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Learning Activities for Kids

Practice Counting On in Nature

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In my most recent Math Homework 101 post, I talked about the concept of counting on and how it sets the stage for addition and subtraction. Since it’s such an important concept, I wanted to show you just how easy it is to practice counting on at home.

Seriously friends, you can do this.

We’re going to get outside, have a little fun in nature, and do a little sneaky math practice. Here are some simple ways you can practice counting on in nature.

You can practice counting on anywhere, even outside. Here are some fun ideas to practice this math concept outside in nature.

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All of our examples came from a nature walk we took recently.

I had no special supplies and no concrete plan. I wanted to show you just how easy it is to practice counting on.

You can take just 5 minutes a day for a bit of simple practice.

You can practice counting on anywhere, even outside. Here are some fun ideas to practice this math concept outside in nature.

Here are some of examples from our nature hike.

Example 1:

There were leaves scattered across the path. We started with a pile of 3 and continued counting on to find out how many leaves there were total. 3, 4, 5, 6.

You can practice counting on anywhere, even outside. Here are some fun ideas to practice this math concept outside in nature.

Example 2:

We found a tree full of berries. We imagined we had a basket with 5 berries in it, but we needed 10 berries. My girls used counting on to find out how many more we needed. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

You can practice counting on anywhere, even outside. Here are some fun ideas to practice this math concept outside in nature.

Example 3:

We stopped by a butterfly garden. We pretended we already had 3 flowers and wanted to pick the rest of the pink flowers. (Just pretending, no actual picking involved.) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Seems so simple, doesn’t it?

It really is simple. You don’t need anything special to practice counting on at home.

You can practice on a nature hike, in your backyard, or at the park. Practice on the walk home from school or while running errands. It’s easy and it’s fun!

For more information about counting on, including a detailed explanation, please see Math Homework 101: Counting On.

I Am a Super Hero! Writing Prompt

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If you were a superhero, what would your super powers be? Would it be invisibility? The ability to fly? Or super strength? I recently asked the girls that very question and had them come up with their own super-secret super hero identity.
 
It was an easy writing prompt and one that they took to quite eagerly. Because, honestly, who hasn’t daydreamed about being a super hero?

 

 
Are you ready? Grab the markers or crayons and send your imagination soaring.
 
All you need is the “I am a Super Hero!” printable and your imagination. What is your super hero name? Your secret identity? And your super powers? Draw a picture of yourself as a super hero.
 
It’s so wild to see what your kids create!
Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.
 
 
We had Horse Girl with the powers of galloping and super-strong kicks. We also had Garnet Girl who dresses all in red. Her super powers are flash speed (i.e. she’s as fast as the Flash!) and super strength. Our house is safe with these two watching out for us.
 
What are you waiting for? Download the printable and have fun!
 
Download and print “I am a Super Hero!” at this link.
 
 
Check out the rest of the 2nd Grade Blogging Team for even more super hero themed activities:
 
Super Hero States of Matter from Look! We’re Learning!
Super Math Skip Counting from Sugar Aunts
Superhero Pattern Stones from Rainy Day Mum
Super Hero Reading Logs from 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Superhero Contractions Memory Game from School Time Snippets
Super Hero Self Portrait from Still Playing School

 

 
 
 

Math Homework 101: What Is Counting On?

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What is counting on?

Counting on is an essential skill that your kids will start working on in kindergarten (or even earlier)!

It’s not a difficult skill, but it is a crucial skill that sets the stage for addition and subtraction.

What is counting on? Simply put, it’s the act of counting forward starting at a number other than 1.

This skill is listed in the Common Core Standards for kindergarten. K.CC.A.2 says “Count forward beginning from a given number with the known sequence (instead of having to begin with 1).”

So yes, it’s important and yes, your kindergartner will be working on it this year.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

What is counting on? It's an important math concept that your child will work on in elementary school. Find out what it is and how to practice at home.

How can you practice?

It’s so simple to practice the concept of counting on at home. You don’t need special worksheets, tools, or even a formal learning time.

Practice on a walk or when you’re driving the kids home for school.

All is takes is a question: Can you start at 3 and count to 10?

It’s that simple.

If they’re still learning the concept, count with them.

Pretty soon, with practice, they’ll be able to do it on their own. Have them start at 5 or 6 or 7.

Have they mastered the smaller numbers? Start at 22 and count to 30. Or start at 46 and count to 52. You get the idea.

What is counting on? It's an important math concept that your child will work on in elementary school. Find out what it is and how to practice at home.

How does this relate to addition and subtraction?

Check out the picture above. The question is “what is 3 + 2?”

To find the answer, you can start at three and count two more to get the answer, five. Counting on can help your child solve simple addition problems.

And subtraction? Take the problem 7 – 5. Start counting at five and go up to seven. How many times did you count? Yep, two. See how that works.

Hold on, hold on! If my kid has to count every time he has to add, he’ll never make it in the later grades. This is no good! (You may not be thinking this, but I guarantee you that some people are.)

Just remember that the kids using counting on just learned to count not too long ago.

This is an extension of counting and a link in the chain. Each link your child can master will lead to a strong chain of math skills.

It’s an introduction to the skills used in addition and subtraction. Chances are, you learned this too, you just didn’t know the formal term.

It’s simple. It’s basic. But, it’s powerful.

I’ve worked with kids who were falling behind in math in later grades and noticed that some of the kids who were struggling with addition and subtraction had never mastered counting on. We had to backtrack and work on that skill. Once they were more confident with counting on, their addition and subtraction skills improved. It really does help.

So, now we know that answer to the question: what is counting on? It’s so simple and so much fun to practice.

Fun Ways to Practice Counting On At Home

Counting On Card Game

Practice Counting On in Nature

10 Fun Ways to Practice Counting On

Apple Counting Rocks

10 Simple Ways to Practice Counting On at Better Than Homework

Have you caught all the Math Homework 101 posts? Click here to see all the previous posts all written to help you help your kids with their math homework.

Go on a Fact Finding Mission

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We received the most amazing book in the mail a few weeks ago. It was packed full of fun facts about everything under the sun. Seriously. There was everything from animals, history, and the ocean, to a section full of the most disgusting facts you can imagine. The book all by itself was amazing, but we decided to have even more fun with it. We used it to go on a Fact Finding Mission!
Disclosure: We received a free copy of this book from Parragon Books, all opinions and the related activity are our own. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.
This fantastic book is called 5000 Amazing Facts: Incredible but True Facts About Everything by Discovery Kids. They’re not kidding. There are facts about everything such as dinosaurs, meerkats, black holes, populations, and world treasures, just to name a few. This is not a book that you have to read straight through. You can open it up to any page and enjoy. My 3rd grader thinks this is the most awesome book ever!
Even though this book is so enjoyable on it’s own, I thought it would be a fun idea to play a little fact finding game. I leafed through the book and found 10 different facts that were interesting. (Finding only 10 was quite a challenge!) I then created questions for those facts and challenged the girls to figure out the answer.
It seems like a daunting task to find the answer to only 10 questions from a book of 5000 facts, but I was very deliberate in my questions. The facts in the book are grouped together by topic and I made the topic very obvious in my question. For example, question 1 is “What whale has no sense of smell?” The girls were able to find that question on the whale page. The questions also went in book order, so they didn’t have to go back and forth in the book.
My girls absolutely loved the game and learned so much from it – more than just some fun trivia facts. They learned to find the subject of the question so they could easily find the section of the book they needed. And, they learned how to find the answer to a question in a book. All good research skills they need to know.

 

If you would like to use our Fact Finding Mission, you can grab it at the link below. I’ve even included the answers on a second sheet. It is very specific to this book.
Get the Fact Finding Mission here.
You can go on a fact finding mission with many nonfiction books. You just have to take the time to write out a few questions. It’s a great way to help a kid explore a nonfiction book and helps them learn how to research and find the answer to a question.
Thanks again to Parragon Books for 5000 Amazing Facts, Incredible but True Facts About Everything. You can click on the book link to purchase.
 

Rainbow Color Hunt: A Tally Mark Scavenger Hunt

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We love scavenger hunts – really love scavenger hunts.

They’re fun, engaging, get you moving, and are a great way to sneak in some extra learning.

We recently spent a hot summer day on a rainbow color tally mark scavenger hunt throughout the house.

It was a great way to sneak in some math practice. We were looking for the colors of the rainbow and also practicing tally marks at the same time.

Sneak in math fun while you search for a rainbow of colors. This tally mark scavenger hunt is a great way to practice writing and counting tally marks.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Perfect for inside or outside

This scavenger hunt can work both indoors and out, but we did discover that there are many more color choices inside.

You would definitely want to find a more colorful location (like a flower garden) if you plan on trying this scavenger hunt outside.

Sneak in math fun while you search for a rainbow of colors. This tally mark scavenger hunt is a great way to practice writing and counting tally marks.

Go on a rainbow color tally mark scavenger hunt

The hunt is so easy and so much fun.

All you need is the Rainbow Color Hunt printable, a hard surface to write on, and a pencil.

Have your child hunt for all the colors of the rainbow. Each time that find a color, they need to make a tally mark on the sheet.

At the end of the hunt, total up all the tally marks to find out which color occurred most frequently.

To make sure there was an end point to this scavenger hunt, I set a timer for 15 minutes. Our goal was to find out how much color we could find in that time frame.

Sneak in math fun while you search for a rainbow of colors. This tally mark scavenger hunt is a great way to practice writing and counting tally marks.

My girls worked together to find the colors and total up the tally marks. You could also give each child their own copy of the printable and let them compete against each other to see who found the most incidences of each color.

Are you ready to play? You can download and print the Rainbow Color Tally Mark Scavenger Hunt at the link below.

Download and print here –> Rainbow Color Hunt
Sneak in math fun while you search for a rainbow of colors. This tally mark scavenger hunt is a great way to practice writing and counting tally marks.

More rainbow fun

Make simple egg carton rainbows. You probably have all the supplies you need at home.

Read a book about color! You’ll find great recommendations for books about all the colors of the rainbow.

Learn with Rainbow Writing. Practice spelling words or sight words with this fun activity.

Try some rainbow science. Visit Buggy & Buddy for a fun list of rainbow science activities.

Make this a family adventure

Cost: Free

Planning time: About 5 minutes. You need time to download and print the Rainbow Color Hunt sheet.

Ages: 5 and up. This works best with kids who have already learned about tally marks. You can pair up younger kids with an older sibling or adult if they can’t do tally marks on their own.

Time needed: 15 to 30 minutes.

Choose your location wisely! You don’t want everyone to get frustrated because they can’t find the different colors.