Tag: math

Card Games for 3-year-olds

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3 year old card gamesDo you doubt that your three-year-old can play card games?  Don’t doubt it.  Just because they might have trouble holding the cards doesn’t mean that they have to miss out on the fun.

Here are some fun games that you have probably played as a child and should play with your kiddies:

  1. Go Fish-the matching way (Big G prefers to play it the “make 10” way)
  2. War (Your kiddies will probably play this in school as “Compare” or “Top It”)
  3. “Up”

We play with cards that go with the TERC Investigations math curriculum.  I purchased our set of Primary Number Cards on Amazon.  Sometimes we play with 10-frame cards that I have created (just print them out on cardstock and cut ’em out!) or dot cards.  I actually have a set of cards with me at all times in my purse-you never know when you’ll find yourself stuck somewhere…

These three games can teach a ton.
Here’s the math…
Go Fish is about numeral recognition and making pairs.  Not too sophisticated if you are using the Number Cards.  Just imagine how the game would become much more challenging with the Ten Frame Cards.  There are different arrangements of the same quantity!  You could find a match by using 1:1 Correspondence or by counting and comparing sets (there is a lot that goes into quantifying a set-a future post is coming up about that one!).  There is the beginning of some game playing logic and strategy that can develop here too.
Go fish with the Gs

  • Keeping Track Can you keep track of the questions asked? If you are asked someone else for a 5 then you must have a 5.  If I have a 5 too, I can ask you for it!
  • Eye on the End Game  If I save my Wild Card, I can win if I have only one other card!

War is about magnitude.  Which set is larger or smaller?  Again, if you change the cards, the game becomes more complex.  This is a complete game of chance, so the use of strategy is pretty much out here.  Sometimes we call it, “Who has more?” and then when we have a tie we yell, “Who has more WAR!”.  Big G wants to add up her cards for a war, but little g and I just compare the third card we put down.  Winner takes all.

“Up” is about the sequential order of number.  Big G and I play “I Doubt It” (ummm, you might know it as B*llsh$t), and when we do, little g likes to be on my team.  To make a version she can play, we just deal out the cards and try to go up in order.  We place them face UP, in a line as we play.  By the time we are done, we have a looooooong line of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 0, 1, 2, 3…until we have all four sets.  Sometimes we even try to put the families together and learn about the sets that complete the deck.  If it’s your turn and you don’t have the next card, you can use a wild card to “pretend” it’s the card you need.  That way, little g learns about what a wild card can do too.

What card games do you play with your child?  Are any of them old favorites?

Outdoor Math Game~20 Jump!

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IMG_4732 - Version 2

After (un)officially taking this past week off, toward the end of the week I realized that we took it really, really easy in the intentional learning department. Before leaving for the sprinklers on Friday, I decided to sketch out a gameboard that I could recreate on the floor of the park. I lost the little draft, which had some well placed numbers. It didn’t matter much-we still had fun.

IMG_4725 - Version 2

The object of the game is to jump on as many squares as you need, adding on smaller quantities to make 20.  Now, you might be thinking, “Hey, you want me to play this with a Kindergarten kid?”  My response is, “Yep, sure do.”  Here’s why-it’s not meant to be easy.  It’s not meant to be for extra making 10 practice.  It might be practice for a 2nd/3rd grader, which is also good.
My goals here are to have G to:

  • become more fluent with using the making 5s facts;
  • understand the really small quantities (building blocks) that can make up 5s and 10s;
  • use the make ten facts that she knows (she hasn’t learned how useful they can be yet!);
  • think of 20 in different ways (four 5s, or two 10s, or two 5s and two tens); and,
  • to develop strategies to keep track of the jumps (here’s where thinking in 5s and 10s is useful!).

We played a few times.

I went first.  After my turn, she wrote what I did, just because she wanted to.

As predicted, keeping track during her turn was tricky.  As first G started with 1s and 2s and got lost in what she was up to IMG_4728 - Version 2so she started over.  She asked me if I could keep track on the side, so I did this time only.  Here’s how it went down.

She jumped on 2, then 4.  Said, “That’s 6.” Oh, I can jump on another 4!” She hopped over to a 4.

I restated what I saw as I wrote, “So you jumped on 2 and then 4.  That got you to 6, then you saw a 4 and jumped all the way over there!  Why did you want to land on a 4?”

“Cause then I’d get a 10.”

“Hmmm, that’s cool, you can use your make ten facts? Whoa.”

So far I had written:

2 + 4 + 4

Then I said, “So this altogether makes 10?” I wrote parentheses around the expression as I say that.

(2+4+4)

She kept going. She added on as she jumped around.  2. “That’s 12.” 3 “That’ll get me 15.” After much deliberation, she jumped on the 5, seemingly taking the easy way out by then. “A 5 will get me 20.  Write that down!”

I wrote with her, saying that I couldn’t quite remember what she had jumped on.  She remembered, 2 and 3 got me another 5 and then I did a last jump of 5.  So 10 and 10 make 20.”

Yes!  Mission complete.  Now we can play again-I might rearrange the numbers a bit next time, but this was quite effortless and successful!Read More »

App Review! Dreambox and Montessori Crosswords

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dreambox
G was excited to get ready for frog-jump racing by placing decade-markers onto the track.

Here are two of our favorite apps-we have many around here.  Although there is current research stating that young children should not use technology, I can’t fight using it.  I love it.  The kids love it.  And they learn a LOT from it.  Everything in moderation, right?  (I hope so-at least I tell myself that letting them use technology is at least better than feeding them non-organic berries.)

Yesterday morning, it was clear that G needed some alone time, which means that little g must do something different.  While G played Dreambox to practice some math, g tried a (new to her) app and LOVED it.  I mean, adored the app.  And, it’s good.

Dreambox.com is a bit pricey, so we turn the subscription on during the summer and when it’s absolutely freezing outside then turn it off at most other times.  What I like about it is that it uses all of the familiar mathematical models that she uses in school, like the rekenrek, 10 frames, closed and open number lines.  It also adapts to your child, so be sure not too help or the program will become too hard for your child to use alone.  You child will need some mouse/trackpad skills for dragging items for sure.  I’m pretty sure that you could use it on an iPad if you have a newer one, ours is too old for it to run.

There is a parent side to the site to let you know how your child is doing.  Here’s how it looks…

Dreambox DashboardWhen she started way back when, we were building really small quantities out of even smaller units, counting or subitizing amounts of objects.  A lot has changed since then.  As your child plays, you might feel like many games seem the same.  What happens is that they are actually changed ever so slightly which is SO important for the gradual release of a scaffold (helper).  There are some great free resources on the teacher page! Try ’em out! http://www.dreambox.com/teachertools

If you want to use the entire program for the summer, you can purchase one month and get one free if I recommend you!  Email your name and email address to dani@bigglittleg.com if you are interested!

Montessori CrossIMG_4363 - Version 2words for $2.99 is a bargain if you ask me.  Basically, it tells you to spell a word, gives you a space for each sound (sort of like an elkonin box), and you can drag the letters in.  You can touch each space so you can hear each sound. While g was playing the game she said, “Wow, see Mom, LOOK!!!  I can spell words!”  She was absolutely proud of what she could do all.by.herself.  Very cool.

As a celebration, there is a super fun design that you can play around with by swishing your finger all over the place before completing the next word.