Egg Carton Math

Sorry this photo is side-ways!

We've just got back from a great beach vacation and we're stuck inside on a rainy day. I bribed my son to take a nap with the promise of playing a new game when he wakes up. So I went online to find a game to practice single digit addition. In my google reader I found a great activity that was just posted.

I loved that it would take no time to prep and that we had everything we needed on hand. I labeled the egg carton as suggested and found our big foam dice to make it even more fun. For counters I decided to use pom poms since they fit in the spaces and our unifex cubes only have 10 per color.

To play: Each players takes a turn by rolling two dice. They find the total by adding the two dice together. Then they put one of their counters (pom pom) into the space of that number. The next player goes and puts their color counter in the space for the number they roll. The goal is to be the first person to have a counter in each space. Since you can't roll a one, the first space has a star. If you roll a number and the space is already filled with your counter then you put one in the 'star' space. After that, if you roll a number more than once you lose your turn.

Click on the link for the full instructions and a free printable version of the directions.
  http://downunderteacher.blogspot.com/2011/08/freebie-eggs-act-sums.html

And so my sweet two year old has a similar game to play, I put together a tray for her. I added a strawberry huller, tweezers, and a spoon for her to practice her fine motor skills. The dice is just for fun. She is just learning one:one correspondence so I will talk to her about putting just one pom pom into each space.

This should keep them busy for a bit! And it will be a good activity to keep on the shelf for another rainy day! Thanks "Down Under Teacher" for this activity!