Transportation Theme: Numeric Sequence Train

B loves anything to do with vehicles - like the majority of little boys; so when I found this free train tot pack for download from lawteedah I knew I would be onto a winner.  So far I have cherry-picked a few of the activities and one which B did perfectly first time (which was a pleasant surprise) was this number train.

The tot pack has  two files containing the engine and numbered carriages (1 - 10).  I printed these, laminated them and punched holes so they could be linked together.  The links I used were from Learning Resources (via Amazon.co.uk) but there are many versions on the market. Good number practice plus a fine motor workout as well.

letter e: e is for egg: Easter Egg Matching Activities - our homemade version

After writing Muck Monsters: letter e: e is for egg: Easter Egg Matching Activities for download we had a change of heart.  Instead of using our printer ink we decided to make our own easter Eggs.  

First a plastic lid was cut to shape and then we used this template to draw around to produce our eggs.  

Then we coloured them in - a group effort which all the children helped in- each one is unique to make the puzzle a little easier for B.

A helped me laminate the eggs.

R cut them out and A cut them in half.

Here is the finished result.

B enjoyed cracking the eggs (complete with sound effects) and then putting them back together!

letter e: e is for egg: Easter Egg Matching Activities for download

Looking forward to Easter this is a free download from the people over at Sparklebox to match upper and lower case letters.

I would save this one for older kids as although there are a couple of egg backgrounds they are reused for multiple letters and so not unique.

Another free download this time for numbers rather than letters is from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  (lots of activities on this page - the Easter Number match is about halfway down)

We tried this one last year but it was counting so B would have none of it!  This year at the grand old age of three we will try again but i won't hold my breath. Again the backgrounds are not unique so the very littlest ones may struggle.

Number Recognition meets StArt: Postman Pat at the Seaside and a Posting Game

Postman Pat is a perennial British children's character that has travelled round the world.  He started off as a stop frame animation puppet on BBC Children's TV and of course the merchandise (like books) followed. Sadly nowadays although Postman Pat is still being made, like Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam, it is now computer animation.
We have a treasury with about half a dozen Postman Pat stories and have read them all this week. In the Seaside story Pat helps bring the beach to the village green with a lorry load of sand; it rings a few chords with us as one of the things we miss about the UK is that we can't have a day out at the seaside.  Alongside our favourite stories we all worked together to make a posting game for B.

First we made some cardboard box houses each with a number on the door.  Each has a letter box slot in the top, decorations are a family effort.
The letter themselves are cheap envelopes. These we stuffed with pages from a magazine and draw on a stamp.  B then posted the letters into the correct house.  We did the numbers 1-10 but you could use bigger numbers with older children.  This could be used with any postman story or even a community helper theme.

For what others are doing inspired by books go to A Mommys Adventures and StArt

Letter A: A is for ant:Counting Ants in a nest

Following on from making our anthill for our ant theme we counted raisin ants into a nest.  This is just the plastic insert from some mincepies destined for the recycling bin but you could use a muffin tin if that is all you have at hand.  I cut some circles of paper and wrote the numbers 1-6 on them and glued them into the bottom.  The idea is a simple one count out the "ants" to match the number.  The tray could (and probably will) be reused to fit any theme and of course for more accomplished counters you could use a 12 hole tray.

Did this work with B, the anti-number boy?  Well, as usual, the answer is no!  Still, I love spending my afternoons picking up raisins from the floor (doesn't everyone?) and since it is plastic the tray didn't do any damage when it was flung across the room at his brother ;)  Never mind, undeterred we will try again tomorrow!

File Folder Games: Number Train

Onward with the battle to get B to count!
I found a really colourful train to print out from here.
Next I loaded it into a paint program and set to work.
I wanted to print the first set of carriages with just the numerals 0-9 on them.  These were to be stuck in the file folder.
Then I printed an identical set to allow one-to-one corresponding matching of numerals. They were laminated for durability as usual.
Then we printed another set and stuck "cargo" in the carriages before laminating; you could use just dots to make it more basic but I figured my anti-number son might like something a little different.  BTW sequins are OK to go through a laminator. (I only discovered this thanks to a video by Shelley over at childcareland.com if you haven't found her site already head over there as there is lots of stuff for free as well as resources to buy)
We also printed a third set to use much later with the numbers in word form.

So much for the plan.
Here is the first version finished.

Although it will do for now I am not happy with the finished graphics.  First my printer ran out of yellow so the colours are not as good as the original graphic.  Also I printed out the graphic to fit an A4 page and it is pixelated. Finally it is a little boring really I want to add some rails and some scenery.  (Stand by for the revised version in the New Year if I get a chance!)
B loved helping to stick the trains together.  Then my number hating son put the pattern recognition skills he has learnt over the last few months to good use and before we could even play it once he noticed the patterns were numbers "No Counting!" and off he went!
Better luck next time I hope!

Numbers and Counting: Can you drink with...10 straws?

We took the opportunity of B wanting a bottle of juice with a straw to sneak in some counting practise.  I think the sheer absurdity of it made him go along with this but he had a whale of a time. 

I started off with one straw and said "Can you drink with one straw?" and counting it.  I then repeated this until we got to 10 straws. "No counting!" didn't come up at all for once as he was so busy giggling.

Letter C: C is for Caterpillar: Counting Caterpillar

As an attempt to get my anti-numbers 2 year old to do counting we have been trying to do "different" ways of counting objects.  Since he loves animals and has a compulsion to match things  I created this caterpillar with 10 body segments.

The idea obviously is to put one manipulative of your choice in each body segment.
So far so good, then Mummy had to go and count them "No Counting!" and everything hit the floor - back to the drawing board :)