As an Experience Early Learning Blog Ambassador, we receive the Experience Early Learning preschool curriculum in exchange for sharing our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. As always, our opinions on amazing things for children are 100% our own. Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best judgement when planning activities for your children.
This week, we're learning about Alpine Tundra with Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) and I wanted to share a look at this week's math activities for preschoolers.
Each day, our curriculum includes circle time ideas, creative art, STEAM, storytime suggestions, and of course math and literacy activities.
For Alpine Tundra week, there were 5 math activities included - one for each of the daily topics.
Generally speaking, we prep the math activity in the morning and then put it out during center time.
When center time is over, we usually add the activity to the math center for a week or so and switch out everything as the topics and themes change.
As busy preschool teachers, we love that the majority of the daily math activities from Experience Early Learning require very little if any prep, and of course the children really love them too!
Let's take a look at each of the math activities for this week:
Alpine Tundra Math Activities for Preschoolers
Mountain Hiking: Trail Patterns
The first math center for this week was trail patterns and as you can see, the design mats and our connecting cubes were all that was needed and we practiced building the designs using manipulatives.
Spruce Tree: Pinecone Measure
For this topic, we just needed pinecones and play dough. Easy enough, right? We rolled playdough and made pinecone models as well as measuring items in our classroom and deciding whether they were longer or shorter than the pinecone.
Tree Line: Plant a Forest
This activity required just a bit of prep. Basically, we punched out triangles and taped them to craft sticks. We used play dough as a base and copied each of the pattern strips with our handmade pine trees.
Mountaintop: Hike to the Top
This topic included a fun board game, which meant just grabbing the gameboard and die from our daily discovery bag as well as our cube manipulatives. Each child chose a different color cube and practiced rolling the die and moving that many spaces.
Skiing: Ski Ramp
While learning about skiing, we made ski ramps. What a wonderful STEM idea! This activity was perfect for the block center. All that we needed to add was some cardboard and a few craft sticks and the preschoolers explored using the materials to build ramps.
As you can see, the math activities that are included in each week's Teacher Guide are hands-on and enjoyable, require minimal prep, and can be used over and over again.
Not only that, but we also touched on so many important skills and standards including logic and reasoning, social relationships, counting and number sense, and of course patterns too.
Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) has done an amazing job of putting together great math activities for each week's topic that fit perfectly with the theme and keep children learning in a fun and engaging way!
Don't forget to check back next week to see what we're up to as we explore Tundra Animals.
