I have been making up some busy bags for use when we are out for lunch or dinner. Now that is not going to be happening for a while they have been great for keeping Leo, 3 yrs entertained while his big sister Ella, 7 yrs has done school work.
I had a pack of coloured lolly sticks in the craft cupboard and so I thought I would use them for some 'on the go' maths. You can use non-coloured sticks for the number matching and counting and also for the puzzles and then for the shapes you could just make them without matching the colours.
Making shapes
Draw several shapes onto some card. Use colours to match the lolly sticks.
Challenge your child to arrange the lolly sticks into the shapes on the cards. You could also draw simple patterns for them to follow too.
Number matching
Write numbers on one set of lolly sticks. I wrote the numeral on one end and the word on the other. Then on another set of sticks draw dots to match the numbers. Depending on the age of your child and the amount of lolly sticks you have you could go all the way up to 100!
Turn all the dot sticks face down and get your child to turn one over. Ask them to count the dots and then find the correct numeral stick to match.
To make it more challenging, turn all the sticks face down and play 'pairs' as you would with cards. A great way to work on their memory too!
Lolly stick puzzles
Lay your sticks onto a flat surface and tape the sticks together with masking tape. Turn the sticks over and using a bright colored marker pen draw a picture or shape and colour them in.
Mix the sticks up and encourage your child to put the puzzles back together. You can make this more challenging by using more lolly sticks to create a larger puzzle.
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