Math with Shells
We spent a little time practicing our numbers on a lazy Saturday. This set of tactile activities are appropriate for preschool through second grade.
1) Draw the number with your finger.
Observation and Art
She wanted a closer photo, too.
This was the first time I have seen her intentionally draw a specific object. This was special. She had so much fun with this self-led activity.
Here is another photo. In the background you can see the youngest sister working.
These activities are really fun to do when you're visiting the seashore, or to mix things up while you're doing a unit on the ocean!
My motivation for this lesson:
When I reviewed their math work for the week, I saw our girls had a hard time remembering which direction to write our numbers. I thought up a highly tactile way for them to practice - without picking up a pencil!
Tactile Numbers - with Shells
Here are the steps:
1) Feeling our numbers with sandpaper.
2) Counting out the right number of shells.
3) Forming each number out of a pile of shell pieces.
Here is a photo of our setup. We have a mat to define our workspace, a lineup of cards with sandpaper numbers, a box of shells, and a pile of tiny pieces of shells in the shape of a number.
Here is a photo of a child completing this activity with the number 3. She is placing her third shell in a row.
Numbers in Sand
Do you want to practice writing numbers with your finger? We filled a black tray with light colored sand. When we dragged our fingers through the sand, the dark background made the number easier to see than writing in sand on the ground.
Sometimes if I describe our numbers, it is easier to remember how they are written.
Here is a video where I describe the numbers as I write them in sand or salt.
We also enjoyed combining counting with writing our numbers.
2) Draw lines while counting up to our number.
3) Draw dots while counting up to our number.
Here is a video of our child doing this activity.
Observation and Matching
We got out our field guide and found matches for our shells. We had a lot of fun observing our shells with our magnifying glass, then thinking about which she'll it looked the most like in our book.
When she finished observing a few shells closely, our 3 year old decided to grab a black board and chalk, and started drawing the shells that she had observed closely. She asked me to take a photo of her work.
Her big sister joined in as well. She chose to draw a few different shells. She used a large book magnifying sheet to observe her shells. It worked very well for her. The magnifier is in the background of this photo, alongside the magnifying glass.
More Beach Lessons
Do you want to explore the beach habitat with another series of lessons? Here is a blog post we made a few years ago.
Outdoor Math
Here is another blog post we made with fun activities with outdoor math:
You may also enjoy this post about outdoor math from The Barefoot Homeschooling Mom. She calls this post Backyard Math, and she walks you through how to sub items found in nature for math manipulatives:
Comments
Post a Comment