c














1. Cut
2. Lace
3. Trace
4. Color using 1 1/2 inch pieces of
crayon inside lines
5. Finger paint
6. Model with clay²pound, flatten,
make snakes and balls, pinch pieces,
roll and cut out cookies
7. Turn nuts and bolts
8. Tear around magazine pictures
9. Paste
10. String beads
11. Write on a chalkboard
12. Snap
13. Zip
14. Fold
15. Squeeze water out of sponge
16. Spoon rice from one container to
another
17. Put things in a pocket chart
18. Put pennies in a slot
19. Screw lids on jars
20. Spoon water into a bowl
21. Use a flour sifter
22. Use tongs to pick up objects
23. Punch holes in paper
24. Pin safety pins on material
25. Polish silver
26. Scrub pots
27. Sand wood
28. Pick up un-popped popcorn with
tweezers
29. Pick up small things
30. Wrap string or yarn
31. Put matchsticks in a matchbox
32. Put clothes pins on hangers
33. Lids on containers
34. String beads on bent coat hangers
35. Use clothes pins to pick up cotton
balls
36. String cut up pieces of plastic
straws or cereal to make necklaces
37. Cut a modeling clay snake with a
popsicle stick or butter knife
38. Paste small circle in the middle of
a large circle, cut up to the small circle
to create fringe
39. Cut out objects from wrapping
paper or ads in newspaper
40. Draw lines using a ruler
41. Use carbon paper
42. Trace around magnetic shapes
43. Pick up rice with fingers
44. Write in cornmeal
45. Stick on gummed reinforcers or
stickers
46. Put pegs in a pegboard
47. Play with building blocks
48. Write on an overhead
49. Water with eyedropper or turkey
baster
50. Hammer nails into soft wood or
styrofoam block
51. Spin jacks
52. Crumple newspaper with one
hand²have a newspaper war
53. Play cat¶s cradle
54. Type on a keyboard
55. Play the piano or recorder
56. Flick small wads of paper with tips
of fingers off tabletop
57. Shuffle cards and deal one at a
time
57. Twist a rubber band around each
finger and try to remove it
58. Button/unbutton tiny buttons
59. Spin or flip coins
60. Shoot marbles
61. Sew on plastic canvas
62. Do dot-to-dots and mazes
63. Dice vegetables
64. Pick up coins, beans, and
buttons²try to collect in same hand
65. Snap or drum fingers
66. Do jigsaw puzzles
67. Braid hair or yarn
68. Apply nail polish
69. Remove and replace jar lids
70. Kneed dough, pull taffy
71. Play games like Operation,
Battleship, Etch-a-Sketch, Silly Putty,
Go Fish, Uno, Concentration
72. Push thumbtacks in a row
Ë 

1.p Help your child find all the appliances in your home that use numbers (e.g., computers,
phones, microwaves, clocks, radio, TV, etc.).
2.p Play board games where your child must figure the number combinations on dice (or
dominoes).
3.p Let your child place the candles on a clay dough birthday cake to represent the ages for
each family member.
4.p Discuss the procedure for cutting pizza, cakes, etc. into equal pieces. Let your child try to
cut a banana or sandwich to create equal size pieces. Discuss how many pieces they cut it
into.
5.p Ask your child to show you a particular quantity with their fingers using different modes.
For example ask them to show five with their fingers on one hand, or on two hands (with
two fingers on one hand and three fingers on the other).
6.p Play ³Bears in the Cave´ by setting out a set of objects to explore (five bears). Then take
turns playing hide and seek with one child covering their eyes while a family member
takes some of the bears and hides them in the cave (overturned container) but leaving the
other bears in view. The child tries to guess how many bears are hiding in the cave.
7.p Play ³Bean Bag Toss´ by laying three hoops on the floor labeled 1, 2, and 3. Children
take turns tossing a beanbag into one of the hoops. If it lands inside a hoop they get that
number of counters. The person with the most counters at the end of the game is the
winner.
8.p Help your child to count objects, then help them learn to ³count on.´ For example, if they
already know they have four pieces of candy, they say the number of objects they have
and then count each of the new pieces ³four, five, six, seven....´ Ask your child how
many they would have if they were given three more. Over time, children will perform
the necessary arithmetic in their heads through mental problem solving.
9.p Ask your child how many place settings your family will need set at the table. As you
place the cups on the table for them to distribute, ask them if there will be enough for
everyone. How many more do we need?
10.pHave your child count the number of windows, doors, chairs, spoons, shoes, etc. there are
in your home.
4








1.p Help your child identify patterns found in the fabric of their clothes (stripes and
alternating shapes). Have them orally describe the pattern or tell what shape or color
would come next in the pattern.
2.p Help your child find patterns on a calendar (days of the week, odd and even numbers,
weather conditions, holidays, etc.)
3.p Create a ³clap-pat´ pattern as you listen to songs together in the car.
4.p Ask your child to put fruit on a skewer, placing fruit into a pattern for a snack
(strawberry, cherry, grape, strawberry, cherry, grape, etc.).
5.p Let your child create a necklace of multicolor cereal following a pattern (such as fruit
loops).
6.p Help your child translate a pattern into different modalities. Decide on an action for each
color in a pattern such as ³jump on the red stripe, hop on the yellow.´
7.p Count by twos, fives, tens, etc.
8.p Ask your child questions such as: ³How are these alike? How are they different? Do you
see a pattern? Tell me about it. How can we remember this pattern? How can we make a
picture that will help us remember it? Could you dance a pattern? What happens over and
over again with these beads?´
9.p Let your child create their own patterns on the sidewalk with chalk.
10.pConduct a family moon watch every day for a month. Have your child cut a paper plate to
show the size and shape of the moon.
11.pMake dippy patterns by folding a paper towel several times, and dipping the corners of
the folded towel in a food coloring/water solution. Open the towel and let it dry.
12.pLook at a book about snakes and study the variety of patterns on snake¶s skins. Let your
child make his own paper snake with a patterned skin.
: 

An awareness of shape, size, direction, and movement helps a child classify the physical world
we live in. Children will develop a spatial sense that increases their awareness of themselves in
relation to the people and objects in the world around them.

1.p Ask your child questions about the position of objects in relation to other objects. For
example; ³What is above the refrigerator? What is under the table? What cereal is on the
bottom shelf? Who is sitting nearest you?´
2.p Have your child make comparisons: larger-smaller, heavier lighter, rounder-flatter,
highest-lowest.
3.p Have a shape treasure hunt in the grocery store: circles (pizza, bologna); triangles
(cheese, chips); squares (spice can, soda crackers); rectangles (laundry soap, cereal
boxes).
4.p Bake cookies in geometric shapes. Predict how many of each shape could be cut out of
rolled dough. How could you cut the most out at one time?
5.p Make a shape mobile from a clothes hanger. Draw, cut, and hang shapes with string on
the hanger.
6.p Identify shapes in the environment as you drive down the road. Ask children to find
specific shapes in the world.
7.p Describe home objects that are three-dimensional shapes: canscylinders, boxes-
rectangular prisms, balls-spheres, dice-cubes.
8.p Combine a mirror with building blocks. Let your children build towers right on a large
mirror that has been placed on a low table or floor. (The reflection increases their creative
building.)
9.p Play a matching game building a figure out of shapes and describing the placement of
each shape. Sitting back-to-back, let your child try to build a matching set by following
your oral directions. Compare the figures. Trade places and let your child describe their
figure building process while you attempt to follow his instructions and recreate his
figure.
10.pSort buttons by color, size, shape, number of holes, etc. Sort several times in several
ways.
11.pSort animal pictures by size, color, family, number of legs, what they eat, wild or
domestic, covering (scales, fur, feathers, shell, etc.).
 


1.p Help your child learn about the value of money. Help him or her locate prices marked on
items at the store. Show him or her the price of a small, medium, and large container. Talk
about how the price is determined by the size of the container.
2.p Let your child select a few things to purchase at the store. Give him or her money to pay
for the items. Let him or her observe how the prices are recorded on the cash register, and
how people receive change on the money given to the cashier.
3.p Show your child how to weigh themselves on the household bathroom scales. As you go
places look for scales used in local businesses (fresh produce section in the grocery store,
delicatessen shop, checkout stand, truck weigh station, hardware stores, candy stores, seed
and feed stores, kitchen scales, etc.)
4.p Create a simple balance scale by attaching two bags to a skirt hanger and suspending it on
a doorknob. (You may need to slide the clips to adjust the balance.) Help the child
compare weights of potatoes, toys, or household items.
5.p Look at the weight information on packages. Read aloud to your child how much the
package weighs. Compare the package with other items in your cupboard. Ask your child
to guess which items will weigh more.
6.p Make a growth chart, keeping track of the child¶s height and weight over a period of time.
Measure the height of each family member and mark it on the same chart.
7.p Show your child the different sizes of containers for milk, or soft drinks. Name and
compare the different sizes of containers. Talk about why people purchase different sizes.
Show your child the labels telling the ounces or grams. Compare the price and size of a
six-ounce can of juice and a 48-ounce can.
8.p Let your child play with various sizes of plastic containers in the bathtub. Encourage your
child to pour water from one container to another. Ask how many smaller containers of
water can be poured into a larger container.
9.p Talk to your child about how far you live from the store. Measure the distance in blocks or
miles. Show him or her the speedometer that shows how fast you¶re going, and the
odometer that shows how far you have gone.
10.pCompare lengths of shoelaces, various sizes of pants, etc.
11.pHelp your child to measure the length of things with different objects, (e.g., how many
crayons long is the table). For very young children use multiple units such as the length of
10 crayons end to end rather than trying to mark a distance repeatedly using only one unit.
12.pDiscuss the importance of measuring objects in your daily life. What size bed sheets do
we need for your bed? How far is it to school?, etc.
13.pHelp your child find all the clocks and watches in your house. Look at an alarm clock and
talk about why you have clocks in your home.
14.pMake a paper plate clock and discuss with your child the times he goes to bed, gets up,
eats lunch, comes home from school, etc.
Use of Data

1.p Have your family choose between two main dish meals or two restaurants. All of those
who want pizza hold hands, and all of those that want hamburgers hold hands. Family
members in one line shake hands with family members in the other line. Are there people
left over without a partner? Compare lines: Which is longer?
2.p Ask questions such as ³Which group has the most? How can you tell without counting?
Which group has the least? How many more are in this group than in that one?´
3.p Discuss events as likely or unlikely to occur. ³Looking at those dark clouds, I think it is
likely to rain today.´
4.p Set out red, green, and yellow sheets of paper. Ask your child to cut out pictures of
different colors from magazines and place them on the matching colored paper. Actual
objects can also be used instead of pictures.
5.p ³Sorting collages´ can be created on a divided sheet of paper. Label each side (e.g., round
items on the right side, square on the left). From a variety of materials, the children can
choose items that fit categories and glue them onto the correct side of the paper.
6.p Children enjoy using an ice cube tray to sort two different types of small objects
(marbles, beads, buttons, etc.).
7.p Dollar stores are abundant with plastic bugs, animals, and creatures to sort and classify.
Place them in a tub for your child to sort. Encourage them to create labels for each
category (red bugs, bugs that can fly, etc.).
8.p Help your child conduct family surveys on a regular basis.³What is your favorite kind of
ice cream? What did you like to do after school when you were little? Where would you
like to go on vacation? What movie would you most like to rent?´ Let your child collect
and organize the data and then communicate the results to the family.