbers together.
Do you have toddlers or preschoolers? Use them simply to learn how to count. Help them count a small pile of rocks. Or, ask them to collect 10 rocks.
Have you ever practiced addition with rocks?
Rocks aren’t the only fun everyday math manipulative you can use. Check out all the great ideas from a group of fantastic bloggers at this link, or on the image below.
My youngest daughter recently had her birthday. After tossing about party themes for a few weeks prior, she came home from school one day and told me she wanted a “Save the Earth” birthday party.
Her kindergarten class had been doing a lot of earth-friendly activities in the days leading up to Earth Day this year. She was inspired and she wanted to do a few activities for kids who want to save the earth.
She had a few friends over for her birthday and we planted seeds, made bird feeders from recycled materials, had a recycling relay race, and tried to be very conscious of our waste (i.e. no fancy decorations or little plastic toys). The kids had a ton of fun.
Ever since then, she’s become my tiny earth warrior. She’s interested in learning all about saving the earth.
I’ve been looking for fun ideas to help her learn all she can. I’ve rounded up some fun activities for kids who want to save the earth. These ideas are perfect for Earth Day or any day.
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Have a day of service and clean up your neighborhood with What’s Up Fagans? It’s such a simple idea, but a very effective one. This would be a great idea for a group activity.
Create and decorate recycling sorting bins with Every Star is Different. You have to scroll down to the end of the post for instructions. While you’re there, check out all the other fun activities!
Learn about ways to conserve water with KCEdventures. Read some books, come up with ideas and put them into practice.
Speaking of water, what is water pollution and how can you prevent it? Find out with these fun activities from One Time Through.
What is a carbon footprint? Find out with this fun activity from Kitchen Counter Chronicles.
Switch from paper to cloth. Kitchen Counter Chronicles has an easy tutorial for making cloth napkins. Help your beginning sewer make a set, or let the kids be in charge of choosing the fabric.
Attract butterflies to your yard. Plant some of these plants recommended by The Garden Glove. Or, make a DIY butterfly feeder like this one from Reading Confetti.
Grow your own food. Try one of the quick-growing vegetables in this post from Rainy Day Mum.
Feed the birds. Create a bird feeder from a recycled milk carton like this one from Red Ted Art. Or you can make a simple bird feeder from pine cones like these from Juggling With Kids.
Upcycle! Use materials from the recycle bin to make crafts. Here are some of our favorite craft supplies from the recycle bin.
Make and give a gift that helps the earth. Everyone would love to get one of these recycled paper seed cards from Fireflies and Mud Pies.
Which one of these activities would your kids love to do?