I love to use calendar numbers in My Obstacle Course stations. They add instant theme and require no preparation to make (although you could make your own if you are so inclined :).). I just like to get things that I can put into a My Obstacle Course kit (see below) so I can set it up quickly while still having it be fun, child-friendly and building skills he is ready for.
Summer Themed Calendar Numbers
These particular calendar numbers are summer themed and are the same numbers shown in my Story Starters post. I love when I find materials that can be used over and over again in different ways! Keeps things interesting for him and is easy on my wallet!
I was recently asked about ways to work on number sequencing and my mind immediately went to doing this using calendar numbers.
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Put the numbers in order from 1-5
My Obstacle Course station activity set up and ready to go.Â
When setting up this station, I put out the first and last number of the group I want him to sequence and place the numbers needed to fill in the spaces above.
Putting numbers in order.Numbers in order!
This is a basic station activity that can be made as simple or as challenging as your child needs. While it is basic, it still shows you so much information about the child’s knowledge. (Note that they do not need to speak intelligibly in order to do this activity!)
Do they have number recognition?
Can they place the numbers in the correct sequence?
If they can count to five, can they match their counting with the number? I know that for a while, Andrew would count out loud but the numbers he was pointing to didn’t always match up. I would have him slow down but also ask him to point to certain numbers so I could tell if he really knew what they were.
If they are struggling with number identification, make sure they understand what the numbers actually represent through the use of manipulatives. Here is a picture of one way I have done this during a February themed My Obstacle Course using candy hearts but you could certainly use something like Goldfish crackers or shells to go with the summer theme:
One to one correspondence using candy hearts.
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Put the numbers in order from 18-28
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Put the numbers in order from 18-28.Putting the numbers in order.Numbers in order from 18-28.
This is a skill that shows up in math curriculums and is part of recognizing patterns in math. I will do a post soon about other ways to use these numbers to work on more complicated math skills knowing that all children are different and while they may struggle in one area, another area may be a strength, needing to be challenged a bit more.
My Obstacle Course kit -Â I’ll be posting next week on how I put together a super easy My Obstacle Course kit in order to build developmental and academic skills.
As always, please email me at obstaclecoursemom@yahoo.com with any questions or skills that you’d like me to post on. Thank you for allowing me to share!
I wanted to work on the math concepts of “How many ___?†and “How many in all?†with Andrew. While my first preference is to use objects or manipulatives, I also realized that it would be helpful for him to be able to count things on paper. I wanted to see how he would do discriminating visually between objects, counting only the things he was asked to count and see if he’d miss any or double count some things.
Counting pages which were then made into a book. Here he is at age 4 counting.
The photograph above shows what the station looked like. So easy to make yet helped him build his counting skills and helped me get a good idea of his counting skills. I simply took a sheet of paper and got out some stickers. I began with each page having just one kind of object for him to count. I also included a number sheet so he could point to the number. This was important because at that time he was not using any consonants so when he counted it sounded a lot like, “uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh-uh, uh, un, uh.†While I could understand his intonations and inflections, as slight as they were, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t putting an answer on him by thinking I heard something I didn’t.
We did it this way for a while and then when I felt like he got that, I added two different objects for him to count. I placed a few of one color star sticker randomly on the paper and then a few of some other colors.
Counting stars page.
I wrote out the questions:
How many green stars?
How many purple stars?
How many red stars?
How many stars in all?
I created several different pages using different stickers and different amounts.
Some textured sparkly stickers used to create this page.
I would recommend choosing stickers that are the same at first before moving on to stickers of like items.
I put the pages together by placing the pages into sheet protectors and placing those in report covers. If you are using construction paper, you will have to cut the paper down a bit so it’ll fit in the protectors. These could also just be stapled together.
He really enjoyed doing this activity and loved the fact that he could “read” the book on his own.
This package of fun Lightbulbs Mini Accents from our teacher store are probably meant for bulletin boards in the classroom but when I saw them, anyone who knows Andrew also knows that I had to have them!
Package of Lightbulb Mini Accents by Edupress.Â
Checking out a new colored lightbulb he had earned. So happy and excited!!
Andrew’s love of ceiling fans is second only to his love of lights and light bulbs. One very consistent phrase of his before he was speaking was “uh uh u-uh!” which translated to “lights are on” with the “on” being drawn out a bit. He can walk into a store, a house, anywhere and determine which lightbulbs need to be replaced, which ones are brighter than others and if he’s been there before can tell you about any changes in wattage. Amazing, especially when I think about how quickly he does this – almost like laser vision as he scans the place. Anyways, look how cute this guys are!
Six Different Lightbulb Characters
There are 6 different lightbulb characters which make them perfect for a station of sorting, patterning, graphing and could easily be paired with a clothesline and clothespins to help build fine motor skills.
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Use the lightbulbs to make or continue a pattern
Basic ABAB Pattern
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Use the lightbulb characters to create a story
As I was looking at these again, it also occurred to me that they would be perfect with children who are ready for a bit of storytelling. The expressions on their faces and the hand gestures got me thinking about incorporating them with story starters.
Sequencing them for a story based on their facial expressions and hand gestures.
Example story with each line “spoken” by the lightbulb characters in the order they appear above:
Oh shoot! I forgot my lunch!
Wait a minute, I have a great idea! We can all look in our lunches to see if we have anything to share.
Let me think, do I have anything to share that you would like?
I know that I do!
My mom must have known because she packed me a ton of food today.
See, problem solved. Friends helping friends! What could be better?
Super, basic story but hopefully you can see how you can use the facial expressions and gestures to go through and create a story.
Another sequence for story telling.
Keep in mind, they don’t all have to be used at the same time, but even using 3 or four of them could create a nice little story complete with characters (who), setting (when and where), conflict/problem (what) and resolution (how).
This sort of learning material just goes to show you that there is a ton of stuff out there that can help motivate and engage your child, even if you have a child who isn’t into the typical things like sports or cars. Who would have thought that our thing would be lightbulbs and ceiling fans? Not me but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
The “geoboard” is something that is found in most elementary school classrooms and is generally used for the purpose of building math skills like making geometric shapes and finding area and perimeter. This is something that I will definitely work on with Andrew someday but when I looked at this tool I realized that it would be a fun way to help him build his fine motor skills and fine motor planning.
The geoboard is made of a grid of pegs and comes with rubber bands. By fitting the rubber bands around the pegs, you can create different shapes. I was not focused on creating shapes though. I wanted him to work on the basic skill of putting the rubber band around one peg, stretching it and putting it around another peg. Sounds easy enough but it was quite a challenge and I was glad I started basic.
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Secure rubber bands around the matching stickers
I placed small stickers on the pegs I wanted him to put the rubber band around. Each pair of stickers matched so he’d know which ones to connect. Some were closer together and others farther apart so he’d have to stretch the rubber band a bit more, working on doing it so the rubber band didn’t fling off!
A "Geoboard." I placed small matching stickers so he would know which pegs to put the rubber band around.
At the station:
I modeled what we were going to do before giving him the rubber band. Working with rubber bands requires more attention from the adult so it doesn’t hurt them or someone else. Like I said, I knew that it was going to be challenging for him so I did hand over hand while also holding one end of the rubber band on the peg so it wouldn’t come off. His job was to stretch the rubber band and fit it around the peg with the matching sticker. It was great for him to feel the tension and push himself to pull it farther. He wanted me to do it for him but I simply helped his hand stretch it so it would reach around the peg.
Checking his work.
Once he got done with the three rubber bands, he was very proud of himself. We continued to work on this in a basic way until he got the hang of it and knew what he needed his fingers to do.
Andrew making a geoboard spider.
Geoboard Simple Substitution:
I found my geoboard at the teacher supply store but this is something that could also be done using a thick piece of styrofoam with some screws, nails or golf tees secured into the foam so they are firm and don’t wiggle. They can be placed randomly or in an orderly fashion, whatever you like. Just provide some rubber bands for your child to secure around the screws, nails or tees and you can help them build fine motor skills! (Here is a previous post I did combining styrofoam, golf tees and a hammer called Hammer Away!)
I modeled this My Obstacle Course station activity after several packaged toys I’ve seen that come with pattern cards for children to replicate. It’s so easy to make your own and custom fit them to what your child needs to work on.
To make them, I used some color coding dot stickers that I found in the school supply/household utility aisle of our grocery store…
Make the Same station activity using color coding dots.
and some index cards (I used colored but plain white cards might work even better).
I used the sticker dots to make basic patterns – ABAB, AAB, ABB, ABC, etc.
My Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABAB pattern (the yellow dots can be seen in person but didn't photograph well)My Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABB patternMy Obstacle Course pattern cards - ABC pattern
At the station, I provide paper and stickers, have him choose a pattern card and using the stickers, he peels and sticks the dots on to make the same pattern. If this activity is easy for him, I would have him choose several different cards to do. If it is too challenging, I would limit it to two.
I like that this works on the skill of patterning as well as building the fine motor skill of using their fingers to peel, hold and place the sticker onto another sheet of paper. This also requires some planning because they have to put the sticker in a place that will allow the others will fit. If planning is challenging, you can place lines or x’s on the paper for them to place the sticker on or above.
These sticker dots have other uses as well that I will post on in the near future. I really like finding inexpensive items that have multiple purposes for building different skills!
Egg Tray For Adding/Subtracting/Multiplying/Dividing
Ok, so Easter is done but I have one more idea for how to use something you may have…an egg tray (you could also use an egg carton or ice-cube tray).
Egg Tray Math Organizer
I got this bunny shaped Egg Tray at Target last year and thought it would be perfect not only for drying the eggs after they have been colored but they would be a great math organizer for adding and subtracting up to 12. For these, I would use dice, playing cards or flash cards to come up with the numbers to add or subtract. (Previous Post on Easy Math Organizers)
Recently though, my mind has been thinking about introducing multiplication and division to Andrew. He found a “Brain Age†game on his DS and was asking what some of the multiplication and division equations meant. It’s time for me to introduce these concepts to him and as with any new concept, I want to begin by making it very concrete, using items that he can manipulate to help connect the abstract numbers and symbols with what they actually mean.
My Obstacle Course Station Activity: Making Groups Of Marshmallows (Introducing Multiplication)
Introducing multiplication using egg tray, colored marshmallows and 8-sided dice.Counting out 8 x 5 = 40. We counted by 5's at first and then he double checked by counting them all.
I introduced this to him using dice that went up to 8 and while he did okay with it, the next time I will tweak it and make some flash cards to build understanding of one common factor instead of having it be so random. The flash cards I will make will start with common factor of 1 – 1×1, 2×1, 3×1, 4×1, etc., so that he begins understanding the “groups of” concept. We will build from there perhaps throwing in some previously mastered facts to reinforce his knowledge.
Building Understanding For Multiplication And Division
“Mom, we’re finally learning multiplication so I have to memorize all of these facts by tomorrow!” Ahhh…at first they are so excited, as though they’ve reached an important rite of passage. True, there are some children who are able to do this right away and “get” what the numbers represent without needing it broken down. Others are able to memorize the equations but lack the understanding of what they actually represent. This becomes obvious when story problems become difficult because they don’t quite understand what the question is needing them to do – add, subtract, multiply or divide. Then there are those who cannot seem to memorize them and have no tools to help them figure out what they are supposed to be doing.
I prefer to approach abstract concepts by encouraging everyone to begin with a firm understanding of what the concept means, what it looks like and how to “act it out†with manipulatives. This includes those who get it right away because it’s interesting to see how they approach it through actions. Many times they will bristle at this notion – Why do I have to do this? I already know it!”  This is good practice for working on explaining their methods and showing others about how they see things.
My last few years of teaching, we really emphasized to our students the importance of being able to show what they are doing through numbers, words and pictures (those of you who are familiar with the “Investigations†math series will recognize this.). Using a math organizer along with manipulatives replaces the “picture†making because your child is actually representing the equation with items. Their work IS the picture. This will give you immediate information on where your child is with regards to understanding what the symbols mean.
Building Multiplication Skills:
A multiplication sentence may read 4 x 3 = 12 to you, but when teaching my students, I emphasized that it really means 4 “groups of†3 equals 12. It also represents 3+3+3+3=12 since multiplication is repeated addition.
Building Division Skills:
The same is true for division. 12/4=3 means 12 divided into 4 groups which gives you 3 in each group. When working on division, an organizer can really help your child grasp this concept. Being able to actually divide a given number into groups that must have the same amount.
Make It Relevant
To do this, I always found it helpful to connect it with food or money. Ex. For 12 divided by 4, I would tell them that they have 12 jelly beans that they have to pass out evenly to their 4 friends. How many jelly beans does each person get? They can do the “one for me, one for you, one for you†method until they have all been passed out, giving each person 3 jelly beans.
Using manipulatives, or items to count, when children are first learning math concepts can help them fully understand what they are doing, allows them to see what it looks like and connect that with the numeral representation of it.
