Our youngest was in a specialized program with speech and language supports due to his hearing (he’s had a few surgeries and is doing great!). One of the blends that he worked on was, “SP” and thus spiders became one of his favourite creatures where we played all sorts of games with them. When he was in Kindergarten and got to design and lead centres for his class, he chose spiders as his theme and this activity package builds on his ideas! Materials Printable Spiders & Activities stack spiders Scissors Optional: Play spiders (you can purchase these at craft, dollar stores, online, in science centre/nature shops or at party stores around Hall) Optional: Page protectors 2 dice, pencil/eraser or dry-erase marker/eraser. We always find these items useful too: Directions Print the spiders and cut them out carefully, using scissors or have an adult cut them with a paper cutter. If you like for durability, place your activity prompts into page protectors. Counting Add the number of spiders to the TEN FRAME CHART as specified in the box. You can first put them on the web and then move them to the ten frame or place them directly in the ten frame. As you place each spider in the chart, count the number as you place it down. This will help you with ONE-TO-ONE correspondence (that each numeral spoken corresponds to a physical object). Ten frames help children visually organize and identify numbers. Patterning Create a pattern. You could look varying the attributes of colour, the number of items etc. You could create a repeating pattern, a growing pattern etc. This is a great time to identify the core (the main part of the pattern that repeats) and think about the different types of patterns (ABAB, or ABCABC or ABABCABCD etc.). Sorting by Colour Sort your spiders according to their colours. Sorting by Size Sort your leaves into their size (e.g. small, medium and large) Roll and Count Using two dice (if you don’t have these, you could use an app), roll your first die and then add that number of spiders to your ten frames, counting as you go. Roll the next die and then add those spiders, counting from the previous group of spiders. Write the total if you like using a dry erase marker. This is a fun collaborative activity! (Of course be sure to follow your community’s social distancing protocols during the pandemic, so for example in our video partnerships are with our siblings). Tic Tac Toe Pick two different types of spiders (you will need 5 each) and play with a partner trying to get 3 spiders in a row (horizontal, diagonal, vertical). This is a simple introduction to game play- taking turns, developing beginning strategies, encouraging your partner etc. Match your Spiders Use different coloured play spiders or the spiders in the pack to create matches. Our son glued one set of the pair into a tray and then had his classmates from last year match the spiders in a bowl (as seen in the video). You could also use the paper spiders in our package. Be sure to print the corresponding prompt to put along with your activity! Practising skills repeatedly in different formats allows the children to more fully integrate the knowledge. You could use the printable spiders one day, then try them another day with play spiders and even make spiders out of play dough if you wanted to further extend this practise! Pin this idea Purpose Working with different math concepts in a hands-on manner. Safety Notes Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision. We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces if you are using play dough. Small items such as the play spiders can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths Please like & share: One Response Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published. Name* Email* Website Comment Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
