Lollyellen
04-25-2009, 11:57 AM
This was so fun - I had planned it to do with all the kiddos (I babysit) for our "backyard animal" themed day yesterday, but we ran out of time, so I played it with Charlie this morning. This would work REALLY WELL in a classroom-type situation as well. :tup:
Use leftover plastic Easter eggs (or buy some plain white ones) and stuff each one with a small rubber or plastic animal. I chose spiders, tiny turtles, lizards and frogs (from Sam's animal bin) and plastic worms (from Ronnie's fishing tackle box). One animal per egg. Make it relatively easy to chart, by choosing about 4-6 different types of animals. Also, remember to consider how many of each animal you will add to the chart and be sure you have room for them on your chart/paper. I chose for the most, worms (4 or 5); and the least, just one frog.
Label a large sheet of paper with the title "Backyard Animals Chart".
Divide the paper into columns, one for each type of animal...I had 5 animal types, so 5 columns: Worms, Spiders, Turtles, Frogs and Lizards. I drew a little symbol to represent each one also, for my group of non-readers.
If you have a pair of tongs or tweezers, little ones just LOVE to use them for picking up ANYTHING. We have some little plastic tweezer things that came in a science kit, or bug habitat or something...the kids LOVE them. Use them whenever you can, for encouraging fine motor skills... :)
Gather the kiddos, the chart, and the prepared eggs. Talk about how many backyard animals (pond animals for a "pond life" unit, reptiles or amphibians as well) lay eggs and what one might find inside an animal's egg.
Explain the game by telling the kids they will each get to open an egg. When they discover what kind of animal is inside the egg, they will get to go and add it to that animal's "section" (or use the word "column", if you want) on the chart you made.
Continue taking turns opening eggs until all animals are added to the chart.
After all the animals are charted, talk about how many of each animal you have; which section has The Most animals; which section has The Least. Good foundation-math concepts, all! :)
Here's some snaps -
Charlie absorbing... (http://www.maternitycorner.com/lollyellen/backyardanimalchart.jpg)
Charlie counting (maternitycorner.com/lollyellen/backyardanimalchart_counting.jpg)...
Have fun! We sure did!
Use leftover plastic Easter eggs (or buy some plain white ones) and stuff each one with a small rubber or plastic animal. I chose spiders, tiny turtles, lizards and frogs (from Sam's animal bin) and plastic worms (from Ronnie's fishing tackle box). One animal per egg. Make it relatively easy to chart, by choosing about 4-6 different types of animals. Also, remember to consider how many of each animal you will add to the chart and be sure you have room for them on your chart/paper. I chose for the most, worms (4 or 5); and the least, just one frog.
Label a large sheet of paper with the title "Backyard Animals Chart".
Divide the paper into columns, one for each type of animal...I had 5 animal types, so 5 columns: Worms, Spiders, Turtles, Frogs and Lizards. I drew a little symbol to represent each one also, for my group of non-readers.
If you have a pair of tongs or tweezers, little ones just LOVE to use them for picking up ANYTHING. We have some little plastic tweezer things that came in a science kit, or bug habitat or something...the kids LOVE them. Use them whenever you can, for encouraging fine motor skills... :)
Gather the kiddos, the chart, and the prepared eggs. Talk about how many backyard animals (pond animals for a "pond life" unit, reptiles or amphibians as well) lay eggs and what one might find inside an animal's egg.
Explain the game by telling the kids they will each get to open an egg. When they discover what kind of animal is inside the egg, they will get to go and add it to that animal's "section" (or use the word "column", if you want) on the chart you made.
Continue taking turns opening eggs until all animals are added to the chart.
After all the animals are charted, talk about how many of each animal you have; which section has The Most animals; which section has The Least. Good foundation-math concepts, all! :)
Here's some snaps -
Charlie absorbing... (http://www.maternitycorner.com/lollyellen/backyardanimalchart.jpg)
Charlie counting (maternitycorner.com/lollyellen/backyardanimalchart_counting.jpg)...
Have fun! We sure did!