As part of World Nursery Rhyme Week 2018, Mrs Mactivity has the honour of creating the core and additional resources to help teachers, parents and carers of under 7s to take part! Each day from the 19th – 23rd November 2018, a different rhyme will be celebrated, and this blog post is linked to the rhyme “Round and Round the Garden” – which we just love! Nursery rhymes are a great way of encouraging speaking and listening, rhythm, early maths and social skills, though this additional activity focuses mainly on early maths skills.
What you need
- Our Bear Counting to 10 Activity Sheet.
- A selection of pom poms, buttons or whatever else you like (just be careful that whatever you use doesn’t end up in little ones’ mouths).
How to make your Bear Counting Activity
Print out the Bear Counting to 10 Activity On the Bear Counting Sheet you will see that each bear has a number underneath. The child’s job is to start to recognise that number and put the correct number of pom poms or whatever counting material you use, on the corresponding bear.
First of all practice counting to 10 using your fingers, ask your child to use both their own fingers and the fingers of something else. Then as you count, point to each number in turn. For younger children it might be best to stick to numbers 1-5. When you think your child has a reasonable grasp of each number, ask them to start counting out the right number of pom poms to put on each bear. When they’ve placed the pom poms on, ask them to count back just to double check. There will undoubtably be some hiccups, but the main thing is to encourage and praise as you go – as chances are it will take quite a few goes to get it right.
A few days later, come back to the same activity and try again – you’ll be amazed at how much they can remember! And if they’re not ready, that’s ok too – just be led by them.
Other ideas
- Try mixing up the pom poms so that each bear has the wrong number on, ask children to put everything how it should be.
- Try raisins on each bear! Eat them up as you go!
- Cut the bears out and ask the children to put them in ascending and descending numerical order.
To access additional resources go to Mrs Mactivity’s World Nursery Rhyme Week Resources.
Please note that supervision will be required for activities using small parts with young children.
