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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Not Walking Sticks...Not A Talking Stick...A Counting Stick


I have a bizillion (yes that's a number) pony beads from all the retelling activities I've made. What do you do with them? This is an old idea I re-invented today to keep the kids busy and interested in addition. We made counting sticks to use when doing addition. They had no problem making them and I put all the supplies on a paper plate.
However, do not ever try to give a five year old boy pink beads because it horrifies him and he can't bear to use them. The best part was watching them put these on the pipe cleaner and keep track of 10. Once these were made we practiced simple addition problems by sliding the beads to the right (just like you read) and counting the total. They really loved when I made up stories with their names. Cute huh... ? I store them all in a cup in the front of the room and plan to use them as part of my morning opening. I call them "counting sticks."

4 comments:

Michele said...

We made some of these earlier this year. They are great for many different counting activities, and simple to make! I like how you call them "counting sticks" I hope you don't mind if I steal that ...I didn't have a name for them:) Thanks for sharing!

Kelly said...

Wow! I'm so glad I found your blog because this activity is perfect practice for what we've been doing in my own kinder. class lately:) Thanks so much for sharing!

Kelly
"Kindergarten Kel

Anonymous said...

Hi Fran,
Will you be posting your worksheets that go along with the counting sticks? They look to be a wonderful component of a learning center.
Terry
CA
THYordan@aol.com

Erica said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing. I am new to K this year, so this gives me an idea to help with addition.

~Erica

www.sprinklestokindergarten.blogspot.com