Make it at Home Monday: Counting Apples

We're off to school! As in, down the stairs and into the living room... Yes, we are officially kicking off our Homeschool Preschool adventure tomorrow. We are not glued to a schedule or even a set of goals, but rather taking it a day at a time and continuing to use play and child-led exploration to incorporate Jewish and secular themes into our daily routine. I am very much a planner, but I believe in starting small and expanding rather than backtracking and dealing with feelings of discouragement. For now, I have one small activity specifically planned for most days and then a proverbial bag of goodies we can expand and extend on if we have the time and energy for it.

Whether you teach at home, outside of the home, or just want to incorporate some thematic activities at home to expand on what's happening in your child's classroom or a seasonal event, there is a vast array of educational materials you can access, purchase and make at home to facilitate skill development through play. This is starting to sound complicated and expensive, you are thinking. And you are right--it can be. I've often dreamed of somehow starting a toy lending library in our community, but that particular dream is one I keep on the back burner for now. In the meantime, I make a lot of my own learning and play materials by combining items I have in the house (or can purchase inexpensively from a dollar store or discount store) and free educational materials you can access online from a variety of like-minded bloggers, parents and educators! Additionally, thrift stores are often a great resource for gently used toys, educational materials, books, craft supplies and more.

For this kick-off DIY post, our very first Make it at Home Monday, here's how I made our Counting Apples material:

 I accessed these free printable apple counting cards via  a Jewish Homeschool Blog. This particular blog is one I frequently use for a great deal of wonderful Jewish themed learning materials and ideas for both the classroom and home. Pinterest is another great tool for searching theme related printables and in a pinch, you can create your own using personal photos or images from the internet. I cut and laminated the apple cards, which could be used in a variety of ways on their own (sequencing, counting and saying the number of apples on each card, etc). Nonetheless, I like to combine flashcards with three dimensional objects whenever possible--and as an added bonus, this is no longer just a math material teaching one-to-one correspondence and sequencing skills; it's now a fine-motor activity as well.
I used small tongs from the dollar store party section and some decorative apples I found last September in a craft store. The wooden tray is also one purchased from a craft store and the basket is recycled from a batch of cherry tomatoes. I try to limit any purchases to items I can use in a variety of ways or use again and again. In addition to saving money and on space, repetition of exposure to materials (like tongs for instance) encourages solid development of skills being targeted (in this case, fine motor skills).
The idea of Counting Apples is to use the tongs to pick up the apples corresponding to the number of apples on each card. My toddler has had a lot of success with using the tongs and the size is perfect for his little hands. If that is frustrating for a child, however, I would remove the tongs and have him use his hands directly. You can select a card for the child or have the child select a card and match the number of apples to that on the card. If you don't have toy apples lying around, you could use real ones, cut ones from paper or use red pompoms instead.
As a rule of thumb, I don't "force" my son to use a certain material or to use it for a certain length of time. Many times I just put one on the shelf for him to discover and explore. When he finds it and starts to check out what it is, I might sit and show him how it can be used. At first my son had a lot of fun just using the tongs to pick up and move the apples from place to place and I allowed and encouraged that. I later showed him how he can use them to count and match the number of apples on each card. If a particular toy or material seems to be frustrating a child, I might put it away and try again another day with it. My main goal is for learning to be a positive and child-led experience in our home (as well as when I teach outside of the home). As always, happy playing and learning!