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Use the search filters below to return results. Keep an eye out for some of my top favorites-- my "BookSmart Picks"-- that are sure to entertain and educate your kids! And, many activities use common materials you likely have at home already. Look for entries marked with the "Common Items" icon to find activities that shouldn't require any purchase.
Taking place in New York City, a young boy searches for his lost dragon. On each page of pen-and-ink illustrations, the boy searches on, while also counting various objects, like buses, taxis, ships in the harbor, and hot dogs. Quite helpfully, the objects to be counted (numbers 1-20) are the only splashes of color on each page. With so many details on each page, there is always more to discover…
Taking place in New York City, a young boy searches for his lost dragon. On each page of pen-and-ink illustrations, the boy searches on, while also counting various objects, like buses, taxis, ships in the harbor, and hot dogs. Quite helpfully, the objects to be counted (numbers 1-20) are the only splashes of color on each page. And with so many details on each page, there is always more to discover with each reading. See if your child can find the author and illustrator himself in one of the pictures, or if they can find the escaped monkey later on in the book!
This simple card game serves as good practice with ways to make 10, and another way to learn those math facts. Kids looking for a challenge can try making 20 using three addends…
This simple card game serves as good practice with ways to make 10, and another way to learn those math facts. Kids looking for a challenge can try making 20 using three addends.
In this bus-themed board game, children practice counting, addition, and subtraction skills. The objective of the game is to drive your double-decker bus through “town”, or around the game board, trying to pick up as many passengers as you can. However, there is some strategy involved…
In this bus-themed board game, children practice counting, addition, and subtraction skills. The objective of the game is to drive your double-decker bus through “town”, or around the game board, trying to pick up as many passengers as you can. However, there is some strategy involved! On each turn, the player rolls two dice (one white and one red). The player chooses to move their bus the number of spaces on the die of their choice. Each space a player can move to has either a plus sign or a minus sign on it. Depending on the space the player lands on, they then add or subtract the number of passengers on their bus based on the second die. So for example, if you roll a red 3 and a white 6, you may see that if you go 6 spaces ahead you will land on a minus sign, but if you go 3 spaces ahead you will land on a plus sign. And so, you decide to go 3 spaces forward based on your red die and then since you landed on a plus sign, you get to add 6 passengers based on your second, or white, die. Each bus can seat a total of ten passengers and the bus with the most passengers once everyone gets around the board, wins!
A polar bear thinks that he is the tallest around. But then different animals step in and show him how when they work together, they are just as tall as him. For instance, two walruses show him that together they are the same height, and then three foxes show the same…
A polar bear thinks that he is the tallest around. But then different animals step in and show him how when they work together, they are just as tall as him. For instance, two walruses show him that together they are the same height, and then three foxes show the same. The book uses charming illustrations to demonstrate adding on by one and relative size.
In this counting board game, children pick pretend fruit from trees on the board to fill up their buckets. With each turn, the player spins the spinner, which tells them how many pieces of fruit to pick or to put back, giving them practice with counting up, but also serving as an introduction to subtraction, or “taking away”. The first to fill their basket …
In this counting board game, children pick pretend fruit from trees on the board to fill up their buckets. With each turn, the player spins the spinner, which tells them how many pieces of fruit to pick or to put back, giving them practice with counting up, but also serving as an introduction to subtraction, or “taking away”. The first to fill their basket with their pretend cherries, blueberries, apples, or oranges wins! Small children enjoy this game, and playing with the little fruits offers extra incentive to get in the extra math practice (as well as some fine motor skill practice), though it does require some set-up time with all of the different fruits.
This Dr. Seuss book meant for early readers asks a series of “Would you rather…” questions, prompting children to think about the differences and do some comparing while also using their imaginations, all skills that will help them in their understanding of sorting and classification. Would your child rather be a dog or a cat? A hammer or a nail? A whale or a minnow? Dr. Seuss uses simple words and rhymes…
This Dr. Seuss book meant for early readers asks a series of “Would you rather…” questions, prompting children to think about the differences and do some comparing while also using their imaginations, all skills that will help them in their understanding of sorting and classification. Would your child rather be a dog or a cat? A hammer or a nail? A whale or a minnow? Dr. Seuss uses simple words and rhymes, complemented by colorful illustrations, making it a great book to keep coming back to, perhaps coming up with different answers or different reasoning for the many choices provided.
Dodds uses rhyming and bright, clear illustrations to show how simple shapes can be put together to create new, more complex things like boats and houses. The collage art illustrations help to encourage children to start to see the world around them as a series of shapes. Kids can duplicate what they see in the book, or make their own creations with shapes using construction paper, felt, or other materials…
Dodds uses rhyming and bright, clear illustrations to show how simple shapes can be put together to create new, more complex things like boats and houses. The collage art illustrations help to encourage children to start to see the world around them as a series of shapes. Kids can duplicate what they see in the book, or make their own creations with shapes using construction paper, felt, or other materials.
King Derwin of Didd becomes bored and angry with what falls from the sky—fog, rain, snow, and sunshine. He wants something new and exciting to fall from it, so he calls on his magicians to create it! However, neither the king nor the magicians think about the consequences of the new, sticky, green substance called oobleck, which quickly causes a mess of the kingdom. Bartholomew, the king’s clever page, must then step in and save the day…
King Derwin of Didd becomes bored and angry with what falls from the sky—fog, rain, snow, and sunshine. He wants something new and exciting to fall from it, so he calls on his magicians to create it! However, neither the king nor the magicians think about the consequences of the new, sticky, green substance called oobleck, which quickly causes a mess of the kingdom. Bartholomew, the king’s clever page, must then step in and save the day. Dr. Seuss uses his signature style of illustrations, but this time everything is in black and white except for the green oobleck, making it really stand out on each page (and winning the book a Caldecott Honor). Reading this book is a perfect springboard to making your own oobleck and practicing counting and the idea of ratios in the process. The recipe for oobleck is simple: 1 cup of water and 2 cups of cornstarch along with some food coloring if you wish. You can change up the measurements, so long as the ratio remains the same, 1 part water to 2 parts cornstarch. And in this way you can practice counting. If your child is practicing counting to 10, then count out five tablespoons of water and ten tablespoons of cornstarch. And you can even practice doubles facts with your child in this way, once they understand the ratio; if you put six tablespoons of water in, then how many tablespoons of cornstarch will you need?
Two young explorers head out to search for bugs. Through their search, they find 100 bugs in total, counting ten at a time. But instead of simply counting by tens, each group of tens is broken down in a different way, so children can see that one walkingstick and nine walkingsticks is equal to ten walkingsticks, or that two dragonflies and eight more dragonflies totals ten dragonflies…
Two young explorers head out to search for bugs. Through their search, they find 100 bugs in total, counting ten at a time. But instead of simply counting by tens, each group of tens is broken down in a different way, so children can see that one walkingstick and nine walkingsticks is equal to ten walkingsticks, or that two dragonflies and eight more dragonflies totals ten dragonflies. The rhyming text is accompanied by beautiful, engaging illustrations with plenty of detail. In the back of the book, children can learn even more about the bugs and plants encountered in the book.
Max is out looking for problems to solve! He recruits his brothers, and they head out, using counting, addition, and geometry to solve math problems they encounter. When they make their way to Shapeville, they find that all of the squares have disappeared, so they help the mayor by putting together triangles to create squares. When they find a missing number…
Max is out looking for problems to solve! He recruits his brothers, and they head out, using counting, addition, and geometry to solve math problems they encounter. When they make their way to Shapeville, they find that all of the squares have disappeared, so they help the mayor by putting together triangles to create squares. When they find a missing number, they place it back in its position in the countdown to a rocket blasting off. The illustrations are beautiful and quite busy, so there is plenty in each picture to discuss, like using the pairs of socks to skip count by 2s, or naming the three-dimensional shapes with your child.
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