Veggie Scrap Math

I am a firm believer that learning occurs best when it is woven within the fabric of everyday life.

Labor Day Monday was our quarterly Crock Pot Cooking Day.

Our two youngest children joined us at the table as we were chopping veggies. I saw an opportunity in this and grabbed hold of it.

I gave each of them a piece of foil and a variety of vegetable scraps. I also gave my six-year-old a box of toothpicks.

I gave them a short list of activity ideas and then let them go at it. No more suggestions were needed.

My daughter made a playground and then started making veggie people. This open-ended activity really appealed to her creative personality.

 My three-year-old's interests were more varied.

First he borrowed Cassidy's playground idea and went with that.

Then he made a pattern with his carrot and zucchini ends. Truthfully, I didn't know that he knew what a pattern was so I was very impressed.

Next he sorted them by type.

Then I asked him which veggie there was the most of, the least of, how many there were of each, and how many there were in all.

He understood all of my questions, and aside from needing my help going from 15 to 16 as he was counting them, he gave accurate responses to them all.

I have never spent time with him working on anything academic beyond reading books to him. His Daddy counts with him a lot when he reads to him at bedtime and he has picked up so much just from being around his brothers and sisters all day.

It never ceases to amaze me how many math concepts can be taught in a concentrated amount of time with one set of the right manipulatives or every day items.

It is also encouraging to be reminded that when I equip my children with open-ended materials, creativity abounds!

Their creative products are authentic expressions of themselves.

Being able to be here with them as they learn and discover is the thing about it that I treasure most of all!