C is for . . .

. . . caterpillar chains. We made paper chains into caterpillars. We used this as a math focused activity and worked on making patterns with the colors on the chains. For more detailed instructions click here. . . . cookies! We sang C is for Cookie with the cookie monster (on youtube). We read the awesome book, "The Doorbell Rang" by Pat Hutchins about some kids who have to share some cookies with their friends in a fair way. Then we learned how to "share" cookies. Each child got 12 cookie cereal pieces (think cookie crisp) and 6 paper people. They practiced sharing cookies with different numbers of people. 

After they shared their cookies equally, they would write on a worksheet how many cookies each person got.  This is one of my favorite lessons, it is a fun way to introduce division to young children using the idea of sharing fairly. It really makes them stretch and grow.

 To get the full instructions and a free printable, click here.

Drive-In Christmas Party

My brother moved here from California (where I grew up) a couple of months ago and stayed at our house for a while. When he moved out he had some empty boxes. He asked me if I wanted him to recycle them. I was about to say yes, when inspiration hit!! 

We made good use of them for our Christmas party this year. We made cars to use at Chipman's Corner Drive-in Theater. : )

I added wheels and headlights to the boxes with large and small paper plates and brads. Then the kids decorated their cars with markers. 

We took them upstairs and watched the old version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

While they watched, they ate the gingerbread men that we made after we decorated the cars. It was pretty fun!

My favorite part was watching all the parent responses when I told them that they got to take the cars home. Some of them gave a very unenthusiastic thank you when they left. Hahaha. 

C is for Cookie

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me!

Here are some of the fun things we did during letter C week with cookies.

We read this awesome book:

We listened to this awesome song:

We made some sugar cookies

We did this amazing sharing cookies activity. Click here for more details about it.

C is for Sharing Cookies

 When I was teaching elementary school, we did  a math lesson about dividing cookies. I loved it and really wanted to figure out a way to make it work for preschool. After a couple of tries, I am happy to say we have achieved awesomeness! 

It all starts with this book:

In the book, the kids start with 12 cookies and two kids to share them. Then the doorbell rings and they have to share with more. Then it happens again, and again. 

So we read the book and talked about what it means to share things equally or divide them. Then we went over to the preschool table and each child got 12 cookie cereal pieces and 6 people. 

I asked the kids to take out one person and tell me how many cookies they would get by putting all the cookies on the person. We wrote down on our paper that we would get 12 cookies.

We took them off, then took out 2 people and shared the cookies between the two people.

It might take some practice to help the kids pass out the cookies one at a time to all the people. We took them off and then we did it sharing with 3 people.

Next it was 4 people.

Last it was 6 people.

As we were going, the kids wrote down how many cookies each person would get in each group. I used the worksheet below for the older class. For the younger class, the numbers were already on the paper in a tracing font for the kids to trace. 

Of course we ended with the kids eating all the cookies! It was a lot of fun and really rewarding to have finally figured out how to make this lesson work. 

To download our cookie sharing sheet for older kids click here.

To download our cookie sharing sheet for younger kids click here.

C is for Cookie (that's good enough for me!)

 Making letter c shaped sugar cookies during letter c week was a lot of fun! We started by sequencing the steps for making a cookie. We put each step in order of first, second, third, etc. 

  

The kids helped roll out the dough using soda cans as a rolling pin. 

Then added sprinkles for extra color and flavor. 

The end product was pretty tasty!

 And of course we had to sing this song:

Hexagon/Fraction Cookies

I know we've posted a few fun activities using pattern blocks and I just wanted to put a plug in for what an awesome toy they are to have in your house. They are a great learning tool that allows you to talk about colors, shapes, patterns, geometry, fractions, . . . Plus they are fun to build with! 

You can find them at most learning stores or online and they would make a great gift for birthdays or Christmas. Anywho, back to the activity - 

My 3rd grader was asking me if we could practice fractions and this seemed like a fun activity that we could all do together. Since I am very pregnant and food is my happy place, we called them cookies instead of calling them fractions. I gave each of the girls a hexagon cookie paper. (Click here to download your own cookie paper.)

 

I asked my preschooler to find the block that is the same shape as a cookie and we reviewed the term hexagon.  Then, I challenged both girls to make more cookies using other shapes. When needed, I gave hints like: can you make a cookie using the red blocks or using the triangles, etc. 

 

After they found all of the possible cookies, without repeats, they made their favorite cookies in the extra hexagon shapes. Then, we split off to do some age specific learning. My preschooler and I talked about what shapes, colors, and how many blocks each cookie was made with. Of course she had to eat the cookies as we were done talking about each one. : )

 

My 3rd grader and I discussed fractions. She figured out what fraction each shape was (i.e. a diamond was 1/3 because it took 3 diamonds to make a whole cookie or a trapezoid was 1/2) Then she wrote the number sentence that corresponded with each cookie.  

To end our activity, the girls made their own pictures using the pattern blocks.

Emma sent you a message with her robot picture - Hello! 

 

I hope we've sold you on how great these blocks are, hopefully you'll go out and get some for your kids to enjoy!

 

C is for Cookie . . .

". . .that's good enough for me!"

You can't have a letter C day without this song!

Art & Math: We made Cute Caterpillar Chains. To enhance the project, the kids made patterns with their chains to work on their math skills.
You need:
8 - 12 1 x 10 inch strips
1 - 2 x 10 inch strip
googly eyes
2 small strips for antennea (Curl the strips with a pair of scissors)

Math: Sharing Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is one of my favorite activities!
It is adaptable for preschool to 3rd grade. In our setting it teaches sharing things equally and counting.
We read The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. It is a book about a brother and sister who have 12 cookies to share, but more and more neighbors keep coming so they have to share with more people.

You need:
Cookie Crisp Cereal
12 small individual pictures of a child or 12 "friends" to share with per child - You could easily use those counting bears instead of pictures. I used a picture like this:
Each student started with 2 people and 12 "cookies" (the cereal). They shared their 12 "cookies" evenly between the 2 people and counted how many cookies each person got. We then added 2 more people so there were 4. They shared the 12 cookies with the four people and counted how many each person got. You can then repeat the process sharing with 6 and 12 people.

Snack: C shaped Cookies!