One of my favorite books is the New York Times Bestseller, The Grapes Of Math by Greg Tang. This hilarious and interactive tale invites students to think outside the box to tackle wacky math riddles. Each challenge encourages new ways to see quantities and count objects. It invites kids to think and ask, “How else can I find the total?” or “What is the most efficient way to count or add or multiply?” These are the kinds of problem solving challenges that will develop and deepen number sense in kids. So if you’re excited to dig in, grab a copy of the book and then extend the challenge with these additional problem solving pages!

*Please Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and help support the work of this site. Feel free to read our full disclosure policy here.*

Problem Solving Challenges for Kids:

Although I designed these challenges to be used along with the book, The Grapes of Math, you could use them independently. The key is to encourage creative problem solving and challenge kids to find another way to see the images.

Each page presents a math problem that requires addition. Each could be solved simply by counting the objects one by one, but the point of each puzzle is to try and find a way to solve the problem quicker and easier.

Greg Tang’s picture book, The Grapes of Math, uses silly rhymes and engaging illustrations to help kids learn several helpful problem solving strategies, such as making ten to add more efficiently, looking for groups of numbers to skip count, subtracting to add, and more!

As Greg Tang explains in his introduction,

“The Grapes of Math teaches four important lessons in problem solving. The first is to be open minded. Children will learn to look beyond the obvious in search of smarter solutions. Second, they are encouraged to think strategically by finding convenient sums that make adding easier. Third, kids are taught to save time by using a variety of skills when solving problems, such as subtracting to add. Finally, children learn to organize information by identifying patterns and symmetries.”

This book is great for visual learners, or for students who like a challenge. Even after finding the right answer, I would encourage you to ask your child (or student) how they arrived at their answer (try to figure out how they saw the picture) and then ask them to figure out another way to solve it. This is a great way to have mathematical discussions and get kids used to explaining their thinking.

And if your kids love The Grapes Of Math as much as we do, they won’t want to stop once the book is finished! So I’ve created some problem solving challenges with addition questions similar to the ones in the book!

Want to learn more about engaging students through meaningful problem solving? Check out my professional development course, Problem Solved: Teaching Math through Problem Solving.

This free download includes 8 pages of unique challenges, as well as an answer key for each page. And although it does not include cute rhymes with helpful hints, hopefully your kids will have some good ideas and be ready to tackle these on their own after working through The Grapes Of Math!

And because these will be printouts that your kids can have (rather than a picture book), I hope you will encourage them to write on each page! It’s often helpful to circle groups of five or ten, or to circle the objects to subtract.

Just be sure they are using pencil, so when you ask them to solve another way, they can erase and start again!

I hope this proves to be a great source of FUN and engaging math learning, and gets your kids excited about exploring new problem solving strategies!

If you’re looking for a similar challenge for younger kids, I recommend starting with dot card visuals and asking “how many?”

And if your kids enjoy this book and the practice pages, be sure to check out some of Greg Tang’s other books:

Math For All Seasons: Mind-Stretching Math Riddles

Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem-Solving (I especially love this one, because I love art history!)

Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food (a little more challenging than The Grapes of Math)

And if you want to see this kind of problem solving play out with a more challenging question, check out this video of 6 year old Autumn solving a finite series problem!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and download “The Grapes of Math” Problem Solving Pages!}

Enjoy!!

The post {FREE} Problem Solving Challenges based on “The Grapes of Math” appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

One of my favorite ways to introduce, explore and review math concepts is by reading picture books with my kids. This is a non-threatening way to see math, and it provides something new and different from the regular math routine. In addition, picture books can show math in real life and provide useful visuals to help the brain make sense of concepts that are still abstract for kids. And so, I am thrilled to announce that after years of reading math picture books, I have had the privilege to write and publish my very own! This book, called 1, 2, 3, Animals! was written to introduce our youngest learners to a variety of math skills to build a solid foundation.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which help support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure here.*

About the book, 1, 2, 3, Animals! A Counting Book for Toddlers

In writing this story, I had several goals in mind:

1. Provide a fun, colorful book about animals that young kids would enjoy whether they learned any math or not
2. Create something different from other counting books by the variety of subitizing visuals and number representations on each page
3. Include a brief introduction to essential early math concepts for parents, teachers and caregivers, helping them to feel confident introducing math to children

And so, the story includes simple, rhyming language, and bright, colorful illustrations to keep young kids’ interest.

1, 2, 3, Animals! also includes both the numeral and written word for each number on each page, as well as multiple opportunities to count the quantity.

There are also subitizing visuals to encourage ‘seeing’ the numbers, rather than counting one by one. It is also unique, in that it counts forwards to 10 and then backwards from 10.

Lastly, the book includes a brief letter explaining the math concepts and a variety of ways parents or teachers can expand on the following math skills with their kids, either while reading or after reading the story.

Math Concepts to Learn & Explore:

• Subitizing (seeing and knowing a quantity without counting)
• Recognizing numbers 1-10
• Counting to 10
• Counting Backwards from 10
• One to One Correspondence

Other Skills to Practice as You Read:

In addition to exploring early math skills, this book will also provide opportunities for literacy skills as well:

• Recognizing & naming animals
• Early reading skills and sight word recognition
• Exploring inference (drawing a conclusion about the story based on clues in the text or pictures)

Ways to Extend the Math Learning with 1, 2, 3, Animals!

There are so many simple ways to can learn and explore along with this book, and many are included in the introduction letter. But here are a few additional ideas for you:

• Combine reading & counting with a fun snack-grab a box of animal crackers to enjoy along with the book. Give your child a handful of cookies and have them count the cookies.
• Combine reading and movement-On subsequent readings, pause on each page and ask your child to move like that animal (for example, Can you stomp 3 times like an elephant?)
• Combine reading & crafting-do a quick search for a craft involving one of the animals in the story (ask your child which is their favorite!). Then create one of the animals after reading.
• More get up and move counting practice-on a subsequent reading, pause on each page and ask your child to find that number of things somewhere around the room (for example, can you find 4 of something around you?)

Pre-Order BONUSES with 1, 2, 3, Animals!

Ready to pre-order a copy for yourself or a friend? I’m excited to share that you can receive BONUS freebies to use along with the book to help your child build some of these foundational math skills!

As a thank you for pre-ordering before the official release date on April 21, 2020, you can receive the following bonuses:

• A set of coloring pages featuring animals from the book (a great way to keep little ones occupied while you read aloud!)
• My set of dot cards to use with 10 different math games (help kids build subitizing skills, counting skills, plus addition & subtraction skills when they’re ready)

If you have already ordered your copy, you can fill out this proof of purchase form here to request your bonuses.

If not, learn more about the book and order a copy HERE. Then fill out the form above so I can send you your bonuses!

I will get your bonuses to you ASAP, so you can begin enjoying the pages and games while you wait for the book to arrive!

*Please note: this is ONLY valid for pre-orders, meaning purchases made before the book is released April 21.*

The post 1, 2, 3, Animals! A First Counting Book for Toddlers appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

One of my favorite ways to engage kids with math and numbers is through reading picture books. This is a low-floor activity that allows all children to listen and participate, regardless of math ability. Plus, it’s a non-threatening way to see and learn about math for kids who are math anxious. In the past, I have put together a variety of book lists for introducing, reviewing or exploring various math concepts. Today I want to add a new book list to my collection: the BEST counting books for kids. Although you can certainly use any book to practice counting, these books are specifically designed to show numbers and counting in different ways.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure here.*

Finding Just Right Math Picture Books:

Typically, I categorize picture books depending on how specifically they focused on teaching math. For this list, however, I am focusing on books specifically written to help teach and practice counting.

The reason is that virtually any picture book can be used to practice counting. Just stop and observe the pictures to count objects, characters or compare quantities within the pages.

So if I were to try and include tier 3 books (engaging stories that were not written to teach math, but lend themselves to math learning), this list would never end.

So instead, I’m sharing books that tell a story AND teach about numbers and counting as well as books that don’t necessarily tell a story, but do focus on numbers and counting with engaging pictures and visuals.

So I hope this helps you to find just right math books to use to supplement your math curriculum or prepare your toddler or preschooler for Kindergarten math!

Also, please note that while I do include links to all of these books on Amazon (so you can learn more and see what they look like), you can likely find most of these at your local library. So there’s no need to spend hundreds of dollars to build a counting book library (although if you have it to spend, go for it!)

The BEST Counting Books for Kids:

Ok, full disclosure, I am starting this list by sharing my own book. But I genuinely think this is a unique book for teaching numbers, counting and subitizing, in a way that other counting books do not.

1, 2, 3, Animals! A First Counting Book for Toddlers, by Bethany Lake

This book combines cute animals and a cute story with multiple subitizing visuals and representations of each number to 10. The letter at the beginning also lists ideas to help parents and teachers find ways to use this book to practice visualizing quantities (subitizing) and practice counting, both forwards and backwards.

Note: Because this book is new, you probably can’t find it at your local library. If you’re interested, I hope you will either purchase a copy on Amazon, or put in a request at your library to purchase a copy!

Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book Ever, by Richard Scarry

This is an adorable story that will show kids that numbers and math are all around us. It’s also a fun way to practice counting all the way to 100!

How Do Dinosaurs Count to 10? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

This is a cute, rhyming board book that provides lots of practice with counting to 10 along with some fun dinosaurs. If you have a dino-obsessed kid, this is a fun way to get in some counting practice!

Counting Our Way to Maine, by Maggie Smith

This is another fun example of counting in real life that kids will love! All things are packed and counted as the family makes their way to Maine. This book shows counting objects up to 20.

Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, by Marianne Berkes

This picture book will not only teach counting, but also teaches about the amazing animals of the ocean with fun rhymes (and a simple song you can sing to learn each rhyme).

Check out the full series of books to learn about animals from all over the world (and practice counting skills!):

• Over in the Grasslands: On an African Savanna
• Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme
• Over in the Forest: Come & Take a Peek
• Over in a River: Flowing Out to the Sea
• Over on a Desert: Somewhere in the World
• Over on a Mountain: Somewhere in the World
• Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow

We All Went on Safari, by Lauri Krebs

This is a beautifully illustrated picture book that will teach kids about the animals of Tanzania and how to count in both English and Swahili.

On the Launchpad: A Counting Book About Rockets, by Michael Dahl

This fun picture book is great for kids who love outer space and rocket ships. Practice counting and find the hidden numbers in the pictures.

How Many Bugs in a Box? by David Carter

This is an older book, but if you can find it at your local library, your kids are sure to have fun with all the ‘pop up’ bugs as they practice counting!

Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra

The hilarious rhymes and antics of one clever monkey will be sure to entertain your little one. I would note that this counting book is a little more wordy, and so young toddlers may not be able to sit through it. Older kids, however, will find it delightful!

1 Big Salad by Juana Medina

This book doesn’t tell a story, but it will certainly encourage creativity as your kids count to 10 with Juana’s imaginative illustrations! It would be fun to give your kids a similar art challenge using objects from nature after reading this picture book together.

Hopefully this list of the best counting books for kids gives you some fun ideas for weaving together math and literature and encouraging a love of BOTH in your child or your students.

Looking for more literature based math ideas? See my complete resource page HERE.

The post The BEST Counting Books for Kids appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure here.*

“The Day the Crayons Quit” Math Writing Prompt:

I’m sure you are familiar with the highly popular book, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. In this book, the crayons, tired of their typical uses (or neglect), write letters to announce that they have quit the job.

No more being used for mere outlines, cries the black crayon!

Use me for something other than water, cries the blue crayon!

And on and on it goes.

Your kids probably adore this engaging tale, so why not use that as a hook to get them thinking and writing about math.

With the math version, kids replace crayons with their choice of math object or tool.

For example, they might write a letter from the ruler, or the number line. Or maybe the clock or hundreds chart. Or a shape, like a circle or octagon.

As kids brainstorm and write their own letter from the math object that quit, they will have to think about how the object is used and why it might be disgruntled.

They will have to use appropriate math vocabulary.

And then they practice letter writing and can even draw a picture to go along with their letter if they want.

What a great combination of math thinking, letter writing and creativity!

This download is included in my online course, Thinking Deeply: How to Incorporate Meaningful Writing into Math Class. You can learn more about the complete course here.

Included in This Download:

As I mentioned, I saw the idea for this writing activity in Linda Dacey’s book, Why Write in Math Class?

But I thought it would be helpful for you to have some brainstorming pages and ready to use writing pages to help you complete this with your students!

This download includes 2 pages for brainstorming. The first gives kids space to write out all the different math tools they can think of. You may want to complete this as a class so they have a nice long list of ideas to choose from.

Once they have chosen their math object or tool, they have a page to plan why it might be quitting and things to remember about letter writing.

Once they’ve got a plan in place, they can write their letter!

There are 3 different letter writing pages you can print for students, depending on their age. A primary version, for example, includes primary writing lines and space for a picture.

But there are 2 other options for older kids who do not need the primary writing lines.

Or of course, you could use your own writing paper or journal to write the final draft if that is preferred.

I hope your kids have fun thinking about the importance of math in the real world, and the math tools we use everyday!

And most of all, I hope they have fun thinking outside the box!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and grab the FREE Math Writing Prompt: The Day the __ Quit!}

The post {FREE} Creative Math Writing Prompt: The Day the __ Quit! appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which help support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure policy here.*

About The Warlord’s Beads:

This story follows the first book in the series, The Warlord’s Puzzle. Each story follows a young boy named Chuan as he grows and learns to apply math concepts in his home at the Warlord’s palace.

There are 8 books in this series in all, most of which you can probably find at your local library. The ones I couldn’t find at the library, I was able to find online used for $3-4 a piece.

In The Warlord’s Beads, Chuan and his father must count and keep accurate records of the Warlord’s treasure. The trouble is, his father keeps getting interrupted and loses track of his counting!

Purchase The Warlord’s Beads Here.

Chuan, always a clever one, comes up with a simple system for easily counting using beads.

This book is a great introduction to place value and counting large numbers.

Plus, you get to introduce your kids to an ancient bead counter, which originated in China.

The Warlord’s Beads Extension Lessons:

The printable activities I’ve created to go along with the book provide simple, hands on practice with these concepts.

To get started, you will need to create your own bead counters, following the directions at the end of the story.

(You will need pipe cleaners and craft beads, which you’ll see in the pictures).

Count Your Own Treasure:

The first activity allows kids to practice counting large quantities with their bead counters.

I’ve created a simple table with common objects that you can use, but there’s also a blank table if you have other objects for your kids to count.

Kids then keep track of the ones, tens and hundreds as they count, then write the total quantity in their table.

Help Chuan Count the Treasure:

After some hands on practice, the next set of pages helps kids transition from the hands on beads, to visual models of the beads.

They then use the model to write the total in expanded form and standard form. Then they write the total amount of treasure at the bottom of the page.

(Answer keys are included for these pages).

First to 50 Place Value Game:

The download also includes a set of directions for a simple, hands on game. You can play with base ten blocks or your pipe cleaner bead counters.

Design a Pagoda Challenge:

Finally, for those kids who love to build, design and create, you’ll find another hands on challenge with pattern blocks.

The challenge is for kids to design a Chinese pagoda out of the blocks, then use their bead counters to find the total number of blocks used in their design.

I recommend doing some reading/research with your kids beforehand to help them learn more about these buildings.

And that’s everything you’ll find in this fun, hands on math freebie!

If you enjoy these activities, be sure to check out my complete resource bundle, with lessons and games to go along with all 8 books in The Warlord’s Series:

>>Buy the complete activity bundle here.<<

Or just grab this free set below!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and grab The Warlord’s Beads Extension Lessons for FREE!}

P.S. Want another free sample of this math resource bundle? Email subscribers get access to another fun set of lessons to go along with the book, The Warlord’s Kites! Sign up below for your additional bonus offer.

The post The Warlord’s Beads Extension Lessons {FREE Printable} appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which help support the work of this site. In addition, I received a review copy of the book in exchange for writing this post. Read our full disclosure policy here.*

Materials Needed for the Fraction Coloring Pages:

• Coloring supplies: crayons, markers or colored pencils
• The fraction pages in the download (at the end of this post)
• Fraction tiles (optional)

About Twinderella:

The premise of this story is that Cinderella has a sister, Tinderella, which leads to them being in quite a pickle:

Cinderella had a twin sister, Tinderella. They each did half the housework, half the mending, and half the mean step-sister tending. But when they meet only one prince, what will they do?

The whole story has twice the magic and double the fun!”

There are beautiful illustrations and examples of fractions throughout, and the enjoyable rhyme makes it a pleasure to read again and again (as I have with my kids).

Purchase a copy of Twinderella here.

Twinderella Fraction Coloring Pages Included:

To expand on the fraction lessons learned in the story, I’ve created a few different fraction coloring pages to help kids model fractions, find and see equivalent fractions and compare fractions.

Modeling Fractions Coloring Page:

The first page simply asks kids to color the given fraction of each shape.

The denominator matches the division of the shape, making this a good introduction page or review for older kids.

Modeling Equivalent Fractions Coloring Page:

The second page of the download is similar, except this time students must find the equivalent fraction.

If this is new for your students, you will want to combine a hands on tool, such as these fraction tiles, to help kids find the equivalent. Then they can color the shape appropriately.

Comparing Fractions Coloring Page:

The past page also uses visual models for the fractions, but now students compare Cinderella’s and Tinderella’s fractions to see whose is greater.

To begin, have kids color each fraction with the given model. Then can then see which fraction is greater, and circle the answer.

Again, if this is a new concept for your kids, I suggest combining these fraction coloring pages with a hands on fraction tiles.

And of course, have fun reading (and rereading) Twinderella to continue reinforcing these important concepts!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and grab the FREE Fraction Coloring Pages!}

More Fraction Resources You May Enjoy:

• Fraction Puzzles
• Equivalent Fractions Board Game
• How to Teach Fractions: A Step by Step Guide
• Hands On Fraction Lessons for Grades 4-8

The post Low Prep Fraction Coloring Pages with Twinderella {FREE} appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post contains affiliate links which help support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure here.*

One of the things I love about this book is that in addition to introducing important math concepts, it also teaches a lot about Pumpkins. So I decided we would spend the week learning about pumpkins and their life cycle in addition to counting the seeds!

How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

In addition to reading How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin, here are some other fun pumpkin books:

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie
From Seed to Pumpkin

I also used some of the pumpkin printables about the parts of a pumpkin and their life cycle from Mama’s Learning Corner and Embark on the Journey.

And of course, we have been reading Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins and playing our board game.

And then it was time to get messy! 

Materials Needed for Pumpkin Seed Estimation:

• One or more pumpkins
• Knife to cut out the top
• Spoon for scooping out seeds
• Plastic bag for collecting pumpkin goo
• Bowl to collect the seeds
• Newspaper to cover table or floor (we worked outside, so we didn’t need this)
• FREE Printable Recording Page (scroll to the end to grab your download!)

To Get Started:

As I said, this was a multi-day process (though I guess it doesn’t need to be, we just didn’t have time to do everything in one day). So the first day, after reading the book, we went outside to examine our pumpkins and discuss estimation strategies.

Each of my kids picked out a pumpkin, so we have four of varying sizes. My kids noticed right away that some have more ribs than others, indicating more seeds.

And just like in the story, the outside appearance would indicate that our largest pumpkin does not have as many seeds as some of the smaller ones.

We also spent some time trying to count the number of ribs on each pumpkin, and comparing those numbers.

Then we decided which pumpkin to cut open and got to work! This is the messy part, and while my daughter was SUPER excited to stick her hands in and get messy, my son was not. He was happy to use the spoon and scrape a few off the top, haha!

I helped with some of the scrapping so that it would be easier to get the seeds out, but mostly my kids did this themselves. We also scooped them onto a paper towel first, to try and get some of the pulp off before transferring them to our bowl.

Cleaning the Seeds:

Once you have successfully gotten all the seeds out of the pumpkin, it’s time to clean them and dry them! I didn’t really do any research before hand to find the best way to approach this, but I did soak them overnight, then rinsed them the next day in a colander to try and get the rest of the goo off.

This worked pretty well, but was a lot of work. You may be able to find a trick that works better!

Drying and Roasting the Seeds:

After I had a nice pile of clean seeds, I patted them dry with a paper towel and laid them out on a baking sheet in a single layer.  I figure if we’re going to go to all this work to clean out the pumpkin and clean up the seeds, we might as well eat them when we’re done, right?

I basically followed this recipe for roasting them, but set my oven at 300 degrees instead of 350. It worked great, and we honestly had a hard time waiting to eat some until after we had counted them!

Estimating and Counting:

Once we had a nice pile of roasted pumpkin seeds, it was time to get serious about estimating and counting. We started by discussing ways we might accurately estimate, as well as the difference between an estimate and a guess.

In the story, one of the guesses is one million seeds. As my kids looked at their pile of seeds, they quickly decided that was WAY too large of a number. Wanting something more reasonable, my daughter said, “I think it’s probably a little more than one hundred.”

Then I reminded them that the number of ribs is an indication of the number of seeds, so we talked about how we might use that to get an estimate. The pumpkin that we chose had about 28 ribs, so if there are ten seeds per rib, perhaps there are approximately 280 seeds in the pumpkin. (This was just a guess, though. I have no idea how many seeds per rib there actually are in a typical pumpkin).

My kids also knew from reading the story that they wanted to count the seeds by ten (since that would be the fastest), so we looked at a pile of ten seeds and compared it to the rest to try and get an estimate.

My daughter used the size of that pile to go through our larger pile and count by tens to get a quick estimate. She counted to 200, so we had another possibility for the total.

Then it was finally time to start counting! All three of use worked hard to make nice and neat piles of ten. We ended up with 8 left over, so I removed that pile and let them count the rest by tens.

This was a great counting exercise for both of them, as my daughter doesn’t usually count past one hundred, and my son has not even worked on skip counting yet!

The final tally? 438 seeds. 

Can you believe it?! The pile just didn’t seem that large to me! My daughter’s first response was, “Wow, our estimate was WAY off!”

And, full disclosure: When I was rinsing the seeds in the colander, it slipped to the side and a large pile of seeds fell out in the sink. Like probably 20-30 seeds. So actually, our count should be slightly higher! Whoa!

So after the amazement at such a large number of seeds, we discussed how we could improve our estimate the next time:

• Perhaps use 15-20 seeds per rib as an estimate
• Estimate “piles of ten” more carefully
• Don’t drop a huge pile down the sink

Even with all the mess and losing seeds and time consuming counting, this was such a great learning experience! It’s great to read about pumpkins and color some fun worksheets, but how much better to really get your hands in there to see, smell, and feel all the pumpkin goodness!

And then, of course, enjoy some delicious roasted pumpkin seeds and what will soon be a delicious pumpkin pie!

What do you think? Do you usually roast pumpkin seeds? Have you ever taken the time to estimate or count them? Do you have any tips for cleaning all the goo off the seeds?? Share with the rest of us!

And of course, be sure to grab the simple, printable recording page for estimating and counting how many seeds are in YOUR pumpkin!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and grab the “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?” Recording Page!}

Want more FUN estimation ideas? Try one of these:

Gumball Estimation {FREE Printable Pack}

“Mummy Math:” Estimating Toilet Paper Squares

The post How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? Fall Estimation Fun! appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post was sponsored by Candlewick Press, and they provided the books for me to use and compensated me for my time. Read our full disclosure here.*

Why Fairy Tale STEM?

As I mentioned, I love combining math with literature. So when I was thinking about what books to try and how I could group them together, I decided on Fairy Tales.

I enjoy classic Fairy Tale stories, but I especially love fun and unique twists on a classic tale.

So I feel like combining STEM challenges with known stories adds a whole new element of fun and interest.

Plus, a couple of the books I’ll share are not your typical Fairy Tale, but really engaging stories using Fairy Tale characters.

So I hope you will check out this collection of books from Candlewick Press, as well as exploring the classic Fairy Tales a little deeper with the free Fairy Tale STEM download at the end of this post.

Fairy Tale STEM Building Challenges:

First I’m going to share 3 STEM building challenges that we did together based on 3 of the books we read.

Build the 3 Little Pigs’ Houses:

The first story we read together is Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker.

This story tells of Lucy, who tries to read a story to her dog, Mr. Barker. When he doesn’t listen and instead runs off, she follows him and they make their way through several classic Fairy Tale scenes.

At one point, they end up in the 3 Little Pig’s straw house.

So we based this challenge on the 3 Little Pigs. I had my kids work on 3 different challenges: building a house out of straw (plastic or paper straws), sticks (toothpicks and marshmallows) and bricks (LEGO bricks).

We then compared the structures to see what was the strongest, which they could knock over, etc. They especially loved trying to “blow them down.” Ha!

They loved this challenge and loved helping each other come up with ways to make them stand or hold together better. And they decided that the “stick” houses were the least sturdy!

Rescuing Rapunzel:

The next story we read is called The Fairy Tale Handbook. This is a very engaging, interactive book with lots of lift-the-flaps and pop-ups.

The kids have loved going back to this again and again to learn new secrets about Fairy Tale characters or find a new flap they didn’t see before.

One page of the handbook gives a glimpse into the lives of Fairy Tale princesses, including Rapunzel.

Though her hair was long and strong enough for the witch and prince to climb up, we decided to create an alternative for her: a slide!

The challenge is to build a slide out of toilet paper rolls to help Rapunzel escape the tower.

By far the best part of this challenge was testing it out! We found several different dolls to slide down it, as well as some balls and marbles.

We then talked about how to make the slide stronger or faster (by making it steeper).

Build a Bed for Baby Bear:

The next book we read has been my favorite: Goldilocks and Just One Bear.

I won’t spoil the story for you, but I will say it is an adorable twist on the classic Goldilocks story. I also loved the illustrations and the attention to humorous details that I don’t think my kids got, but I enjoyed.

For this challenge, I gathered a variety of materials from the dollar store and let my kids decide what they wanted to use.

The challenge is to build a strong, new bed for baby bear. I set out cupcake liners, paper, card stock, aluminum foil, bubble wrap, tape and scissors and they could use whatever they liked.

After they had each designed a bed, we piled pennies on top of each to see which could hold the most pennies before collapsing or ripping.

They then discussed why some materials held more than others, and how they could make it stronger.

Some changes they made to make them stronger was using multiple cupcake liners for the base, adding more tape to secure it better and turning the cupcake liners upside down.

My youngest placed a handful of liners upside down under the center of her bed to provide more stability and it helped strengthen it quite a bit.

Shapes, Counting and Fractions:

The next book we read was a fun adaptation of Cinderella. My kids loved this one because the illustrations reminded them of a Super Why story.

Design Cinderella’s Castle:

For this story, we pulled out the pattern blocks to review shapes, composing and decomposing shapes as well as counting and skip counting.

I’ve done this before when my oldest was in Kindergarten, and it was a hit, so I updated the page to go along with this set of Fairy Tale STEM challenges (in the download below).

I suggest laminating this building mat so that your kids can write the totals in dry erase marker and complete it again and again with different designs.

There are lots of other discussions you can have once your kids have built a castle and counted the total of each shape.

For instance, how many blocks did you use altogether? How many rhombuses did you use (large and small)?

How many more squares did you use than triangles? How do you know?

Did you use an even number of blocks or odd?

Plus, if you have older kids, there’s another building mat in the download that focuses on fractions, rather than counting.

So instead of writing they used 6 hexagons, they have to find what fraction of the whole 6 hexagons is.

Mapping Skills and Coordinates:

To finish our unit of Fairy Tale STEM challenges, I introduced mapping skills and finding coordinates with The Once Upon a Time Map Book.

I think this was my kids’ favorite out of our Fairy Tale collection. It’s an oversized book, with beautifully illustrated maps of Fairy Tale lands.

The book itself includes directions on each map to find your way through to either a special location, or to find some hidden treasure using the coordinates.

But I also created a “search and find” page for each map so my kids could have a place to record where items and characters are found. (Answer keys are also included)

These maps create a grid with A-E and 1-5 to list locations within the map. This is a great introduction to the coordinate plane and reading and writing coordinates.

My kids now understand that you have to list a horizontal and vertical direction to pinpoint a square in the map.

I hope this post has given you lots of fun ideas to incorporate math and engineering challenges into your Fairy Tales. And I hope you’re excited to go check out some of these unique books from Candlewick Press!

All of the handouts, as well as a materials list are included in the download. You can grab it free in my shop by clicking the link below!

{Click HERE to go to my shop and grab the FREE Fairy Tale STEM Challenges!}

Want to see more fun and engaging collections from Candlewick Press? Check out these:

• SPARKS for New readers
• Judy Moody and Stink
• Read and Wonder (Science readers)
• Brand New Readers (early readers)
• Candlewick Biographies

If you’re interested in the Fairy Tale books, these collections, or any other Candlewick books, use the code: CANDLEWICK at checkout to save 25%!

Have fun exploring math and Fairy Tales!

The post Fairy Tale STEM: Literature Based Math and Engineering appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: This post is sponsored by Geometiles. I received a free sample and was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own, however, and I was not required to write a positive review. In addition, some links may be affiliate links. Read our full disclosure policy here.*

What are Tangrams?

First, if you’re unfamiliar with tangrams, let me explain where they come from. A tangram is a Chinese puzzle made by cutting a square into seven different shapes. These shapes include 2 large triangles, 1 medium triangle, 2 small triangles, a square and a parallelogram.

You can then use these 7 shapes to create new polygons or fun pictures and designs.

Plus, use tangrams to explore all kinds of math concepts including congruence, angles, area, perimeter, and more.

What I love most about tangrams is that, while they can be used to explore more advanced Geometry concepts, they are also accessible to the youngest math learners.

This is why I chose to explore tangrams with my kids (ages 6, 7 and 8) using our set of Geometiles.

Introducing Tangrams with Children’s Literature:

Before beginning our tangram game with Geometiles, I wanted to introduce my kids to tangrams with some stories.

I love combining children’s literature with our math lessons, especially when it is something all of my kids can enjoy together.

We began by reading two fun books: Three Pigs, One Wolf and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone as well as Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert. (We have these books, and my kids enjoy them both, but you could probably get them at your local library).

This allowed my kids to see better understand tangrams, as well as some of the many possibilities of shapes and pictures.

Plus, it paved the way for our tangram exploration, as we discussed how to use and manipulate the shapes.

As I was explaining, my son interrupted with, “Oh! And we can put them together to make other shapes!”

Yes! And that’s exactly what we did next.

Unique Tangram Game that Makes Kids Think:

As I mentioned, we completed this tangram challenge using our set of Geometiles.

What I love about this set of building shapes is that it is so much more than a toy.

When we first received them, I allowed my kids to play, build and explore freely. And they did! They built all kinds of three dimensional figures, and really enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to fit them together.

But what’s especially great for us as parents and educators, is that these sets come with complete workbooks full of hands on, engaging math lessons.

All the hard work is done for you! Simply print out your lessons and begin!

So after they were familiar with their Geometiles, I was ready to incorporate them into our math lesson on Tangrams.

Note: You do have to register on their website to access the learning materials, but this is free and very simple to do.

This set of tangram challenges is very thorough and includes directions, hints, teaching tips, answer keys and 100 tangram game challenges.

The challenges get progressively harder as you go, so I started by printing the first 20 for my kids to try.

This was perfect for them, and provided just the right amount of productive struggle.

But believe me, the more difficult puzzles are quite a challenge, even for adults!

How to Complete the Tangram Challenge with Geometiles:

Each page includes a shaded figure. The object of the challenge is very simple: completely fill the shaded figure without going outside or having any space left empty.

Actually achieving that, however, is quite another story!

This takes a lot of practice, especially for young kids, but I loved watching them explore together.

Whenever one of them got one, they would shout, “Look, I did it! I figured this one out! Look, guys!”

There was such joy! But it was also great to see them challenged, helping each other, and talking about possible solutions. This activity fostered creative thinking and problem solving, as well as lots of great math talk.

What Kids Learn from This Tangram Lesson:

These activities cover a variety of common core standards and mathematical practices, including the following:

• Compose two dimensional shapes or three dimensional shapes to create a composite shape and compose new shapes from the composite shape (1.G.A.2)
• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them (M.P.1)
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others (M.P.3)
• Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning (M.P.8)

Ideas for Using This Tangram Challenge:

If you’re a classroom teacher, you will love the versatility and variety of math explorations you can do with a set of Geometiles. There are ready to use math lessons covering shapes, angles, fractions, brain teasers and more.

But this tangram activity would be especially great as a math center. Simply print the tangram challenges and laminate them. Then place them in a folder with your set of Geometiles and they’re all set!

And the great thing is, they’re self-checking. Kids will know right away when they’ve correctly solved the puzzle.

This would also be a great quiet, independent activity for early finishers. Simply have the materials together and ready where students can access them, and let them work through as many challenges as time allows.

But this is also a great resource for homeschool families.

I plan to print and laminate these to provide a quiet math challenge for my kids while I’m working with their siblings.

Sometimes when I’m helping one child, the others finish their independent work and have to wait on me. This will be a great, productive use of their time while they wait!

This would also make for a really fun family math night. Print a variety of tangram puzzles of various levels and explore math together! This is really a great challenge for kids (and adults) of all ages, because there is no reading required. So everyone can join the fun.

Get your own set of Geometiles here!

Looking for more shape resources? Try one of these:

• Printable 3d Shape Nets
• 3D Shapes Activity Pack
• Shape Hunt Activity

What do you think? Have you used Geometiles before? Are you excited to try this fun tangram challenge with your students? Share in the comments!

The post Want a Unique Tangram Game to Challenge Your Kids? appeared first on Math Geek Mama.

*Please Note: I received this book free of charge and was compensated for my time in writing this review. All opinions, however, are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. Read our full disclosure here.*

Measuring Dinosaurs Activity for Kids:

After receiving the book, I left it out for the kids to discover, look through and read on their own. This piqued their interest and they began asking to read it together. My older two would also share fun facts they learned about certain dinosaurs.

Eventually, we sat down to explore the book together to search for answers to some of their questions. I also showed them the slides and we compared the bones and their sizes.

This book is SO packed with information, it definitely requires more than one read through!

So after we read and compared the different dinosaurs, I pointed out the various sizes of some of their favorites.

Did you know that a Tyrannosaurus Rex would be anywhere from 33 to 43 feet long and had the largest teeth of any land dinosaur?

Because this book is organized so nicely by type of dinosaur, we were able to compare and contrast the different types by size.

As we considered just how large some of these great animals were, however, it because clear that these numbers are difficult for young kids to comprehend.

A Diplodocus is 80-100 feet long? Sounds big, but just how big is it?

So rather than just reading about the sizes of dinosaurs, we decided to actually measure them and compare!

Materials Needed for Dinosaur Measuring Activity:

If you would like to measure dinosaurs with your kids, it’s very simple and only requires a few materials:

• Scanorama: Dinosaurs
• Sidewalk chalk
• Measuring tape (or a large piece of string and a ruler)

A quick note: we used this beautiful book, but other books about dinosaurs that include measurements would also work! Or, you could do a quick google search or watch some kids friendly videos on YouTube to learn about different types of dinosaurs and their sizes.

Once you’ve gathered the materials, just decide which dinosaurs to measure!

Comparing Dinosaur Sizes:

We decided to measure the bone-headed dinosaurs first.

Each page offers the “top 5” of that particular type of dinosaur. It then gives a brief description of the animal, including the length.

Because the length is given as a range, we measured the smaller number in the range. I would then explain that this dinosaur was at least this long, maybe longer.

You could use the larger value, just be sure to be consistent. For instance, don’t measure the smaller value of the range for some dinosaurs, but the upper value for others.

To compare all five bone-headed dinosaurs, we started our measuring tape at the same place on our driveway for each dinosaur.

Then, I simply held it while my kids pulled out the measuring tape to the right length.

Finally, a child who was not measuring would draw a line with chalk to show the length of the dinosaur.

Once we had drawn the length of all five, we were able to compare and they answered questions such as, “Which one is the smallest?” “Which one is the longest?”

I also challenged my daughter (second grade) to calculate how much longer the dinosaurs were than her. This was a great mental math exercise.

We also saw that two of the dinosaurs were about the same size.

Measuring 100 feet:

The longest of the bone-headed dinosaurs was approximately 30 feet. When my kids saw how long that is, they marveled at how big the dinosaurs must have been.

At this point, I brought their attention to the long-necked dinosaurs.

Some of these dinosaurs were 100 feet long (or longer!). Again, understanding the incredible size of these giants is hard for any of us to imagine, so we decided to measure out 100 feet.

This was another great opportunity to put their math skills to work. Because not only did they have to measure out 100 feet, they had to figure out how to get to 100 feet.

Our measuring tape only goes to 25 feet. This gave us the opportunity to talk about money and how many quarters are in a dollar, as well as fractions. 25 is one fourth of 100. So you have to measure 25 4 times to get to 100.

This also meant we had to measure in the road (our driveway is definitely not 100 feet long). So if you don’t live on a quiet road away from cars like we do, you may need to find somewhere else to do this activity.

My kids took turns measuring and drawing lines with chalk until we had a 100 foot chalk line going down our street.

It was so fun to stand at either end and picture just how big the Supersaurus would have been!

My kids said, “I bet it was taller than our house,” and “I’m sure it could eat the leaves at the top of that tree!”

It was really a fun way to help them understand length, measuring and comparing numbers.

Other Math Ideas to do with Scanorama: Dinosaurs

• In addition to measuring, we spent time looking at the table of contents and using it to practice skip counting
• Graph the lengths of all the dinosaurs to compare: This would make a fun activity to work on graphing and analyzing a graph
• Find the average lengths: Use the length ranges to practice calculating averages, and measure or graph the average length of all the dinosaurs

What ideas would you add to this list?

Looking for more fun, hands on measuring activities for kids? Try one of these!

• Measuring trees: math in nature
• Printable measuring lesson

Want to take your measurement lessons a step further? Explore fractions with rulers! This is a great visual model for all kinds of fraction concepts!

The post Measuring Dinosaurs: Engaging Measuring Activity for Kids! appeared first on Math Geek Mama.