Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Teaching Numbers through Art

You all know how much I love combining art and education and this idea fits that bill perfectly.

Make Number Rubbings Kids love using crayons for just about everything, even things we don't want them to be used on! Put this art streak to good use by introducing them to “rubbings.” They'll work the small muscles in their hands and improve eye-hand coordination, which are both key for writing! Plus, they'll experiment with different surfaces, while they build math skills by practicing their numbers.

What You Need:
  • 10 pieces of blank paper
  • pencil
  • black marker
  • at least 10 objects with lots of different textures (sandpaper, homemade paper, leaves, coins,…etc.)
  • crayons
What You Do:
  1. Draw the numbers 1-10 on blank pieces of paper, with one number per sheet. Make these numbers big, blocked, and outlined so that your child can color the numbers in.
  2. Show your child how she can make a cool design on paper, by “rubbing” a crayon across a piece of paper that’s on top of an unusual texture.
  3. Sit your child down at a table with the stack of numbers and a variety of textures to work with. Explain to her that for each page, she is going to match the number with the correct amount of textures. For example, for the “3” page, she’ll find three objects with different textures to rub under the paper, in order to form a design. She might use: one coin, one leaf, and one comb.
  4. Help your child with the first page. Show her how to lay an item on the table (for example, the sandpaper), and then lay the page with the block number on top of it. Using a bare crayon, turned on its side, show her how to press down while rubbing the crayon on the white paper to form the rubbing.
Easy? Yes. Fun? You bet. But also a great lesson in math. This activity helps preschool kids connect written numbers with the amount of objects they represent. And it has some pre-writing and science experimentation thrown in, too.


Some items used in the above pic includes: foam stickers, sand paper, craft ric rack, and a bath sponge.



*this post was provided by education.com




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