Kids love it when you tie seasonal activities into the curriculum! Learning becomes so much fun when it is associated with a particular holiday or season! I can remember my students cheering if I introduced a lesson that had anything to do with Halloween!
I do know that Halloween can be off-limits in certain school districts, but Creative Teaching Press has created several fun Fall products that appear festive, but neutral at the same time.
One of my favorite products is the colorful Poppin’ Patterns Calendar Days for October! The bright and happy designs are adorable! Do you know that calendar pieces have a ton of uses besides the calendar?!? You can use the calendar pieces for a cute seasonal learning activity in a SNAP!
CTP #6910
This particular package comes with cards numbered 1 -31. How about using the cards for number recognition and ordering? I decided to try this activity with my four year old daughter, but it can be adjusted for children as young as three years old through students in Kindergarten and first grade.
My daughter, Ava, can easily count to 30, but recognizing her numbers and ordering is more difficult. I decided to start slow and only introduce numbers 1-5. I mixed up the numbers and had Ava look for the “1.” That was pretty easy for her, in fact, to my surprise, she was able to find each number and order all of them very quickly.
Next, I asked her to point to each number and say it’s name. This is actually a Kindergarten benchmark and can be difficult for little ones. I found as a Kindergarten teacher, this was a concept that we had to work on quite a bit.
I decided to make the task a little harder and added numbers 6 – 10. I had Ava practice recognizing the numbers first, then we ordered them. She was very proud of herself when she finished!
Last, Ava and I worked on patterning. I pointed to each card and recited, “pumpkin, candy corn, candy corn, pumpkin, candy corn, candy corn” etc…
I had Ava continue the pattern until we reached the end of the table. This was tough for her and she needed a lot of guidance. This is such a perfect activity for a Kindergarten student, but I love how it can be introduced to children that are younger.
The calendar pieces are very inexpensive. I would purchase a few more sets of cards to set up in a center for a super easy and fun holiday activity! A good set of number cards has so many learning opportunities. It almost seems too simple!
Extend the learning:
Have older children order numbers to 30
Practice one-to-one while reciting the name of the number
Use only 11 – 19 to practice teen number recognition
After ordering the numbers, have students practice writing each number
Use two sets of calendar cards and play “Memory” with a partner
By Melanie R. of Michigan.
SEE ALL OF THE POPPIN’ PATTERNS CALENDAR DAYS HERE
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