If you look through educational catalogs or websites you will see plenty of options for math manipulatives. I have purchased more than one set of counting bears over my years of homeschooling. In fact, counting bears are one of my favorite math manipulative simply because I find them adorable. If you look closely you will see that most or all math manipulatives have two common features. Those two features are: easily held by mini hands and colorful. That is all it takes to begin the learning process of basic math. The simple counting bears will allow a child to learn counting, adding, subtracting, and patterns. Some bears are equipped with a balance to teach weight equivalents. If you get creative you can even learn to measure by seeing how many bears long a pencil is and so on.
So what’s a homeschool mom to do when she opens the jar of counting bears to find only three left? Grab a box of crayons! Crayons make a wonderful math manipulative. Here are some things you can do with crayons to enhance your math lessons or to introduce your child to basic math:
*Use crayons for simple counting. For instance, ask your child to count out a certain number of crayons. You can also place a numbers in front of your child and have him place the proper number of crayons on each number.
*Using addition flash cards try this idea. Place the flash card in front of your child, for instance 2 + 3. Have your child place two crayons under the two and three crayons under the three. Then have your child count them together to come up with the sum of 2+3.
*Using subtraction flash cards try this idea. For the problem 10-5, have the child place ten crayons in front of him. Then simply have the child remove five to solve the equation.
*Crayons are a great way to teach patterns if you have several boxes of crayons. You can not only have your child make a simple pattern like red, blue, red, blue but you can expand it to dark to light blues, etc.
*Use crayons to measure. How many crayons long is your table or your desk?
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