The Imagination Tree

Creative play and learning for kids

  • Home
  • Welcome
    • About Me
    • Popular Posts
    • Play Challenge
    • Subscribe
  • Age
    • Baby
    • Toddler
    • Preschooler
    • School Age
  • Activities
    • Literacy
    • Numeracy
    • Creativity
    • Physical
    • PHSE
    • Science
  • Resources
    • Spaces
    • Toys
    • Books
  • Contact
  • Kindness Elves

Counting and Addition Activity Tray

June 7, 2013 by Anna Ranson

Set  up an open-ended maths activity for kids using counting manipulatives, play dough and a dice, in a dip tray! With opportunities to practise counting, 1:1 correspondence, matching amounts to numerals and simple addition and subtraction games, this can be adapted for all ages and stages of mathematical development (and is plenty of great fun!)
Counting and Addition Activity Tray Math Game

Welcome back to another Playful Maths activity, co-hosted with Learn with play at Home. We are bringing you more activities using play dough as the main material, one of my absolute favourite ways to play with kids!

For this activity I wanted it to be as open-ended and child-directed as possible, presenting a tray of loose parts for counting and addition games. I recently found these fabulous dip trays on offer in the picnic section at the supermarket and we have been using them for setting out Invitations to Play ever since.
Into the trays I added:
transparent counters
coloured shape buttons
plain wooden numerals
blue glass pebbles
coloured wooden matchsticks
large dice
a large ball of easy non-cook play dough

Counting with dice, play dough and buttons

I suggested rolling the dice and counting how many spots were on the face as it landed. Pop enjoyed doing this and we worked together on her 1:1 correspondence (i.e. that she actually touched/ moved a spot/ object each time she said its number name, not just vague pointing or skipping over numbers.) Then she started to add the same number of objects as the number she had counted on the dice. This took some practise to go back and make sure the two amounts tallied up. She enjoyed doing the same activity using all of the different materials in the play dough.
Addition game with play dough and counters
Cakie had the extra challenge to create two (and then more) balls of dough, and to start off with the same activity as Pop. She rolled the dice, counted out the matching number of objects into each ball of dough, found the wooden numeral to represent each amount and then turned it into an addition game! She added together both sets of objects and then found the total amount, finding the matching wooden numeral to give the correct answer. She repeated this lots of times, using different materials to push into the dough, then adding another ball of play dough to combine three amounts together, which resulted in larger total amounts. This was a really good extension activity for her.
Adding with beads and play doughThe next steps would be to try subtracting small amounts instead of adding, by rolling another dice to find out how many to take away. Children could also start to write down or record the number sentence in some way if they are keen to do so.
What they are learning as they play:
maths: recognising numerals, counting objects using 1:1 correspondence, combining and adding two or more sets of objects to find a total
creativity: using mixed media to make models
See the rest of the Playful Maths activities from our series here!
Follow our Playful Maths board on Pinterest for all the ideas in one place!
Check out the fabulous Play dough Measuring Snakes from Learn with play at Home
See our pattern making with play dough, spaghetti and beads here!

Related Posts

  • Counting and Measuring with LegoCounting and Measuring with Lego
  • Counting with Beads and Pipe Cleaners Maths Activity
  • Count and Sort Posting Box Maths Game
  • Bottle Top Count and Match Game
  • Weighing and Measuring With Egg Cartons: Playful Maths
  • Birthday Cake Play Dough CountingBirthday Cake Play Dough Counting

Filed Under: Activities, Addition, Age, Counting, Create, Creativity, Fine Motor Development, Invitations to Play, Kinaesthetic Learning, Learn, Loose Parts, Math, Motor Skills, Numbers, Play, Play Prompts, Playdough, Preschooler, Recognising Numerals, School Age, Sensory Tagged With: Early Maths, Numeracy, Playful Maths, Preschool Ideas

« Handprint Flower Card and Framed Art
Why Pinterest Rocks! »

Comments

  1. Alison says

    June 7, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    I love this. Instead of a dice a 0-9 number spinner could be used.

  2. Veens says

    June 9, 2013 at 7:22 am

    I like the fact the 2 is placed the other way around 🙂 🙂 Aarya does that ALL the time 🙂 I love this post too… so simple to put together 🙂

  3. Nic says

    June 9, 2013 at 8:41 am

    Great idea, going to try this with my KW group 🙂 Thanks!

  4. Mary says

    June 9, 2013 at 9:14 am

    Where did you find these numbers? Thanks!

  5. Debs says

    June 10, 2013 at 11:06 am

    What a lot of fun (and learning!! shh, but don’t tell anyone). Love it and need to get some wooden numbers too x

  6. PragmaticMom says

    June 12, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    Love your idea of using dough. It makes it so sensory and fun! You have wonderful ideas of how to make math fun!

  7. Renae says

    June 13, 2013 at 2:09 am

    I LOVE this idea! Thank you so much for sharing. I will definitely be using this activity in the future and have pinned it so I don’t forget. Feel free to check us out at http://everystarisdifferent.blogspot.com!

  8. Janet says

    September 12, 2013 at 3:51 am

    I love this idea! Where did you find the wood numbers?

  9. lauren says

    October 27, 2013 at 1:29 am

    In the Target dollar section, they have adorable little autumn colored acrylic acorns, pumpkins and fall leaves, great to put on this tray. LOVE< LOVE, LOVE this idea!!!

The Imagination Tree on FacebookThe Imagination Tree on TwitterThe Imagination Tree on PinterestThe Imagination Tree on G+RSS feed from The Imagination TreeThe Imagination Tree straight to your inbox

Search The Imagination Tree

About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

The Kindness Elves Store
Play Ideas on The Imagination Tree

Create with The Imagination Tree

Makes on The Imagination Tree

Sign up for our FREE emails:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT