Here is a link to a previous post, Sticker Cards, that I did showing how to make what I call sticker number cards. These are modeled after a deck of cards but because I make them with stickers and colored index cards, they can be made quite easily to go with the theme we are doing in My Obstacle Course. I love ideas or things that I can make and keep to use in a variety of ways to expand on concepts and skills as his knowledge and abilities expand.
In the past I have used these cards to work on number order, one to one correspondence, “Make This Number” and addition. I was setting up a March themed course and after looking at things Andrew was ready to work on, I decided to use them as a visual aide in a station activity to see how he did comparing two numbers. When I first set up the station, I did not have the sticker cards but when looking at it I decided to include them so he could see what the number amount looked like. (You could also provide actual objects for them to count out. Any kind of manipulative works – dried beans, Cheerios, buttons, pennies, etc. If it can be counted out, it can be used as a manipulative!). I’m really glad that I put them out because he absolutely used them!
As you can see in the photograph below, I used calendar cutouts to write the numbers as well as the “greater than” and “less than” symbols (with words written out). There are several different ways to teach your children how to remember what those symbols mean. One way is to tell them to pretend that the symbol is a hungry alligator and always eats the bigger number. It also helps to read the numbers and symbol like a sentence that has to make sense. The sentence for the photograph below would read, “Six is greater than two.”
Note: During my educational courses in college it was always emphasized to incorporate visual, auditory and kinesthetic aspects to each lesson taught to make sure each learning style is reached. I find that this is so helpful when providing reinforcement activities for Andrew, especially when he wasn’t speaking and I had no idea what he knew or how he learned best. It doesn’t take much and does not have to be super fancy but taking the time to provide a visual, auditory and something they can manipulate is well worth it! I hope you are seeing this through the station activities that I am sharing and as always, if you have any questions or would like me to post on a skill or concept you are working on with your child, please email me at obstaclecoursemom@yahoo.com or post on my Facebook Page at My Obstacle Course.
Engage, Encourage and Empower!
