Christmas Math- Number Recognition

I found this great website that describes Four Preschool Goals for Math.

Colors and shapes

• knows about colors and shapes
• identifies 6 colors
• identifies 4 shapes

Create a two-piece pattern

• creates and understands two-piece patterns

Compare objects

• uses words to make comparisons (bigger, biggest, smaller, smallest, heavier, heaviest, etc.)

Counting

• Can count to 20
• Can count a group up to 8 objects
• recognizes numerals 1 - 10

I have used these goals to help me plan out some Preschool Math activities this month. I figured that using Christmas as a theme can make anything fun-- even math.

Here is our first game:

Number Recognition 1-20

Do you recognize this? It is an empty Christmas ornament container.

I cut out the numbers from 1-20 using green and red paper and taped them to the bottom of the container. To play the game, D stood a few feet away from the box and tossed an object (we used dice) into the box and he had to name the number with the dice.
Variations:

Younger children:

Color Recognition

Leave off the numbers and just put different colors in each square.

Older children:

Addition

Write down the numbers and add them up.

More or Less

Throw two dice into the box and figure out which number is larger or smaller.

Playing with Our Food- Sugar Cookies

Last week we planned to do some corn activities but my poor sick boys really weren't in the mood. If you still want to do some great ideas for "Corn" and other activities, please visit

Crafts by Amanda.

She has TONS of great ideas. Here is one that she sent me. (Thank you!)

I was able to talk D in to making some cookies, however. I am pretty sure that cookies make everyone feel better. I am sure that you are thinking that we made traditional Christmas sugar cookies. Nope. My husband, the bargain-hunter, found this AWESOME robot cookie cutter from Sonoma-Williams for 1/2 price. D is a HUGE robot fan so this was perfect for my little guy. It is divided into three pieces so that you can change (rotate) the head, torso, and legs to make different robots.

We had a TON of fun making these. We are going to make some more for party favors for D's fourth birthday later this month.

If you make some cookies (sugar or otherwise) and post about them, feel free to link them up.

The Art Box- Rocket

Like I said like last week, I do not have a specific art "box" that I let D create out of. I have recently remodeled my craft closet to make it more kid-friendly so that D can select his material without totally destroying everything. In the craft closet, I also keep my "I-am-saving-that-because-I-am-sure-that-I-will-use-it-for-something-box", hence the empty Dora yogurt cup. This day D created a rocket out of construction paper, LOTS of tape, aluminum foil, and yogurt cup.

Gracias

This week has not gone at ALL as I had planned. As you know, both boys have been very sick so pretty much all plans out of the house had to be canceled and most of our in-house projects too. :( Thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes to the boys. I am hoping that we are almost at the end of it. I am very grateful for the fact that I was off work this week so we could just cuddle up on the couch and take it easy.

In my few minutes of alone time this week I came across some GREAT posts. I would like to share them and to say "gracias" for the great ideas, crafts, projects, and information in these posts. If you came across an especially creative project, interesting discussion, or just a great post during the week that you would like to share, please leave a comment below.

1. BabelKid is hosting the monthly Bilingual Carnival this month. If you want to find a TON of fascinating articles by families that are raising their children with two (or more) languages, you need to read this post. Every month a different mutilingual blogger hosts the carnival. I am hoping to sign up to host this carnival in the future.

2. The Activity Mom wrote a very generous post about an ACTIVITY Advent Calendar this week. She even included the printables to make your own. I am WAY behind on my Christmas activity planning after getting NOTHING done this week so I very much appreciate the ideas.

3. The Adventures of Bear shared her Rhyming Box. Since D saw an episode of Ni Hao, Ki Lan in which they were practicing rhyming words, he wants to know a rhyming word for EVERYTHING. I love this idea to give you child concrete objects to relate to the rhyming words. We are in the process of setting up our own box.

4. Mouse Learns, Mouse Grows talked about their family's Holiday traditions. I am fascinated with other cultures so I especially liked to learn about the Weihnachtsmarkt and the Feuerzangenbowle. You'll have to check it out to find out what they are.

5. Silly Little Eagle books gives an AWESOME list of Thanksgiving ideas and activities to file away for next year. In my neverending quest to get more organized, I have started file folders for next year and beyond so I will definitely use these ideas.

6. Mama Smiles wrote a great post about how she keeps her household running smoothly with three small children. Lots of great tips for those of us with little guys.

Drum roll please.............................

The winner of the $25 Amazon Gift card is....................

Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Thank you to everyone who entered in the giveaway and participated in the my Toys my children ACTUALLY play with linky.

Nativity scene magnets

I bought these Nativity scene magnets from a catalog that my neighbor's daughter was selling out of to raise money for the marching band. I did not have high expectations, but D loves them. They actually have tiny numbers (up to 25) on them so that you can put one on the fridge each day until Christmas. We are just using them to talk about the story of Jesus's birth. I am currently looking for a simplified (3 year old level) Christmas eve story in Spanish so that we can "act" it out with our magnets. If you are interested in finding them, I saw a set at Hobby Lobby yesterday for $13.00.

Let the countdown begin!... Almost

I just realized YESTERDAY that if I am going to get our count down to Christmas activities going on December 1st I only have a couple of days left. Where did the time go?

Last year D and I did a paper chain in Christmas colors to help him understand when Christmas day would arrive. This year since he is a little older and much wiser, I wanted to do something a little different. I can not take credit for the idea. I found a printable here. I thought that it would be way to small, however, so I redrew it on a larger piece of paper. I also mixed up the numbers so that they are not in order. D can identify 1-10 easily but gets confused with the numbers beyond. The idea is very simple. You simply place a piece of cottonball on the beard of Santa to cover the appropriate number until you reach #25.

After I finished the Santa calendar, I remembered that I have two children and nothing for M to do. Just kidding, I know that I have two children. I just keep forgetting that M is not a little baby anymore and he is capable and willing to participate. Since naptime was about over I had to whip up something quick. This Christmas tree was what I came up with. M obviously does not know his numbers yet so I will have D help him find them and we will put a different colored circle (an ornament) to cover each number. I will make a star to put on the #25.

To see what some very creative mommies are doing to get ready for Christmas check out The Adventures of Bear, The Land of Pleasant Living, Our Worldwide Classroom, and The Fifth Street Place.