Acknowledgements - gapitc

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Red, Blue, and Yellow, Too!
Get three shoeboxes and cover each with either red, blue or yellow
construction paper.
Collect some small items around your house that are red, blue, or yellow.
Examples might be crayons, markers, an apple, a banana, wash cloths, socks,
small toy cars or figures, drinking cups, or plastic silverware. Invite your child
to put the objects in the box of the same color.
Find other things around the house that are red, blue, and yellow, too!
Look at pictures in a book such as Shapes, Shapes, Shapes by Tana Hoban to show
the children different objects with different shapes.
Similar to the Enough is Enough activity, mealtimes are great times to introduce
early math concepts. Have your child give a napkin to everyone at the table and tell
you whether there are “enough” for everyone or does he need “more?” Do the same
with silverware and food items.
Let your child help load the dishwasher by sorting the silverware. Put all the forks
together in one section, the small spoons in another, and the cooking spoons in
another.
Introduce concepts about time by describing when things will happen. For
example,
• “Grandpa is coming over after you take a nap.”
• “We will have lunch after we come in from playing outside.”
• “Remember to wash your hands before you sit down for lunch.”
• “Let’s read a story before you go to bed.”
•
“The timer on the oven just rang to tell us it is time to take the cookies
out of the oven now.”
Introduce measurement concepts by letting your child play with measuring cups
and spoons in water and sand. Also, let your child help you cook as you follow a
recipe.
Introduce counting throughout the day as you count the number of chairs at the
kitchen table, tires on the car, red cars in the parking lot, and children in line for the
slide at the park.
Give your child opportunities to experiment and create with different shaped objects
such as blocks, construction paper, and cookie cutters.
Ask your child to help solve simple problems such as: “We only have one piece of
paper and you and your sister both want to draw a picture. What can we do?”
Find books about shapes and counting such as Circles and Squares Everywhere
by Max Grover, Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno, and Ten Black Dots by
Donald Crews.