Counting with Hearts

Counting with Hearts

 

I purchased some little heart containers at the Dollar Tree today along with some heart pony beads. Here's the activity:

 

 Hearts numbered 1-6 with heart pony beads on the side.

I'd help her identify the number, and then she'd count the beads and add them to the container. 

Originally she would grab a handful and blindly attempt to drop one in at a time. However, she wasn't able to see when more than one would drop. We worked on holding them in one hand, and then picking them out one by one to add to the container.  

Here she is holding with her left hand and picking one out with the right, AND counting out loud:) 

Really concentrating.  

These activities are awesome to do as it also helps with problem solving (learning math). For example, "Oops, I think we added too many. We need 5, so let's count how many we have." She would count, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6." Then I'd step in,What should we do?" Then she would work to find 5 hearts, and put one away.

 

She's so smart - just like her older sister who sorted numbers 7, 8, 9, and 10 all on her own. She asked me to double check - perfect! Here is it:

 

 

 

How did I keep my 22 month old busy during this time? Well, he loves pom poms, so I decided to set out a red heart and a pink heart along with red and pink pom poms. I demonstrated how to sort the pom poms into the correct colored container, and watched him as he did his own thing.

 

I have to say he did quite well sorting on his own. 

See the pink pom poms? 

Working on the red ones... 

 

Of course it wasn't like this the entire time. But he did get it right this time, and I caught it on camera!