Kindergarten Cookie Math Plate

Kindergarten Cookie Math Plate

One of my son's favorite subjects in school is math. Which, unlike his mother, is very good at it! New York State has just revamped their credentials for what a Kindergartener is expected to know by the first grade. No longer can my son {or any other child in Kindergarten for that matter} use his fingers and toes to figure out simple math equations- he must now answer all by memory. Everyday he brings home flash cards and he (we) get bored with it quickly. To make memorizing math fun again, we created this Cookie Math Plate.

What you need:

• Paper Plate
• This free Cookie Printable
• This Free Number Paper Strip printable
• Black Permanent Marker
• Scissors
• X-ACTO Knife
• Crayons, markers, water color, etc.
• Laminate 

What to do:
1. Print out all the free prinatables required for this project.

2. Write numbers 0-20 (one number per cookie) with black permanent marker and have your child color or paint in the cookies.

3. Cut out the number strips and laminate. Cut out and laminate the number cookies as well.

4. Cut slits into the plate about 1" long and 1.5" apart vertically so the strip easily slides into it (see photo). Then write a "plus" (+) sign and cut slits into the plate again just as before. Then write an "equals" sign (=).

Cut slits into the plate to fit the number strips accordingly.

5. Slide the laminated number strips into each opening so they can easily move up and down inside the box. I taped small pieces of tag board to either end of both strips to act as a stopper.


6. To play: either you or your child make a mathematical equation and use the correct number cookie to solve it!



Have fun with math!

Learning Patterns with Easy Tessellation Elephants

Learning Patterns with Easy Tessellation Elephant

Teach your preschooler about patterns using the books Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. Talk about color, shapes and repetition while you create your own Elmer the Elephant using the  tessellation of squares.

What is a tessellation? A tessellation is a continuous pattern or tiling of one shape to the next.

Classified: Hard- and will be easier if you work in small groups of 4 year old children or older. My little girl was 3 and she needed a lot of help gluing in the squares. However, she did understand how to arrange them in a pattern.

What you need:

Elephant Graph

• Elephant Printable- I made this on the computer after the lesson, figuring it might be easier to have an elephant with a graph already on it available!
• Various hues of construction paper
• Glue
• Crayons

What to do:

Prep- cut various shades of construction paper into 3x3" squares.

1. Read Any Elmer the Elephant Book to your preschooler or class. Great stories that will provide children with a sense pf belonging as well as learning to accept others. Discuss Elmer's Pattern-  Elmer's Special Day (Elmer Books) shows lots of patterns and colors of the animals involved with the story! Aside from being a walking, talking tessellation, Elmer is a poor example of a pattern with colors- we tried. But there are a lot of other great patterns that your students can look for in the book, Elmer's Special Day (Elmer Books).

2. Print out the Elephant Graph Printable and cut out.

3. Discuss patterns with your 4 year old. Have them select 2-3 color squares and demonstrate how to make a pattern with them. Optional: decorate with markers. If you are working with an older child, you may want them to make a pattern within the squares as well.

4. Demonstrate how to glue the colored square directly into a box in the graph. Have them place each color square according to their pattern. Once correct, glue into place.

Flip over and trim of access

Add details

5. Trim of excess squares and draw on a face.