1, 2, 3 - COUNT WITH ME!

Counting is a basic strand across math standards. There’s even research that suggests counting with pre-k children can build math concepts they will use later on in kindergarten and primary grades. To avoid rote counting without meaning, let TOUCH AND COUNT be the mantra you repeat and model over and over. Counting will also have more meaning if you tie it into finger plays, songs, and movements.

*Adapt these activities for younger children by just counting from 1-10. Older students can count to 100 and beyond.

Little Red Number Box (Sarah Wilson)
Put magnetic numbers in a metal tin and then sing the song as you pull out a number. Then count to that number.
For example: I wish I had a little tin box to put a 6 in. I’d take it out and count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and put it back in.

Move and Count
Have children count as they jump, hop, and do other movements.

*Count the steps to the lunchroom.
*Count how long it takes everyone to sit down quietly.
*Count the number of chairs in the room, tables, toys, girls, boys, dragons (that's a joke!) etc.


Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory dickory dock. (Palms together and tick tock back and forth.)
The mouse ran up the clock. (Wiggle fingers up in the air.)
The clock struck one, (Clap one time.)
The mouse ran down. (Wiggle fingers down.)
Hickory dickory dock.

Two – “Yahoo!” (Continue clapping the appropriate number of times.)
Three – “Whopee!”
Four – “Do more!”
Five – “Let’s jive!”
Six – “Fiddlesticks!”
Seven – “Oh, heavens!”
Eight – “Life’s great!”
Nine – “So fine!”
Ten – “We’re near the end.”
Eleven – “We’re sizzlin’.”
Twelve – “I’m proud of myself.”



Number Sticks

These math sticks are easy to make and can be used in many ways. You’ll need magnetic numbers and shapes, jumbo craft sticks, and a strong glue (such as E6000). Glue the numbers to the sticks and you are all set!

*Let children hold up the appropriate stick as you do finger plays and counting songs.
*Can they walk around the room and match up their number with classroom print or the appropriate number of objects?


Giant Number Line
Attach a piece of tape to the floor in a prominent place in your classroom. Let children walk on it forwards, backwards, hop, etc. After playing with the line, ask them to sit on the floor. Explain that you’re going to turn it into a number line as you demonstrate writing numbers (0-10) on the tape. 

*Ask one child at a time to walk on the number line as they say each number.
*Call out different numbers and ask random students to stand on those numbers. What is one more? What is one less?
*Give students dot cards (0-10) and ask them to match their card with the number on the line.

COUNT ON WITH FINGER PLAYS

"Fiveness" and "tenness" are important to developing number sense. We can do this naturally with finger plays involving five and ten.

Noodles
One small noodle (Hold up one finger.)
On my noodle plate.
Salt and pepper,
Tastes just great. (Pretend to shake salt.)
Mother’s going to the store.
Mother, mother, get some more.

Two…Three…Four…

*Cut five small holes out of a paper plate and insert your fingers as you say the rhyme.

Five Little Ducks
Five little ducks (Hold up 5 fingers.)
Went out to play
Over the hills (Move hand up and down.)
And far away. (Put hand over your eyes as if looking.)
When the mother duck called,
“Quack, quack, quack!” (Put palms together and open and shut.)
Four little ducks (Hold up 4 fingers.)
Came waddling back.

Four…three…two…one
No little ducks went out to play (Make fist.)
Over the hills and far away.
When the daddy duck called,
“QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!” (Open and close arms and say loudly.)
Five little ducks came waddling back.


*Staple the sides of a file folder and glue felt to the front to make a flannel board. Cut ducks or other figures out of felt to use as visuals for finger plays.

Alligator and Monkeys
Five little monkeys (Hold up 5 fingers.)
Swinging from a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator, (Point finger as if teasing.)
“Can’t catch me!
You can’t catch me!” (Shake head “no.”)
Along came Mr. Alligator (Put palms together and slowly
Quiet as can be, move like an alligator.)
And snatched a monkey (Open and clap palms as if
Right out of the tree! chomping on something.)

Four…three…two…one
“Missed me, missed me!
Now you gotta kiss me!” (Put hands on side of your head and wiggle.)

*Attach stickers to craft sticks to make puppets for finger plays.

*Choose one child to be the alligator and five other children to be the monkeys and act out the rhyme.

Five Little Hotdogs
Five little hotdogs (Hold up 5 fingers.)
Frying in the pan.
The grease got hot,
And one went BAM! (Clap hands.)
Four little hotdogs… (Hold up 4 fingers.)
Three little hotdogs… (Hold up 3 fingers.)
Two little hotdogs… (Hold up 2 fingers.)
One little hotdog… (Hold up 1 finger.)
No little hotdogs (Hold up fist.)
Frying in the pan.
The pan got hot,
And it went BAM! (Clap hands and say the last word loudly.)

*Draw the shape of a pan on a file folder. Cut a 6" slit across the center as shown. Cut hotdogs out of construction paper and tape to spring clothespins.
*Write numbers on plastic plates and have children make the appropriate number of hotdogs from play dough.

*Change “hotdogs” to “sausages.” Or, change the rhyme to popcorn and say:
Five little kernels sizzling in the pot.
The grease got hot and one went POP!”

Gummy Bears
Down at the candy shop what did I see?
Five little gummy bears smiling at me.
Along came (child’s name) with a penny one day.
He/she bought the green one and took it away.

Down at the candy shop what did I see?
Four little gummy bears smiling at me.
Along came (child's name) with a penny one day.
He/she bought the red one and took it away.

Three...two...one

*Cut gummy bears out of construction paper. Choose five children to hold the bears. Distribute paper pennies to five other children and use their names as you say the rhyme.

Ten Little Friends
Ten little friends (Hold up fingers.)
Went out to play (Wiggle.)
On a very bright
And sunny day.
And they took a little walk.
Walk, walk, walk. (Walk fingers in front of your body.)
And they had a little talk.
Talk, talk, talk. (Put fingertips together.)
They climbed a great big hill (Move fingers over your head.)
And stood on the top very still. (Keep hands still.)
Then they all tumbled down (Roll hands around and down.)
And fell to the ground.
We’re so tired, (Hold up fingers.)
They all said.
So they all went home
And went to bed.
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – (Put down fingers one at a time as you
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. count backwards and lower your voice.)
Good night! (Lay head on hands.)

COLOR FARM

This is a song your students will enjoy singing, but there are many skills “camouflaged” here. *This song reinforces the concept that when you put letters together you make a word.
*Children can learn to read the color words.
*More advanced children can learn to spell the color words.

The Color Farm
(Tune: “BINGO”)
There was a farmer had a cat
And Black was her name-o
B-L-A-C-K (Clap on each letter.)
B-L-A-C-K
B-L-A-C-K
And Black was her name-o.

Dog – BROWN
Cow – PURPLE
Horse – GREEN
Duck – ORANGE
Bird – BLUE
Chick – YELLOW
Pig – RED

English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlgZjI_K8vA

Spanish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzRLebFyIIc

Puppets
Let the children make stick puppets that they can hold up as you sing.




Write the color word and put a picture clue by it on a sentence strip. Pass these out for the children to hold up as you sing.

Cut a 7” circle out of the top of a file folder. Add ears, tails, and other features for each animal. Children hold it up around their face as you sing.


Hint! Make up additional verses for other colors. For example, a pink flamingo, tan turtle, grey goat, white sheep, etc.


Word Puzzles
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers

Directions: Write sight words on sentence strips. Cut between the letters to make a puzzle. Place the puzzle pieces in an envelope. Make a balloon the appropriate color on the front of the envelope. Children remove the letters and try to put them together to make the word.
Hint! Write the word on the back of the envelope so children can self-check.

Pull and Read
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers



Directions: Write sight words on 10” sections of sentence strips with a black marker. Draw a small balloon the appropriate color at the right end of each word. Seal a letter size envelope and then trim off the left end. Insert the sight words in the envelope. Children pull out one letter at a time and try to blend the sounds and identify the color word. They can self-check with the balloon at the end.


Configuration Puzzles
Write color words on the board. Invite children to trace around the outside shape of each word. Erase the letters inside the outlines. Can children identify the word from the shadow? 

A CRAYON BOX FULL OF ART

Here are some simple art projects with crayons that can be adapted to any age or teaching situation. Sometimes adults think that kids should only do an art project one time. The interesting thing is that children will enjoy doing these activities several times.

Dancing Crayons
Materials: crayons, paper, music
Directions: Hold a crayon in each hand. Put on some music, and let the crayons “dance” on the paper.
*This would work well at the listening center using a variety of music, such as classical, country, march, lullaby, etc.

Bundles
Materials: crayons, rubber bands, paper
Directions: Wrap a rubber band around 3 or 4 crayons. Children can hold the “bundle” and draw a design or picture on their paper.

Dot to Dot
Materials: crayons, paper
Directions: Make a specified number of dots (six, ten, whatever) on a piece of paper. Exchange papers with a friend. Connect the dots. What does it look like? Add details to create an object or design.

Wiggles and Squiggles
Materials: crayons, paper
Directions: Have the children close their eyes and make a design on their paper with a black crayon. When they open their eyes, ask them to create something out of their design.
Adaptations: Have children exchange papers with wiggles and squiggles with a friend.

Folded Designs
Materials: paper, crayons
Directions: Have children take a sheet of paper and fold it several times. Next, open it and trace over the creases on the paper with a black crayon. Finally, fill in each section with a different color, design, or pattern.

A COLORING WE'LL GO

Do you remember how happy a new box of crayons made you when you were a child? There was always a lot of “hope” in those sharp, new crayons. I was never a great artist, but I was thrilled with the “possibilities” those crayons offered!

*A good rule of thumb for encouraging children to use many colors in their drawings is to ask them to use as many colors as they are in age. If they are four years old they should use at least 4 different crayons; if they are five years old they should use five colors, etc.

*As you read books to the class, explain the illustrator’s name. Have children notice details in illustrations. Why is it important to add details? Remind them when they draw pictures they are illustrators, too, and they should add lots of details to make their pictures more interesting.

*Encourage children to close their eyes and think about what they want to draw before they begin coloring. “Get a picture in your brain and then you’ll know what you want your picture to look like. It’s like telling a story with your crayons.”

*Keep a box for “lost crayons” on a shelf so children have a place to put crayons that get misplaced.

*Use mint tins to store crayons when boxes fall apart.

A Coloring We’ll Go
(Tune: “A Hunting We Will Go”)
A coloring we’ll go.
A coloring we’ll go.
Hi ho, it’s fun you know,
A coloring we’ll go.

Use straight and curvy lines.
Use straight and curvy lines.
With yellow, purple, green, and orange,
We’ll make our picture fine. (Chorus)

The details we will draw.
The details we will draw.
Imagine all the little things.
The details we will draw. (Chorus)

We’ll fill in the page.
We’ll fill in the page.
Use as many colors
As you are in age.

A coloring we’ll go.
A coloring we’ll go.
We’ll put them in the box and close the top
When we’re through, you know.

https://bit.ly/drjeanAColoring

Crayon Book
Materials: copy paper, hole punch, crayons, rubber band



Directions: Fold two sheets of paper in half. Cut in half. Stack and fold in half again. Make two hole punches on the folded sided about 2” from the ends. Insert a rubber band in one
hole and slip a crayon through the loop. Insert the other end of the rubber band in the other hole and slide the other end of the crayon through that loop. Children can use these books to write color words, draw pictures of their favorite colors, cut objects out of
magazines and label the color, and so forth.


Rainbow Everything
Materials: paper, crayons or markers

Directions: Children can trace around shapes or letters with different colors of crayons. You can adapt this activity to seasonal shapes, words, numerals, or anything you want the children to practice.

MY COLORFUL WORLD

The world is full of beautiful, colorful things. And, many classrooms are full of colorful things and having discussions about colors this time of year. But, have you ever wondered why? Colors nurture visual discrimination and visual memory skills which are the building blocks for letter recognition and sight words. Colors are bolder and easier to discriminate that letters and words, so let's get started!

Color Box (Tune: “Happy Birthday”)
Here’s a crayon for you. (Pretend to hold a present in your hand.)
It’s a blue one for you. (Hold up a blue crayon or marker.)
B – l – u – e blue
Here’s blue for you...
Red, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown, black, white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8DdOf6xY2c

*Children could hold up crayons or touch something the appropriate color as you sing.
You can download small color cards here:

file:///Users/jeanfeld/Downloads/Color_Cards_Small.pdf


You can download large color cards here:

file:///Users/jeanfeld/Downloads/Color_Cards.pdf

Sign Language
Teach children manual signs for the colors. You can see video clips at aslpro.com.

Color Scavenger Hunt
Cut construction paper in a variety of colors into 2” squares. Place these in a bag and let children choose a square. Have them hunt around the classroom to find an object that color. Can they find more than one?

*Try a color scavenger hunt on the playground.

Colorful Snack
Have a “colorful snack” where every child brings a colorful fruit or vegetable. Ask parents to prepare the food in bite size pieces so it will be easy to serve the class.
*Have children draw pictures of the “colors” they ate.

Wearing Colors
Sing this song to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." Children stand up when the color they are wearing is sung in the song.
If you're wearing color stand up.
If you're wearing color turn around.
If you're wearing color jump around.
If you're wearing color sit down.

ALPHARDY

It really doesn’t matter how you say it, but you’ll find this song one of the most meaningful tunes you can do with your students. I’ve had countless teachers tell me that they do this song every morning at circle time with their students. By repeating the song daily and adding motions and sign language children are able to make the connections between letters and sounds. This is also helpful for children who have trouble articulating some of the sounds.

Alphardy (“Jeopardy" Tune)
A for apple /a/ /a/ /a/ (Pretend fist is an apple.)
B for bounce /b/ /b/ /b/ (Bounce a ball.)
C for cut /c/ /c/ /c/ (Open and close index and middle fingers as if cutting.)
D for dig /d/ /d/ /d/ (Pretend to dig.)
E – elbow (Point to elbow.)
F – fan (Fan self with hand.)
G – gallop (Gallop in place.)
H – hop (Hop on one foot.)
I – itch (Scratch self.)
J – jump (Jump up and down.)
K – kick (Little kicks with foot.)
L – love (Hug self.)
M – munch (Move mouth as if eating.)
N – nod (Nod head.)
O – opera (Extend arms and sing dramatically.)
Q – quiet (Index finger on lips.)
R. – run (Run in place.)
S – sew (Pretend to hold a needle and sew.)
T – talk (Open and close fingers like a mouth.)
U – upside (Lean over.)
V – volley (Hands in air and pretend to volley a ball.)
W – wiggle (Wiggle all over.)
X – x-ray (Make “x” with arms.)
Y – yawn (Extend arms and pretend to yawn.)
Z – zigzag (Make an imaginary “z” in the air.)
Letter sounds are all you need.
Put them together and you can read! (Hold palms together and open like a book.)


I love this video with the manual signs for letters that Mariela Anderson recorded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JKf4vCeKA

*You can download this book at drjean.org.
http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/03_Mar/Alphardy




Alphardy Poster
Run off this chart for each student and glue to a file folder. Children can use this for choral singing or for independent work at the listening center. If you give them a pretzel stick or Bugle for a pointer they’ll get a little snack at the end of the song!

http://www.drjean.org/html/monthly_act/act_2005/03_Mar/pg04a.html

Letter Office
Children will enjoy making their very own letter office and then using it for the activities below. First, tape two file folders together. Let children decorate the outside, and then glue a copy of alphabet letters on the inside.



Sing and Track
Have children point to the letters as you sing various alphabet songs. (“The Alphabet in My Mouth,” “Who Let the Letters out?” or “Letters You Should Know” all work well.)

I Spy!
Play “I Spy” and other games where children have to identify letters. Can they find the letter that makes the sound at the beginning of “hop”? Can they find the letters in their name? What comes between G and I? Can they match up magnetic letters with the letters in their office?

Partner Play
Use the offices for working with a friend. Read the capital letters, lowercase, consonants, vowels. Read loud, soft, fast, slow, backwards, and other variations. Let friends take turns calling out letters (or sounds) for their partner to identify.

Family Time
Invite children to take their letter offices home and play games with their parents.

*Take turns naming letters and touching them.

*Sing Alphabet songs and track the letters.

*Look around the house for letters that match.

*Find letters in family members’ names.