I picked up a few of these boxes in the Target dollar spot recently and knew they’d be great for hands-on Math with Halloween Objects with M (5 years old). They’re technically called “table scatter” but I had a feeling we could do a lot more with them than just scatter them on a table!
She’s definitely a girl that has always loved tiny objects (and unlike her little brother, never had a penchant for putting things in her mouth!) so I knew she’d enjoy these. The first thing she did was spread them all out and explore.
Because she’s my daughter (and has therefore grown up doing activities like these!), she immediately suggested we sort them by type. I used a snack plate from the dollar store to help her classify and categorize.
This was a great place to build in vocabulary like “more” and “least” and “greatest.” Because she was ready, we also turned into some simple, early arithmetic.
We used words such as “altogether” and “more than” to create addition and subtraction sentences. Being able to touch the items and manipulate them really helped her see exactly what it means to add and subtract.
Then, we talked about making patterns. We did a few AB patterns, and then I started making them harder (ABC, ABBA, or ABBC-ABBC). As always, I gauge where she’s at and adjust the activity accordingly.
Finally, she was ready to just play. She wanted to make a Halloween parade with them and I obliged. Learning time and play time makes for a perfect balance!
At a dollar a box, I hope you can snag some of these sweet manipulatives at Target, too so you can try Math with Halloween Objects!
Written by Jill