Need help adjusting this preschool math idea for my older child

[momee]

I'd like to use a piece of board with tin cans nailed to it for some type of math manipulative for my second grader.  Trouble is I can't figure out what to do with it :(  (seriously uncreative momma here)

 

The original idea was to count the number of objects, like sticks, and put in the can - but this is too simple for her.

 

Any alternate ideas?

[athomeontheprairie]

I'll be thinking about this, but.... why? Why use cans on a board?

 

Also, what skills is your child working on? And how many cans lb the board? Are they in a row? Grid?

[momee]

I want her to have more manipulatives.  And this is a relatively easy thing to do.

It was in the curricula I bought to add in more hands on/exploratory play to her school times because, as you can see, I am challenged in that area, lol.

 

I know there must be things she can do with it, I just can't think of what.

 

I'm just going to take about 10 cans, have her work with Paw Paw on nailing them to a board and use for math time.  They can be on a grid/in a row/whatever.

 

 

I'm thinking sticks/rocks/etc as the counters but besides just putting one to one correspondence, I can't come up with anything else.

 

Maybe a number line...skip counting...math facts?  I don't know.

 

[fairfarmhand]

Dividing up things equally.

 

Simple addition and subtraction.

[HomeAgain]

Skip counting, or patterns would be my idea. 

 

ETA: if the cans are the same size, you can create fraction puzzles, too.

[HomeAgain]

And, if you explore geometry, you can use them to build shapes or hold objects that correspond to the number of angles or sides.

[HomeAgain]

After some more thought, you can also expand this to different subjects:

 

Grammar/language arts - sort words, separate roots, prefixes, suffixes and make a create-a-word station. Cut apart a story to place back in order. Use the cans for ideas for 5 sentence paragraphs, essays, or letter writing. Use as a visual outlining method by jotting down notes and organizing them.

Science - sort attributes or kingdoms/families

History - use as a way to group events or add order to various things happening at the same time around the world.

Art - fill with bios, work, and pictures of each artist you cover this year.

 

[mmasc]

You could cut up some paper to fit in the cans and label them with things she's working on (like addition/subtraction facts, definitions (what's an addend?) etc. Put in the cans and have her toss a small object into a can. You pull out the fact from that can and have her tell you the answer. You could always time it and see how many she can do in 2 minutes (or whatever), then have her try to beat her own time the next round.

 

Maybe work on estimation? Pre-fill the cans with different objects (beans in one, Legos in one, forks in one...). Have her estimate each. Then count to see how close the estimation was.

 

Make number cards (again, whatever is appropriate) and 3 cards with a greater than, less than, and equal sign on each. If the cans are in a grid, you could put some number cards in the cans and have her place the correct sign between two cans. (For example, place a card that has 1002 on it in a can, and a card with 1200 in a can. Then she'd place the correct sign between.)

 

Good luck! It sounds like a fun manipulative. :)

[Arcadia]

If your board is thin enough, instead of nailing to the board, you could use magnets on the other side to hold the tin cans in place. Then you can move the cans around instead of a fixed layout.

[underthebridge]

You can leapfrog games like this

 

http://nrich.maths.org/1246

 

Or a variant of Nim

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim

 

But to be honest, it seems like a lot of trouble to put together tin cans and a board when you can use cups or bowls instead.

 

ETA: On second thought, if your child is interested in constructing it, then there can be a lot of value in the actual building - measuring, geometry, etc. Also if you do a grid, you can use it to discuss multiplication. Good luck OP!

[Farrar]

Honestly, this seems like a lot of work for not much pay off for an "older" kid. I assume she's in first or second grade? Do you have youngers who might use this later? If not, I think this is wasted effort. It's the sort of thing she'll get something out of once or twice and she's probably too young to really build the thing, right?

 

Do you have the ability to get purchased manipulatives? I feel like a set of Cuisenaire rods with Education Unboxed is going to be more valuable than this activity for most kids. Or a set of base 10 blocks? Or if you want more project type stuff, then there are books for that... What's this book you're using? Have you seen Games for Math by Peggy Kaye or Family Math?

[momee]

Farrar - I'm kind of thinking the same thing but I'm going to give it a try anyway.

 

 

 

 

[Kerileanne99]

Hhmm, math manipulatives here mean I needed a specific manipulative or setup to demonstrate a concept...but my kiddo is not big on manipulatives anymore. If it is because you want her to have a hand in the construction, then it could be worth it. Especially if it gets a child excited about using it.

What about place value? Do the cans have to be the same size? You could make it a version of the addition/subtraction 'house'. Same for multiplication.

[Love_to_Read]

Multiplication can be done that way....put 6 beans or blocks into each of 7 cans, then count them...6x7=42

 

But tin cans can be SHARP around the rim.  I've seen multiplication done with clear plastic cups, not nailed to anything, just lined up on the table and then stacked to put away.  If you really, really want to attach them to a board, you could use plastic cans, like Welches brand frozen juice, because those aren't sharp at all.  I would probably glue them down with a hot glue gun rather than use a nail, though.  Or maybe use a screw instead of a nail.

 

You could also use them for place value, for multi-digit addition and subtraction.  But, just plain base ten blocks on a desk would probably work better, because it might be confusing to just put 3 beans into the tens can, rather than 3 sticks of ten.  By the time you get to hundreds and thousands...they don't really fit in the cans.

 

You can make cheap base ten manipulatives with beans and popsicle sticks, if you can't afford blocks.  Loose beans for ones, a stick with ten beans glued on for tens, a raft of ten popsicle sticks for hundreds (with a hundred beans glued on), and so on.  You can also use poker chips for manipulatives once they get the idea...we use Math U See, so I use green poker chips for ones, blue for tens, red for hundreds, to match the colors of MUS blocks.

[MomatHWTK]

Use plastic cups.  ;)

[reign]

I think the construction of this sounds lots of fun. My kids enjoy making things and using the hammer or drill is pretty exciting.

I don't think this will get much use as a manipulative. If you say what she is working on I bet people could some up with more ideas. I really recommend getting some c-rods. They really are amazing.