Designing and making snowflakes involves many important  concepts at all ages.  Beyond being fun, children experience shapes, motor skills, following directions, creativity, symmetry and spatial skills.  I was shocked at how many students in my fifth grade class volunteered to help  make snowflakes for a bulletin board, they loved it.  I thought that they would be “over” that!

With my younger children I demonstrate how to make a large snowflake and then they decorate it.  Then, they attempt their own allowing them to explore and discover the world of shapes and symmetry. Please note that the “snowflakes” are truly unique and may not look anything like a snowflake.

A FEW “FLAKEY” IDEAS:

3D Snowflake: For older children and adults, I found this site that teaches “How to Make a 3D Paper Snowflake.”

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake

Read A Biography:  Snowflake Bentley stated  “Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”   He photographed the first snow crystal and shared that no two snowflakes were the same.

Symmetry: Look for symmetry in nature starting with butterflies, bugs, leaves and bee-hives. For older children,  you may ask them if snowflakes are symmetrical in nature. (The answer is sometimes, the most common snowflakes are not symmetrical.)

The Life of a Snowflake:  This site is for older students to follow the life and growth of a snowflake. Fascinating!

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm

This recipe is a good one for the little ones, just in case they feel like tasting it!

Ingredients:

2 cups     flour

2 cups     water

2 TBLS    oil

1 cup        salt

2 tsp         cream of tartar

Food coloring and/or glitter, the color you desire to make.

Stir ingredients and place over medium heat in a pan. I like to use my large fry pan, it seems to cook more evenly.  Cook until the dough pulls away from the side of the pan and is not sticky.  Cool the dough and then knead thoroughly.  Store in plastic bag or airtight container.  The dough will keep for about three months unrefrigerated.

I like to double the recipe if we are planning for playdates or classrooms.

The play dough can be used for free play, making letters, shapes and number or small gifts for friends.

Practice all four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) while creating an equation with this easy to make and play game.

Materials needed:

Pencil, paper and three dice

To Play: 

Each player draws a clock with the numerals one through twelve around it.  The first player rolls three dice, they can use the numbers to create any equation to get the answer one through twelve.  The player then crosses out the answer on the clock.  Then, the next player repeats the process.  Have the players write out the equation.

For example, a player may roll a 6, 3, and 1.

The options are:  6+3+1=10 (the player would cross out their ten),  6-3-1=2,   6-1+3=8,  6-3+1=4,   6/3+1=3,  6×1+3=9.

The object of the game is to cross out all twelve numbers.  It becomes more challenging as the game continues since there are less options to choose from.  A fun way to practice math facts in all of the operations!

This is a fun activity for children learning to alphabetize words. Cut out clothing shapes like socks, pants and shirts or if you want to keep it simple use index cards.  Write words appropriate for your child or just the ABC’s for the young children.

Tie string from one chair to another (or what works in your house or classroom) and have child use clothespins to hang the words in alphabetical order.

Other ways to use the Hanging Out activity:

Number Order: 1,2,3,4…

Skip Counting:5,10,15,20….

Sentence Order: Mix a sentence up and have child hang in correct order.

Place Dates from a Time Line in Order. This could be an informal assessment of history lesson.

A yummy fall snack that the littlest ones can make on their own!  Have an assortment of cereal in large bowls.  For example, Cheerios, Chex and mini-Shredded Wheat.  All of these have the organic equivalent at most grocery stores. Each child gets a baggie or small bowl to create the combination he or she wants.

A mini math lesson can easily be created with the cereal mix.  

Skip counting: Two, three or four of each cereal placed in a group. Practice skip counting touching the piles as you count.

Addition:  Grab any of two kinds of cereal (three for three addends), separate into piles. Count the amount in each pile and write on paper or whiteboard in a number sentence or equation (Example: 6+7=).  Count the total to get the answer.

Subtraction: Count the total amount of cereal and eat three (whatever number you want) then ask how many are left.  Write the equation out or if child is older have them write.

Division and multiplication:  Start with a number of cereal such as 15.  Have the child separate into equal groups, so they could make three groups of five, five groups of three or even one group of 15 or 15 groups of one.   For younger children guide them with the amount of groups.  You could say, “How can you make three even groups with your cereal?”  You can even draw three circles on paper to make it easy for them to divide.   Multiply or skip count once they are separated to show the relationship with multiplication and division.

Make a fraction book using your child’s favorite foods!  A great activity for a classroom big book. Clear mailing tape can be used to bind the book together. I simply have the child make one whole food and then on the other side or separate paper have the child divide it into fractions. Young children can do this part and older children should write out which fractions they made with their food and the equation to make the whole. For example, 1/4+1/4+1/4+1/4= 1 whole cookie.

Fun and simple activity for one or a group of children. A great activity for when you are traveling to keep the little ones busy. Just put all of the supplies into a plastic bag and when you are at grandmas, the hotel or even on the plane, take it out for an instant activity. Hint, put masking tape on end to avoid spilling especially while traveling!

What you will need:

String or thin licorice, cheerios, fruit loops, marshmallows, and any other food you can place on a string.

Thread the food on the string and place around neck and tie ends in a knot.

Make this into a learning experience for the little ones by making patterns, counting the amount as you string the necklace, simple addition and identifying colors.

So here is something you can do anywhere and it takes less than one minute.  This can be done here and there to practice the concept of before and after and to be familiar with the number line.  The practice of moving up and down the number line prepares children for subtraction and addition.  My five year old does this about once a day and sometimes I throw in the discussion of adding and taking away one number.

This can also be done with the alphabet.

Pick your theme such as shapes, colors, textures, letters, etc and go on safari! Children love to dress up and what a fun way to reinforce any concept. You can make binoculars with cardboard tubes such as toilet paper rolls or a paper towel roll cut and taped together. Younger children find the object and discuss with parent, older children can write or draw what they found on their search. You can decorate a fun notebook to document all of the objects.
Variations: Detective with magnifying glass or use digital camera to find objects and then make into book by putting pictures on pages.

Dice are an easy way to practice math while having fun. Plus they are easy to pack and cheap. Little ones can get the big foam dice and just roll and try to match the two numbers on the dice. As they do this you can attempt counting the numbers if they have the attention. Do not worry it will come. Some die also come with the written numeral on them which is also good for the little ones to start identifying numbers.

A few activities:
Roll ‘em:
1. Each person rolls a die and the one with the larger number wins the round.
(to extend this you can use tally marks to keep score on a paper or board.)
2. Each person rolls two-three dice and adds them. The person with the largest number wins the round. This can also be done with multiplication and subtraction.

Race Car:
Using poster board, draw a road and mark lines like a gameboard. Each player rolls a die and moves the amount of spaces, first to reach the end wins. We use hot wheels as the markers. The many versions of this are what your child is “into” at the time. For example, trains tracks, steps to a castle, Earth to moon-draw (the beginning) earth and draw stars to the moon (the end).

Collecting:
This again is a homemade game that can use any collection of things. You use two dice to add or subtract (Can do multiplication but will need to have a large collection.) For example, we use sea shells. The player rolls the dice and adds the numbers and collects that amount. Each player continues, the player with the largest collection is the winner.