This month, Mother Goose Time sent counting bear manipulatives in their box. We have been using them all month with various activities.
Counting
Using manipulatives, like the counting bears, is a great way to teach 1-1 correspondence. As the students count, they point to each bear giving that bear a number. Most students can verbally count. But getting them to point to an object as they count helps them understand quantity and what it is they are actually doing when they are counting.
Simple Prepositions
Teaching prepositions can be difficult. Students need to understand where an object is in location with another object. For this activity, each student took 5 bears and placed them around the room. We went around the room and described where each bear was in relation to other objects.
The green bear is under the chair.
The yellow bear is next to the orange bear. The purple bear is in front of the red bear.
The yellow bear is on top of the stool. The red bear is inside the scale drawer.
Sorting
We can use the bears to sort by color and size.
The bears came in 3 different sizes (Big, medium, and small).
Patterns
We can use the bears to practice simple patters.
Play Time
These bears can be used to practice conversation and vocabulary during play.
They can also be used to practice sharing. I gave half of the students a handful of bears to play with. We talked about how it might feel for the other half of the class who didn’t get bears. I asked those with bears what they thought they should do. They all shared their bears with another student in the class.
We love these counting bears! The students are engaged with the learning and they are learning valuable lessons through play.
