November 16 is Button Day…for real! Here are some thoughts on how to integrate buttons into your lesson plans any day. And, don't forget to read Eric Litwin's PETE THE CAT AND HIS FOUR GROOVY BUTTONS!
Hint! I bought my bag of buttons at Walmart, but you could ask parents to send in extra buttons they don’t want for a learning activity. (That might be a good homework assignment.)
Math
*Have children count the number of buttons they have on. Who has the most? Who has zero? Tally how many in the entire class.
*Have children form groups with friends who have the same number of buttons.
*Use the buttons children bring in for math activities. Let them sort the buttons. What was their sorting rule? Can they sort them another way?
*Write numerals on cups and have children make appropriate sets in the cups using the buttons.
Hint! I bought my bag of buttons at Walmart, but you could ask parents to send in extra buttons they don’t want for a learning activity. (That might be a good homework assignment.)
Math
*Have children count the number of buttons they have on. Who has the most? Who has zero? Tally how many in the entire class.
*Have children form groups with friends who have the same number of buttons.
*Use the buttons children bring in for math activities. Let them sort the buttons. What was their sorting rule? Can they sort them another way?
Crafts
*Let children choose one button and glue it in the middle of a sheet of construction paper. Can they create a picture incorporating the button?
*Give children pipe cleaners or dental floss and let the string buttons to make necklaces and bracelets. (You’ll probably have to limit the number of buttons each child can use.) 
*Make cardboard picture frames and let children glue on buttons. Insert their photo for a perfect gift for mom or dad.
*Play “Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?” This is really a silly game, but my kids loved it. Choose one child to be “it” and hide a button. Choose 3 or 4 other children to leave the classroom and stand in the hall. The rest of the students cup their hands together as if they are holding something. “It” walks around the room and places the button in one friend’s cupped hands. The children in the hall are then called back to the classroom and everyone chants, “Button, button, who’s got the button?” The students from the hall walk around opening hands until someone finds the button. They become the new “it” and the game continues.
*Let children make up their own game using buttons.
*Demonstrate how to sew on a button. Now, that’s a novel idea! I bet some of your kids have never seen someone use a needle and thread.