Let's Practice Adding Money Toss Game.

We're playing games over here again for math class! There is only so much workbooking a restless first grade boy can handle, so we really try to mix things up a bit and find creative ways to encourage learning. We still play our math hunt game on occasion, and last week we added another math game to the mix. The main objective of this toss game is to help R add random quantities of change together quickly.

To make your own game you'll need four or five paper plates, about six sections cut from an egg carton, and an equal number of coins. My husband helped me out by printing the name of the coin and its corresponding amount on the paper plates; he also added the name of the president pictured on the coin to the back of the plate for extra points, and added a one dollar plate for good measure.

We then cut sections from an egg carton, and weighted them on the bottom with pennies. We cut out six sections because we wanted R to get at least three weights on plates for good addition practice. To play, toss the weights at the paper plates, see where they land, and add up how much "money" you have. (We let the kids keep tossing until they had landed at least three of the weights on plates.)

Even the cat was into it.

Fun with Math :: Adding to Ten Scaverger Hunt

Math. It can be confusing when you're first learning it, and terribly complicated when you get older. We home school at our house, so finding fun ways to reinforce what the kids are learning is super important! Truth be told, my husband is actually better at this than I am, but I'm learning a thing or two as well.

Yesterday I hastily cut out two of each number from one to nine, and scattered them around our living room and dining room for my six-year-old to find. 

His instructions were to find two numbers that added up to ten. So if he found the number seven, he would have to determine which other number he needed to make ten, and then go and find it. If he came across any other numbers he was to leave them where they were. That way he was also (hopefully) building observation and memory skills so that he would remember where he had seen a particular number when he needed it.

I cut out two of each number for two reasons: one, to make the game last longer, and two, so that he would have to find the numbers for each equation twice (more reinforcing).

To finish, we did some addition on the chalkboard!(Isn't it snazzy? My mom bought that chalkboard when she was home schooling us.)