How Many Can We Hear, Collect, and Count?

Materials:

• Drum, clapping, or tapping sticks

• Counters (blocks, cubes, pom-poms)

Instructions:

• Spread counters around the space and explain: “Listen carefully; we will hear a number, build it, and move!”

• Make a number of sounds (e.g., clap 3 times)

• Children move (run, hop, or tiptoe) to collect that number of counters

• Once they return, they build the number in front of them and count aloud

• Repeat with different numbers and movements; invite children to take turns making sounds 

• Add challenges: 

  • “Can you get one more? One less?”

  • Compare: “Who has more? Who has fewer?”

Powerful InterACTions - PK3:

• How did you know how many to get?

• What helped you remember the number you heard?

• How did you decide how to move?

• How is your number the same or different from your friend’s?

• What will you try next time?

Powerful InterACTions - PK4:

• What strategy did you use to remember the number?

• How can you check that your number is correct?

• What could you do if you forget how many sounds you heard?

• How is your way of counting the same or different from someone else’s?

• How can you show your number in a different way?