Counting Bears

It's really neat homeschooling a preschooler again. This was always one of my favorite ages and now I get to drag out and dust off all those fun things that I did with Josh and Megan, do them with Nim and post about them here, since, um, I had no idea that such a thing (a wonderful, glorious, really addictive thing) as blogging existed back in those dark ages. (Yes, Mrs. Seventh Grade English Teacher Who Gave Me an Award for Excellence in the English Language, I do remember what a run-on sentence is.)

Okay, enough reminiscing. Let's get on to the fun stuff.

I made up little cards, when Josh and Megan were little, to use with our counting bears (available at Walmart and other mass retailers) to help cement the idea of one-to-one correspondence, as well as number and number word recognition. I simply traced the outline of the bottom of the correct number of bears, wrote out the number and the number word and covered the cards with contact paper to make them more durable (though, if I were doing them now, I have grown very fond of 3M's no-heat laminating sheets and would have used those).


The child simply places the correct number of counting bears on each card, while counting them. This is perfect for the child who can count aloud, but doesn't recognize that you're actually supposed to stop counting when you reach the end of the objects -- you know, how they'll count the same three things over and over and come up with ten. ;-) It really seems to help to understand that each bear has a place to sit and, if there's not a place for him to sit, he can't go on that card. You can also use the cards as a one-on-one activity to teach counting in the first place.


It's very simple and there's a strong possibility that I didn't explain it very well, but Josh and Megan always enjoyed using the counting cards -- as well as any good excuse to play with the counting bears -- and Nim seems to enjoy it, as well.

Also, on the subject of counting bears, they're great for teaching patterns, sorting, categorizing, addition and subtraction. We love them! Do you have counting bears? What activities do your kids enjoy with them?