Every year I like to take my class out for a nature walk to observe the signs of fall. On these walks, we often come across a busy squirrel or two. This provides the perfect teaching opportunity about why squirrels gather and store nuts and seeds for the approaching winter. To extend this lesson I developed this entertaining counting game which teaches number sense.
Line the squirrels up in a row, and provide the children with a pile of acorns. Then instruct them to place the correct number of acorns (the amount that corresponds to the number on the squirrel’s tail) in the cup. As children pick up and place each acorn, have them state the correct number. In doing so, they will strengthen their one-to one-correspondence skills. When all the acorns have been correctly placed, ask the students if they would like to count all the squirrels. This will increase their ability to count to 10 in an accurate sequence.
This game also helps to strengthen fine motor skills. As an added challenge, tweezers and tongs can be used to pick up the acorns.
I have found this activity to be very popular with the majority of my class. I hope that you find that your students enjoy it as well.
This Halloween sensory bin is made of just a little bit of spooky and a whole lot of fun!
Children learn best by using their senses. Tubs filled with a variety of substances and materials enable young ones to use those senses to explore things that capture their attention. As they manipulate the objects, they are seeing, touching, smelling, and hearing. This allows them to collect information and make discoveries, which leads to the practice of many learning concepts.
Young learners build language, social emotional, and problem solving skills as they work alongside their peers to delve into the bin’s contents. They increase their math skills by counting, sorting, and classifying different elements. Quantity comparisons are also made as they decipher who has more “spiders” or “rocks” in their “cauldrons”. Additionally, scooping, pouring, and picking up different items helps to strengthen fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.
Without a doubt, sensory bins are one of the best hands-on learning tools. So hurry and gather up a container and some spooky goodies!
Trick or treat! This Halloween Math and Literacy Activities pack contains printable activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. It enables children to practice the following skills:
– Counting
– One-to-one correspondence
– Number recognition
– Number quantity
– Set recognition
– Number formation
– Patterning
– Measurement (non-standard)
– Quantity comparison
– Shape recognition
– Association
– Classification
– Attribute variance
– ABC Order
– Uppercase letter recognition
– Beginning sounds
– Visual discrimination
– Visual memory
– Number formation
– Fine Motor
– Following directions
– Social emotional
AUTUMN MIX PATTERN CARDS (6)
Print these cards out on cardstock (laminate for heavy use). Provide young learners with a small amount of Brach’s Candy Autumn Mix. Work with children to identify and extend the patterns.
BOO! THE FRIGHTFULLY FUN ALPHABET CARD GAME(COLOR 53/B&W 53)
An engaging spin-off of the classic game Old Maid. Print these sheets out on cardstock (laminate for heavy use) and cut into cards. In a small group, shuffle and deal all of the cards. Players will sort through their cards, placing any letter matches face-up on the table.
Starting with the dealer, each child will takes a turn fanning out their hands so that the player to their left can draw one card. Some children may struggle to fan their cards, and that’s okay. Just make sure to emphasize that the children should try to not let the other players see their cards. As your students make letter pairs in their hands, prompt them to discard them immediately onto the table. Depending on how you’d like the game to play out, the player left holding the unmatched card, the BOO! ghost, either loses or wins.
HALLOWEEN ROLL & COVER SHEETS (COLOR 4/B&W 4)
Print these sheets out on cardstock (laminate for heavy use). Provide mini erasers, pom poms, vase gems, or some other small manipulative for students to use as markers. For individual use, have the child roll the die, count the dots (or recognize the “set” of dots), and find and cover the corresponding number on the sheet. Repeat until all of the numerals are covered. In small group, give each child a sheet and have them take turns rolling the die. The first person to cover all of their numbers wins. Trade cards and play again!
CANDY CORN MEMORY GAME (COLOR 24/B&W 24)
Print these cards out on cardstock (laminate for heavy use) cut, and mix them up. Place them in rows, face down. Prompt students to turn over any two cards. If the cards match, they keep them and go again. If the pictures don’t match, they are turned back over and it is next player’s turn. Encourage children to “take a picture with your brain” to help them recall what is on each card and where it is. The game is over when all of the cards have been matched.
HALLOWEEN COUNT THE ROOM (COLOR 10/B&W 10)
These cards are to be used in conjunction with the Halloween – Count the Room worksheets. Print these out on cardstock (laminate for heavy use) and cut. Place the 10 cards (tape, clip, prop, etc.) around the room. Working with a small group, give each child one of the 3 worksheets and a writing utensil (clipboards are optional). As students discover each card, they will count its items and record the number on their worksheets.
WORKSHEETS (12)
With these 12 worksheets children will measure monsters, compare sets of Halloween items, color by numbers, trace shapes, identify some spooky sounds, and so much more!
We're Gigi and Zoey. We teach a two-year program (preschool and pre-k), and we're passionate about Early Childhood Education and the philosophy that children learn through play. Our goal is to prepare children for kindergarten while making learning fun.
We hope that our resources inspire you, and that you will share them with your little ones.
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, pom poms, vase gems, or some other small manipulative for students to use as markers. For individual use, have the child roll the 
, count the dots (or recognize the “set” of dots), and find and cover the corresponding number on the sheet. Repeat until all of the numerals are covered. In small group, give each child a sheet and have them take turns rolling the 
