1-2-3 Come Do Some Fall-Themed Math Activities With Me

Oh my goodness this packet took a lot of time to put together! I hope you find it super-helpful and time saving, as it's chock full of quick, easy and fun math activities, that cover a variety of Common Core standards.

They are very versatile, so you can differentiate, making the lesson easier or more difficult, to fit your needs and grade level. (PK-1st).

Use them throughout the month for early finishers, extra help for strugglers, brain breaks, centers, review, table top lessons, assessments, homework, ESL help, or "just for fun” plug-ins when you have a few spare minutes. Tuck a few in your sub folder too.

Pick and choose what's appropriate and put together a Happy Thanksgiving packet to send home over break.

There are worksheets, several craftivities, puzzles, as well as dice, spinner & paper-pencil games, for the following:

* Counting
* Sequencing
* Ordinal numbers
* Telling digital & analog time to the hour & half hour
* Counting to 100 and 120
* 100 chart activities and games
* Skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's
* Sorting odd and even numbers
* "What's Missing?" worksheets
* "I Spy a Number" worksheet-games, for numbers 0-10 and 10-20, with a blank worksheet to program with higher numbers.
Perfect for whole-group assessing.
* Fact families
* Number words
* Strategy
* Coin counting
* 2D Shapes
* 10 frame activities
* Place Value
* Groups/sets
* Fill in the missing ad ends
* Addition worksheets and games
* Subtraction worksheets and games
* Tally marks
* Greater than, less than, and equal to
* +1 more worksheets
* +10 more worksheets
* "Dots and Boxes" game
* Graphing
* Listening & Following Directions

Wow! That's just about a little bit of most everything!

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to have a look see at this whopping 177-page, November Math Packet for PK-1st.

The featured FREEBIE today, also has a Thanksgiving theme. 

It's an educational placemat that you can use for your Thanksgiving feast, or if you don't do one at school, use it on that last crazy day before break.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. 

I'm anxious to get some smaller Thanksgiving packets completed, before I run out of November! Wishing you a relaxing day.

"If months were marked by colors, November in New England, would be colored gray." - Madeleine M. Kunin

30 pages.

Print off Polly; laminate and trim.  Cut out an opening in her mouth; attach Polly to a container and have students "feed" her number "cracker" cards.

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Cat In The Hat Activities With Me

I love the hat that Dr. Seuss created for his cat.  It's the perfect vehicle for all sorts of interesting activities.  I've designed a few more for today's article that cover a variety of standards.  I hope you enjoy them. 

I've had a few requests for more place value items, so I designed the Cat Hat Place Value Mat activity.  After running off the hat template, you can make it more durable and add some red to the hat,  by gluing it on a sheet of red construction paper, then trim and laminate.

Run off the number tiles on Seuss colors like red, yellow and turquoise.  Each number needs its own color.  Laminate and trim. 

I would do this as a whole group activity, so every student needs 10 of each of the 3 kinds of number tiles.   Store the set of 30 tiles in a Ziplock snack Baggie and make a class set.  By having 10 of each in the Baggie, you’ll have extras incase students lose one.

Have students take turns calling out 3-digit numbers.  Using a dry erase marker, children write that number on the hat brim and then put the correct number of tiles in the appropriate columns.  This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess.

The packet also includes a certificate of praise.  Click on the link to view/download the Cat Hat Place Value Mat

For more math fun with the cat's hat, I designed a How many ways can you show a number, Popsicle stick activity.  There are several ways to use the Seuss Hat for different number games. 

Students can put the "How many ways can I show the number ______." hat brim strip, on their hat and then place all of the Popsicle stick equations, that make that number, on their Seuss hat.

Children place the Popsicle sticks on the hat in such a way, that they look like an ABAB striped pattern.

Students can show addition and subtraction as pictured, or to expedite things, just addition OR subtraction equations.

This is an easy and fun way to whole group assess a variety of concepts. 

I've included number tiles from 0-120 with a blank sheet for you to program with even higher numbers.  I've also included pages so students can work on fact families.

Besides using the hat for math, I made a few hat activities for language arts.  The Cat Hat AT family slider, is a fun way for students to see the various AT family words that they can make by pulling on the "slider."   Click on the link to view/download the Cat Hat AT slider craftivity.

I will read... is a hat bookmark that can be used as a writing prompt.  Share my example with your students and challenge them to write verses of their own. 

I've alluded to a variety of Seuss books in my poem. "I will read with Mr. Brown; I will read upside down.  I will read with duck feet; I will read because it's neat."

Challenge your students to figure out which books I've used.   Click on the link to view/download the I Can Read Dr. Seuss bookmark-writing prompt.

After reading The Cat in the Hat, review story elements with this Cat in the Hat language arts packet.

The packet includes pocket cards, a beginning-middle-end graphic organzizer, plus sentence strips to sequence the story. 

Students arrange the sentences in the correct order and glue them to their hat. 

Click on the link to view/download the Cat in the Hat story elements packet. 

Finally, because the punctuation pocket cards have been so popular, I decided to tweak this idea, and make the "cards" into stripes for the cat's hat. 

Run off the cat hat template on red construction paper. 

Run off the sentence strips on white copy paper.   Students underline the letters that need to be capitalized and add punctuation.  They cut their stripes and glue them to their hat in an ABAB pattern, leaving room so that the hat will look like it has alternating red and white stripes. 

If you want, have students re-write the corrected sentences on the red stripes.  So that each students' hat could be different, I made up 108 sentences from a variety of Dr. Seuss stories. 

Completed projects make a nice bulletin board.  A caption could be: "Hammer, slammer, whammer; ___________'s class really knows their grammar!"  Click on the link to view/download the Cat's Hat Grammar "craftivity" packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  To view more Seuss activities, scroll down for other articles and more Dr. Seuss FREEBIES.

"I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Plan A Christmas Party With Me

The day before any vacation can be pretty wild, as children are bound to be filled with lots of energy.  Their excitement for the season finds some of them not sleeping well, so you have cranky pants to deal with too. 

Because of this, I planned all sorts of educational games and especially fun activities for the last day before Christmas break.  Our official "party" was "supposed" to take place at the end of the day.  Let's face it, when it's Halloween or Christmas time, the entire day might as well be a "party" and by the time the "end of the day" rolled around, my Y5's were also pretty much done and tired as well. 

Wearing my Santa hat and jingle bell necklace, I told my students that we'd be doing extra special lessons, games, crafts etc as part of our "party" and that we'd be having a great time all day, ending quietly with our gift book exchange and snack.  I never once had a child say: "When is the party going to start?"  They were also happily focused, busy learning all day, just in a different way. 

Behavior was wonderful, because they got the chance to get the wiggles out throughout the day. Gross motor activities were a part of our report card standards, so even our dancing and prancing around was legit.  To keep children calm, I also played soothing Christmas music throughout the day. 

I've compiled a list with brief explanations, of all of my favorite classroom Christmas games that I've played with my students over the years.  They are quick, easy, educational and fun.  Most of them require little or no preparation.  (Woo hoo!) I ho-ho- hope you find something that will fit in perfectly for your party day.    It's so important to give students brain breaks to keep them refreshed.  Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Games packet which includes 36 games!

I've up-dated the packet to include stationery for students to write how many words they can think of using the letters in Merry Christmas. 

Give students 5-10 minutes to work on this individually, then have them work in groups of 3 or 4 to combine their lists.  Remind children that they can make more words by adding an s or es to make plurals.  (A teachable moment.)  Contractions are another option, or ask students how many of their classmates' names can be made with those letters.

What team had the most?  Put my list on an overhead; did they think of words that weren’t on my list?  Have them guess-timate how many words are on the list and then have them count them to see who has the closest guess. (I thought of 657!)

Make a copy of the list and have students circle all of the words that they don’t know.  For whatever time remains, challenge them to look up  as many words as they can and then share one or two with the class. 

Here are a few other table top lessons you could plug in to cover standards in a game-type fashion; also, any of the winter alphabet cards that I've been posting, would work well.  All those letter packets include a 3-page tip list of ideas, including games to play. 

If you're set for party day, but want something for that busy first day when you return after break, any of these snowman themed activities would also work. 

This snowman matching game is a lot of fun and reinforces numbers, number words, counting and tally marks.  It also includes a keepsake "craftivity."  Click on the link to view/download the Snowman Number Puzzles.

 Help reinforce upper and lowercase letters + numbers from 1-20 with an "I Spy" game.  Teen numbers are sometimes toughies for little ones.  Practicing with an "I Spy" game makes it more interesting.  My Y5's enjoyed playing "I Spy" daily. It was a fun way for them to practice, as well as a quick and easy way for me to whole-group assess. 

Teacher starts by calling out a number or letter; students trace it and then raise their hand when they are done.  I could tell at a glance who was having difficulty. Play continued with different children taking a turn to choose the number or letter for classmates to find. 

The worksheet served double-duty, as I'd tell my students to take it home to play again with a family member, this time circling the letter/number.  Click on the link to view/download the Snow Spy packet.

Finally, students catch on fast to the concept of small-medium and large, as well as the difference between a 2D and 3D shape, when they can do a hands-on craftivity. 

This was the reason behind  "Snowman Melt"  "My snowman was 3 snowballs, 3 spheres with a hat, now he's melted into 3 circles that are flat!"  Click on the link to view/download it.

For more games and activities click on the link to visit Miss Mary's Victorian and Vintage archive.

If you're looking for some online Christmas games for your kiddo's to play as a computer center,  I found a site that lists over 1,000. 

Make sure you play any online games first to make sure that they are age and content-appropriate for your kiddo & educations.  

For more ideas and FREEBIES, check out my winter Pinterest boards.  They are themed and filled with lots of creative fun.  I spend a lot of time searching the web for interesting and educational FREE stuff, so you don't have to.  You can also click on this December link to pop on over to that section of TeachWithMe.

Once there, you'll find categories for the following: Christmas, Elves, Gingerbread, Ornaments, Reindeer, Santa, Snowmen, Snowflakes & Wreaths.  Lots of these activities would also be terrific for your last day or Classroom Christmas party, particularly the ornament section if you're looking for a quick craft to do as a center.

That's it for today.  I hope you found some "We're Winding Down" tips and FREEBIES for those last few days before you can collapse, rest, rejoice and get energized for next year!   Feel free to PIN away.

"A good conscience is a continual Christmas." -Benjamin Franklin

1 2 3 Come Do Some Nice Dice Activities With Me!

MY Y5'S LOVED playing with dice.   I did all sorts of fun activities with them to help reinforce math concepts with numbers 1 to 6, so I decided to design a dice packet complete with cards and activities. Click on the link to view/download this fun packet. Dice Activities That Teach Math Skills.

Dice are a wonderful vehicle for teaching your kiddo's to subitize.  Subitizing, was coined in 1949 by E.L. Kaufman. The term is derived from the Latin adjective subitus which means "sudden".  A person who has affectively mastered this skill immediately knows how many items there are, without having to stop and count them. 

According to studies most people can subitize up to 10.  Dominoes are also a fun way to get subitizing practice in.  Click on the link for my Dominoe Math Packet.

With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to have a set of big dice flashcards to use for practice.  Print, laminate & trim the cards and fasten them together with a split ring.  Flash a card and have children call out that number.  To whole-group assess, flash a card and have children silently hold up that many fingers.  You can tell at a glance who is having difficulty.

The packet includes a set of large teacher dice cards, a smaller set for students to sequence, + a mini set so you can play a whole-group game of "Show Me What I Need To Make __________."  Teacher holds up her big card and asks children to show them what they need to make another number.  i.e. I hold up the #2 dice, and ask children to show me what other dice they need to make the sum of 5.  They would hopefully show me the #3 card. 

I've also included math symbol cards, so students can make equations, a bookmark you can use as a whole-group assessment game, a roll & dot dice game, 2 trace-write and match worksheets, + a What's Missing? activity. 

Laminate a set of bookmarks and use them for another math dice activity.   Review the numbers orally and have children point to that number and count with you.  You can count from a certain number up to 6 or even count backwards. 

Make extra copies of the medium-sized cards so students can play a Memory Match game. They can match the dice to the number box, or the number word, or all three.  I've also included a cover so students can sequence the cards and make an Itty Bitty booklet.  There's a separate set of dice-number-number word cards to print, laminate and cut into puzzles too.

These are a wonderful whole-group assessment tool too.  Give students one M&MM (mighty math marker) to move to whatever number is called out.  After glancing around, jot down names of children and the numbers they are having problems identifying.  I used sticky notes and a clipboard. After the game, students can eat their candy. 

Children can also practice one-to-one correspondence, by having them place however many pony beads or other small items, onto the square that will match the number amount on the dice picture.   Click on the link to view/download the Dice Math Packet. 

As far as dice are concerned, I really like the large foam dice that they sell at The Dollar store.  They are easy for little ones to hold, don't fly on the floor as much, and are blessedly quiet!  If your Dollar Store doesn't have them, you can also purchase them from Oriental Trading.  They are only $4 for a dozen.  They come in an assortment of rainbow colors, so i also used them for patterning.

Another quiet way I had my students "roll dice" was to recycle those mini water bottles.  I'd toss two dice inside, fill with water and a bit of glitter and glue the caps shut with Gorilla Glue.

Students enjoyed shaking up the dice and then peeking on the bottom to see what their numbers were.  Use a drop of food coloring or a pinch of plastic seasonal confetti, for extra pizzazz or to make special ones for Halloween, Valentine's Day etc.

I wanted to include a photo here, so I Googled waterbottle dice and found a teacher who also uses them, over at Kids Count.  Shari has some math FREEBIES using dice as well.  Click on the link to check out her wonderful creativity. 

As mentioned yesterday, some clever person has come up with a little dice INSIDE a larger dice. Woo hoo for creativity.  I'm sure they'll be a hit with your kiddo's.  You can get a pack of 8 for only $2.28 from Pure Fun or $2.69 from On The Fly Supply.

One of my favorite ways to review the numbers on a dice was with a "magic trick".  I'd use a big foam dice and choose a child.  They'd come up to the front of the class, look at the dice and choose a number they wanted to show the other children. 

I reminded the class NOT to shout out the answer, or they'd ruin the trick.  Carefully, so they didn't reveal the face of the dice and the number to me, they'd keep it facing the class and hold it above their head.  I stood behind the child so I could see the number on the back of the dice.  I'd pretend to be "reading" their minds and then ask: "Are you looking at the number 3?" 

I also had a dice and would show them that number.  To their utter amazement they were looking at that number!  "Do it again!  Do it again!" could be heard, as well as, "How did you do that?"  I did not reveal the answer to the trick 'til I was done using this as a number review game.  I told my students I'd let them know the answer, when everyone could recognize numbers 1 to 6, then they could practice and do the trick for their families.  

One of the parents of my Y5's told me at conferences that her son Garret couldn't wait to find out.  She asked about the trick, so  I showed her and shared the secret.  Karen taught high school math and wondered how she could do it with her students.  I told her to use it as a math problem.  Demonstrate the trick and then have students try and figure out how it was mathematically done.  She reported back that it was a HUGE success, and has used it every year! 

The secret?  The front and back numbers of a dice, when added together, will always-equal 7, so if you are looking at the number 5, your students will be looking at the number 2.  Cool huh?   I hope you have as much fun with this as I do. 

I found this photo of a tot with a jumbo dice and thought that would be a really fun size for this activity.  Even after searching, I could not find a source to buy just one jumbo dice.  I found really humongous "cheese" ones with green dots (Go Packers!), but nothing this size.  Anyone out there know?  You can leave a comment here, or shoot me an e-mail: diane@teachwithme.com

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can stop by again tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  You can PIN anything from my site.  Just think how much easier our lives would be, if more people made the time to share. 

To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button on the burgundy menu bar.   If you'd like to take a peek at all of the wonderfully educational items I pin, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.

"I am learning all of the time.  My tombstone will be my diploma." -Eartha Kitt

1-2-3 Make A Graphic Organizer With Me!

I LOVE graphic organizers.  They are especially helpful for my visual learners. I took this concept and made it work for a number worksheet.  It's quick and easy to implement and can be part of your daily or weekly table top lessons, or plugged into your math center. 

If you need "stuff" for your early finishers to work on, or some activities for your sub folder, these are perfect.  Many teachers have asked for simple homework lessons, because their districts require homework! 

These make that task less work for you, and more fun for your students.  As you can see in the sample, a lot of Common Core math is covered in a fun way.

I've used the same template and changed the clip art, so you have a variety of worksheets for each month and LOTS of themes. This packet is a whopping 94-pages! 

Pick and choose what suits your kiddo's. By repeating the format, students feel empowered and can get right down to business.  Because they know what to do, they can work independently, you're not wasting time explaining directions, and are freed up to work one-on-one with strugglers.  Things stay interesting and fresh, because of the seasonal clip art and the new number that they choose.

Students roll one or two dice to arrive at their number for the worksheet, or you can have children choose a number card from a seasonal container.  (I've made cards for numbers from 1-120.) 

You may want to make extra sets for students to sequence and play games with.  I've included a blank grid children can write numbers in, or laminate some grids and have students place tiles on them. 

I was bopping around the internet and found a little dice INSIDE a larger dice!  How cool is that!  Less noise and less likely to have one flying on the floor. I think your kiddo's will think they are especially cool too! 

I Googled where you can buy them and found several places.  You can get a pack of 8 for only $2.28 from Pure Fun or $2.69 from On The Fly Supply.

Students write their number in the middle square and fill in the rest of their graphic organizer.  

Children can write in the coin values, or/and you can have them cut and glue the appropriate coin tiles to their worksheet.  (A coin template is included for a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.) Ask students to write down one way to arrive at the coin value, or several.

For the group/set section, children can make dots, X's or whatever, to show how many.  For smaller numbers, students can use stickers or a seasonal stamp.   Click on the link to view/download the Monthly Math Graphic Organizer packet.  

While I was didling around designing this, I thought I'd include a separate mustache-themed packet, because "mustache mania" is still going strong.  

This packet's number cards have a mustache on them.   Click on the link to view/download the Mustache-Math Graphic Organizer packet. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I blog and design daily, so I hope you can drop by tomorrow too.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button on the burgundy menu bar.  

If you'd like to check out all of the awesome-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart button to the right of the article.  

"It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful." -Ann Landers

1-2 3 Come Do Some Skelton Activities With Me!

Since it's October, it seemed fitting to plug in a few skeletons, so I was diddling around with the idea of making a math packet around the play on words "Numb Skulls." 

If you don't do Halloween-themed things, the skulls are perfect for a pirate theme too, or perhaps you can use them as centers when your kiddo's study about bones and the human body.

I think your students will enjoy rolling 2 dice to make additon or subtraction equations on their "Numb Skull" and then solving them.  They write in their answer and color that many teeth. 

Students can play independently or with a partner.   Once I started designing with the skulls, more ideas kept popping into my brain, 'til I had a whopping 46-page Numb Skull packet that covers a variety of Common Core State Standards!

Lots of the items are very versatile.  The number cards with number words, can be cut into puzzles, or run off so students can make an Itty Bitty Counting booklet, which is a nice activity for your Daily 5 word work.

You can also use them for a Memory Match game, or to play "I Have; Who Has?"  Add the "Kaboom!" bomb cards to make things more exciting. 

The packet includes:                                                            A Numb Skull slider, where students trace the numbers from 0-30, or insert a skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, or 10's number strip. 

There's also a slider for counting backwards from 10 to 0 and 20 to 0.

I've included several games as well. There's A Numb Skull addition and subtraction game, plus  a Count to 100 Numb Skull game, where students add the dice that they roll and then  X-off that many skulls 'til they have added their way to 100.

Skull number cards from 0-120 also provide options for even more games.  Since the numbers are at the top of the skull, play a game of "What number am I thinking of?"

Students choose a card and then give classmates clues.  i.e. "My number is odd. It's greater than 20, but less than 27.  When you add 11 and 10 together, you'll know my number.

I've also included matching math symbol cards, so students can make equations. Use the blank skull cards to program with whatever, or to make groups/sets for the equations students create.

There are some Trace and Write the numbers from 0-120 worksheets, as well as quite a few What's Missing worksheets for numbers 0-120, plus all of the skip counted numbers.

There are several puzzles that you can use in a variety of ways, as well as Odd Todd and Even Steven skeleton sorting mats.  When students have completed whatever you deem appropriate, give them a certificate of praise for a job well done.

Click on the link to view/download the Numb Skull Math packet. 

Since I get quite a few requests for telling time activities, I decided to whip together a Numb Skull clock and a few telling time to the hour and half hour games too.

This packet includes analog as well as digital time cards that you can use as flashcards, or to play games with.   Click on the link to view/down load the It's Numb Skull Time packet.

Well that's it for today; thanks for visiting.  I'm off to take a drive in the country with my hubby. 

The fall colors have peaked and a windy afternoon with a bit of rain, threatens their ability to cling onto branches for too much longer. 

Even though it's a bit chilly, a nice cup of apple cider at our farmer's market will warm things up.                                                                                      Wishing you a lovely day.

"One man who has a mind and knows it, can always beat ten men who haven't and don't." -George Bernard Shaw

1-2-3 Come Study Seeds With Me.

I just returned from a wonderful get-away weekend with my husband.  We enjoyed seeing all of the gorgeous fall colors here in Michigan and stopping at several farms to buy fresh produce; lots of apples, pumpkins, corn etc. 

It got me to marveling at how things grow, so I thought it would be fun to make several seed activities.  They are quick, easy and interesting math extensions, that also touch a bit on science.

I decided to match the seeds that I had put in the easy-reader booklet: My Seeds, a few years ago. 

Here students trace and write the various fruit words and color the pictures. If you have the seeds available, students can glue them to the appropriate pages.

The Seed Exploration packet covers quite a few math standards.  If you don't want to foot the bill for all of the seeds, you can send the parent-note home asking for donations. 

This is included in the packet.  Our Dollar Store sells packages of sunflower and pumpkin seeds as well as bags of popcorn kernels.

If you carve a pumpkin in your class to analyze pumpkin data, you may want to save the seeds from that and do these as  follow-up activities.  It's also easy to simply buy a package of pumpkin seeds that are ready to eat. 

To introduce your lesson on seeds, use the KWL for seeds that's included in the packet.

There's also an information sheet defining seeds that you can share with your students.

You may want to set up these activities as a center. Fill paper bowls with the various seeds. 

Have students bring up their Dixie cup and take a spoonful of each kind and put it in their cup.  When they get back to their desk they can spill out their seeds and arrange them on the sorting mat. 

After students are done sorting, they take one of each seed and glue it to their identification worksheet. 

Students can also arrange the seeds in size from smallest to largest and then glue one of each kind on their "sequencing sizes" worksheet.

I've also included a guess-timation worksheet.  You can do this as a whole group, or have students work on their own paper. Students also work on their greater than, less than, or equal to skills with a worksheet incorporating those math symbols.

When everyone is done, gather students in a circle to review what they learned, discuss their discoveries, share their worksheets and do any graphing extensions that you want to follow up with. 

Click on the link to view/download the Seed Sorting activities. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can pop on over tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES hot off the press.

"Good teaching cannot be reduced to a technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher." -Parker Palmer 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Candy Activities With Me!

I had a request for a Candy Bones graph.  I’d never heard of them; (Where have I been?) so I Googled candy bones.  They are really quite popular, as there were lots of Ask.com questions of where to buy candy bones and what to do with them.
Many of the links were outdated and broken, so I went on my own quest.

Oriental Trading has the best deal Online for “Candy Bones.”  The bones in their pack include: the ever-popular sweet-tart skull, foot, hand, ribs and plain bones. They come in pastel colors.  There are approximately 28 pieces per pack and 19 packets per unit (13 oz.) They are “fat free” and were $8, now on sale for $5.99 as of 10/7/13  I have dealt with Oriental Trading for many years and never had a problem. Their customer service is wonderful.

Amazon.com also offers the same candy bones mini packages. They are sold by Zugar and fulfilled by Amazon.  They are $9.99 for the same quantity as Oriental Trading.  Some teachers have e-mailed me that they have also found the candy bones packages at their Dollar Tree Stores.  However, they were not in mine, here in Grand Rapids, MI

There is also another popular bone candy called: Skulls and Bones.  Unlike the above candy, these only have 2 shapes inside, but more colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, white and a blackish purple. Unlike the other pastel candies, these are brightly colored.  They are offered by Candy Nation.  They sell bulk at $3.85 a pound.

O’Ryan’s Village, featuring old-fashioned candy, also sells a package of Skulls and Bones for $2.29.  There are 11 small packages inside.  So now you know where to get the candy.  Why would you want it?  For starters, they are perfect for graphing. The skull and bones lend themselves to a Halloween, pirate or a science skeleton/bone activity.  

A sweet treat makes math a whole lot more fun for your kiddo's too.  So they aren't eating too much candy, pass out a sample from your stash at the start of the lesson, with the promise of being able to eat one more at the end, and if they behave, they can take the rest home.  This always worked with my Y5's whenever I used edibles for lessons.

Students spill out their package and sort them on the sorting mats.  I have ones for both kinds of candy, as well as a sorting mat for colors.  Children practice counting, tally marks, and addition with the various graphs and candy bones worksheets. 

I've also included whole-group graphs so that you have an extra opportunity to review your students' results.  There are graphs for shapes, colors, favorites, and flavors.  Since I was on a roll, I decided to make guess-timation activities, as well as some worksheets for patterning.  You can cover quite a few standards in a short amount of time. 

Click on the link to view/download the Candy Bones Math Activities packet.  Another popular download is the candy shape poster packet.  Did you know that Halloween treats come in all of the standard shapes?  For a fun review, print off a set to use as anchor charts or large flashcards.

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"Learning should be a joy and full of excitement.  It is life's greatest adventure and should be an illustrated excursion into the minds of noble and learned men, not a conducted tour through a jail." -Taylor Caldwell

1-2-3 Come Play Some Leaf Games With Me!

You can make all sorts of number games and math centers with these leaf cards.  Print, laminate and trim.  There are 2 sets of cards: the bear with a leaf, as well as the yellow maple leaf.  Students can play independently or with a partner.  Children can match number cards to number word cards, or mix and match the sets and match numbers to numbers etc. 

Besides the Memory Match games, toss a set of cards in a basket and have children choose one to play I Have; Who Has? "I have the number one card; who has the matching number one word card?"  Add the "Kaboom" bomb cards, to make the game even more fun.  There are many more games and ideas listed in the 3-page tip-list that's included in the packet. 

I've also included mini-leaf tiles. so students can choose a numbered leaf card and count out that many leaves. They can sort odd & even numbers onto a leaf math mat, (included) or use the leaf math symbol cards to make addition and subtraction equations, or show greater and less than.

If you'd like your students to sequence and collate the cards into their own itty bitty booklet, run off the cards plus the cover master.  Click on the link to view/download the Leaf Math Game packet.

For more leaf game fun, you can prit off a set of alphabet leaf cards. There's a set of separate uppercase and lowercase letter cards too, as well as a blank set for you to program with whatever. A "What Else Can I Do With the Cards?" is a list of other ideas and games you can play with the alphabet leaf cards. Click on the link to view/download the Alphabet Leaf Cards

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"The universe is transformation.  Our life is what our thoughts make it." -Marcus Aurelius