Math in the nature handbook Zarja Celje by VRTEC ZARJA CELJE

Introduction The 2-year international project Comenius – program of lifelong learning »Mathematics through game«, (1. 9. 2012 – 31. 7. 2014) was entirely financed from EU funds http://www.cmepius.si/. In this project the Kindergarten Zarja Celje http://www.vrtec-zarja.si/ cooperated with six other EU countries: Latvia, Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. The work was based on the exchange of good practice, development of methods and techniques of learning mathematics in a playful manner, integrated with other areas of activities (movement, language, nature, society, art) and creating a motivating learning environment where a child has a opportunity to develop learning strategies. In the handbook Mathematics in nature we have presented methodical units from the field of mathematics in connection with nature, because we realize that most »laws« in nature are based in mathematics. Just by looking at our surroundings we notice quantity relations, geometrical shapes, colors, symmetry … Nature is a field where we develop a child’s abilities for integrating into social and physical environment as well as creating a healthy and safe living environment. Concepts from natural sciences, thinking, conclusions, ability to solve problems, making hypothesis, classifications and forming concepts at preschool children happens subconsciously and are a foundation for scientific methods in natural sciences. Each participating kindergarten contributed ten examples that are a reflection of views and work of individual authors that are responsible for the content and photographs. Marija Grešak, head of the kindergarten Vrtec Zarja

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

Table of contents Rīgas 4. pirmsskolas izglītības iestāde „Avotiņš”, Latvia ...............................................................6 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

COUNT THE TULIPS ............................................................................................................................................ 7 PATHS FROM THE AUTUMN LEAVES ................................................................................................................. 8 SNOW SHAPES ................................................................................................................................................... 9 ICE MOSAIC ...................................................................................................................................................... 10 COUNTING IN NATURE .................................................................................................................................... 11 DRAWING FIGURES IN THE SNOW ................................................................................................................... 12 COMPARING OF NUMERALS IN THE AMOUNT OF “10”. , ACTIONS WITH ADDING AND SUBTRACTION ........ 13 THE QUANTITATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE ICE PYRAMID ................................................................................... 14 GAME WITH A BALL „DO NOT BE MISTAKEN” ................................................................................................. 15 THE WEIGHING AND COMPARING OF NATURE OBJECTS ................................................................................ 16

Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland ................................................................. 17 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

NATURE’S CORNER .......................................................................................................................................... 18 AUTUMN GAMES WITH A SQUIRREL ............................................................................................................... 19 SPRING BUGS-A LADYBIRD FRIEND .................................................................................................................. 20 IN A SPRING POND ........................................................................................................................................... 21 AT A FARMERS MARKET .................................................................................................................................. 22 WE COUNT THE SNOWBALLS ........................................................................................................................... 23 SNOWFLAKES ................................................................................................................................................... 24 SUMMER TRAIN ............................................................................................................................................... 25 SEASONS - Rhythms and rhythmical organisation of time according to ......................................................... 26 AUTUMN FUN WITH MATHS ........................................................................................................................... 27

YAVRUVATAN ANAOKULU, KAYSERİ/TALAS, TÜRKİYE ................................................................. 28 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

CAN YOU WEIGH WITH SCALE ......................................................................................................................... 29 MEASURING THE DISTANCES ........................................................................................................................... 30 GEOMETRIC SHAPES WITH CLAY ..................................................................................................................... 31 MATS GARDEN ................................................................................................................................................. 32 OBSERVATION WITH MAGNIFYING GLASS ...................................................................................................... 33 MATHS WITH PHOTOS IN THE ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................... 34 MAKING HOME,TREE AND TRAIN .................................................................................................................... 35 HIDING SHAPES ................................................................................................................................................ 36 SHAPES WITH CONES ....................................................................................................................................... 37 ICE EXPERIMENT .............................................................................................................................................. 38

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”, bulgaria ...................................... 39 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

TIC TAC TOE ..................................................................................................................................................... 40 SWALLOWS ...................................................................................................................................................... 41 THE PUMPKIN .................................................................................................................................................. 42 PRECISE SHOT .................................................................................................................................................. 43 DRAW WITH STICKS ......................................................................................................................................... 44 MEASURE AND COUNT .................................................................................................................................... 45 THE KING , WHAT TIME IT IS ............................................................................................................................ 46 GIANTS AND DWARFS ...................................................................................................................................... 47 MAKE A GEOMETRIC FIGURE ........................................................................................................................... 48 LITTLE BUNNIES ............................................................................................................................................... 49

Tündérkert Óvoda Aldebrői Óvodai Tagintézmény, Hungary ....................................................... 50

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

GO INTO THE HOUSE, CHICKS! ......................................................................................................................... 51 PAIRING GLOVES ............................................................................................................................................. 52 WHAT IS IN THE SACK? .................................................................................................................................... 53 THROW AND BUILD! ........................................................................................................................................ 54 ‘I AM MY EYE, YOU WILL BE MY HAND’ ........................................................................................................... 55 ANIMAL COUNTING ......................................................................................................................................... 56 NUMBER STAIRS .............................................................................................................................................. 57 HUNT THE NUMBERS!...................................................................................................................................... 58 SHAPE IDENTIFIER ............................................................................................................................................ 59 SEARCH IT AND FIND IT! .................................................................................................................................. 60

GRĂDINIȚA CU PROGRAM PRELUNGIT NR. 56 "CASTELUL FERMECAT",, Craiova, Romania .......... 61 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

LET’S STUDY - NATURAL ASPECTS .................................................................................................................... 62 GEOMETRIC SHAPES ........................................................................................................................................ 63 DECOMPOSITION OF NUMBER ........................................................................................................................ 64 GROUPING BY COLOR ...................................................................................................................................... 65 LET’S PLAY WITH SNOW ................................................................................................................................... 66 NUMBERS AND OBJECTS.................................................................................................................................. 67 FIND THE NUMBERS, SHAPES OR FORMS IN THE NATURE .............................................................................. 68 SPARROWS AT FOOD ....................................................................................................................................... 69 NUMBERS ON THE ROPE ................................................................................................................................. 70 WHAT INSPIRES YOU ? ..................................................................................................................................... 71

GRĂDINIȚA CU PROGRAM PRELUNGIT NR. 44 "Eden", Craiova, Romania .................................... 72 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

CHOOSE AND MATCH ...................................................................................................................................... 73 LOAD THE TRAIN .............................................................................................................................................. 74 LET’S PLAY WITH GEOMETRIC SHAPES ............................................................................................................ 75 THE FLOWER VASES ......................................................................................................................................... 76 THE ANIMALS TRAIN ........................................................................................................................................ 77 LET’S PLAY MATHS!” ........................................................................................................................................ 78 BALLS IN THE BASKETS ..................................................................................................................................... 79 ROLLING DICES ................................................................................................................................................. 80 THE MAGIC BAGS ............................................................................................................................................. 81 CONTINUE THE LINE ........................................................................................................................................ 82

VRTEC ZARJA, Zagajškova ulica 8,............................................................................................... 83 3000 CELJE, Slovenija ................................................................................................................. 83 71. MATHEMATICS IN NATURE, Methodical unit: Orientation and counting – forest .......................................... 84 72. DISCOVERING AND UNCOVERING THE PROPERTIES OF NATURAL MATERIALS, Methodical unit: Playing with wooden sticks – length, thickness ............................................................................................................................. 85 73. WE DISCOVER AND EXPLORE THE PROPERTIES OF NATURAL MATERIALS, Methodical unit: Sorting and arranging ................................................................................................................................................................... 86 74. PLAYING WITH SNOW, EXPLORING THE PROPERTIES, Methodical unit: Melting, measuring, weighing, filtering ...................................................................................................................................................................... 87 75. TRAFFIC, Methodical unit: Orientation, geometrical shapes ........................................................................... 88 76. MATHEMATICAL MOVEMENT GAMES, Methodical unit: Aiming, counting (adding, subtracting) ................. 89 77. MATHEMATICS THROUGH MOVEMENT, Methodical unit: measuring length ................................................ 90 78. LIGHT AND SHADOW, Methodical unit: Measuring – when is the shadow the longest? ................................ 91 79. MATHEMATICS IN MOVEMENT, Methodical unit: Game snake of tricky questions ....................................... 92 80. MEADOW FLOWERS, Methodical unit: Discovering colors.............................................................................. 93

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

RĪGAS 4. PIRMSSKOLAS IZGLĪTĪBAS IESTĀDE „AVOTIŅŠ”, LATVIA Vienības gatve 186, Riga, LV-1058, Latvia

Authors: Astrīda Ozola Olga Barinova Jeļena Gulbe Lūcija Jefimova Natālija Jegorova Gaļina Kopilova Larisa Kozlova Tatjana Ņikitina Naiļa Pančenko Ilona Polikarenko Natālija Širinska Tatjana Udačina Staņislava Voinarovska

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 1. COUNT THE TULIPS Children practice to count till 5.

Strengthen a child’s knowledge of counting from 1 to 5, and to develop ability to see the relation between numeral, flower and petals. Strengthen child’s ability to distinguish the numerical counting from the counting in succession. Name the “neighbors” of the numeral.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 2. PATHS FROM THE AUTUMN LEAVES Children create two paths from the autumn leaves – one wide, the other – narrow. Along the narrow path children walk one after another. Along the wide path – children walk in pairs per two. Children compare the paths according to their width and strengthen the ability to use words “wide” and “narrow”. From leaves a rectangle and square is being created. The branches of a tree are used as a basis.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 3. SNOW SHAPES Compare shapes according to their size. Use words as: the biggest, the smallest.

The different size snowballs Strengthen knowledge on numerals in the amount of 20. Children make snowballs of different sizes and compare them.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 4. ICE MOSAIC Find different shaped geometrical figures of ice. From the ice figures assemble the silhouettes of animals and objects.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 5. COUNTING IN NATURE Practice in finding the biggest and smallest flowers and leaves. Find the smallest and biggest petal between birdcherry and pipe-tree petals. Define whether the petals have even or odd number. Compare leave quantity of the rowan-tree.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 6. DRAWING FIGURES IN THE SNOW Strengthen the knowledge of geometrical figures (triangle, circle, square, oval). Draw geometrical figures in the snow with gouache. To see and be able to name figures in the environment with certain geometrical form.

Game: „Find the geometrical figure”.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 7. COMPARING OF NUMERALS IN THE AMOUNT OF “10”. , ACTIONS WITH ADDING AND SUBTRACTION Preparatory works: in plastic cups prepare colored ice (add watercolor to the water) Game – “Arrange and count” On the plastic apples places ice pyramids in certain colors. Count and compare the group of ice pyramids. To find out which are more/less, and for how much?

Count in the progressive and diminishing sequence and in pairs. Children put out colored pyramids and count them in the progressive and diminishing sequence.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 8. THE QUANTITATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE ICE PYRAMID From 2 colored ice pyramid arrange the quantitative structure. Children work in pairs. Each pair has their own task. By doing the task, one must answer: „5” – that is 3 plus 2; „6” – that is 3 plus 3; „8” – that is 5 plus 3; „8” – that is 4 plus 4 and so forth.

Create the numerals and geometrical figures from the colorful ribbons. Children create different geometrical figures and numerals from the colorful ribbons.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 9. GAME WITH A BALL „DO NOT BE MISTAKEN” Children make a circle. The teacher stands in the middle. The teacher throws the ball and names a numeral (1), the child throws the ball back to the teacher and names the next numeral.

„To the left – to the right”. First, clarify which children go to the left and which - to the right.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 10. THE WEIGHING AND COMPARING OF NATURE OBJECTS The teacher presents the scales to the children and asks why it is necessary and how to use them? Children express their opinion and knowledge on the usage of the scales. We explain the term „weight of the object”. We specify the state of the scales, if the weight of the objects is equal or diverse.

The teacher offers to look at nature objects with which the children will work during the lesson: spruce cone, pinecone, acorns, chestnuts, stones, and decorative pumpkins. During the experiment children clarify and make conclusions like which of the objects are heavier, lighter, how much and what kind of objects should be put on scales in order for weight to be equal.

By comparing the weight of decorative pumpkins, children make certain which one is lighter, which – heavier. After scale gradation children make certain the weight: 100 g, 150 g, and 200g.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

PRZEDSZKOLE NR 237 IM. WARSZAWSKIEJ SYRENKI, POLAND

Authors: Mariola Kaniecka Violetta Soska Paulina Zdanowska Michalina Ziątek Dorota Wiktorska Joanna Adamska Grażyna Ziółek

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 11. NATURE’S CORNER LESSON PLAN FOR 3 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER:MARIOLA KANIECKA

Objective:  discussing necessary conditions for all organisms to live: water, air, sun, nourishment  involving all senses in discovering the world of nature  describing the life cycle of some plants  setting up simple flower pot garden Teaching aids: the poem by B. Szelgowska “Wiosna ogrodniczka” ( “Spring the Gardener”), flower seeds, pots, soil, watering can, shovels, audio file with “Kraina marzeń” (“Dreamland”) by R. Dziekański Procedure: 1. Welcoming – the song “Wszyscy są” (“We’re all here”) 2. Listening to a poem by B. Szelągowska “ Wiosna ogrodniczka” („Spring the Gardener”). You may use other nursery rhymes concerning the topic, e.g.: English source: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems22.html 3. Discussing the topic “What does a plant need to grow?”. Children try to enumerate the things plants need to grow: fertile soil, water, sun, air. 4. Acting to the story “Dreamland”. Children act out the teacher’s story (plant’s development stages from seed to flower). 5. Setting up the flower pot garden. Children plant the flower seeds in the pots filled with soil. They water them and put in the sunny “nature’s corner” where they would look after their plants and observe their growth.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 12. AUTUMN GAMES WITH A SQUIRREL LESSON PLAN FOR 3-4 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: VIOLETTA SOSKA

Objective:  developing counting skills  describing the cardinality of sets: less, more, the same number of elements  introducing the cardinal aspect of numbers  the concept of numbers  deriving joy from one’s actions  concentration training Teaching aids: the teacher’s story, materials – walnuts, a rug for each child, basket, squirrel puppet. Procedure: 1. Welcoming children. 2. Telling a story about the troubles of a squirrel. 3. “Squirrel’s stockpile” - Counting squirrel’s “reserves”, using cardinal numbers. The child counts nuts one-to-one correspondence (say one number for each object in order) and is able to tell how many acorns have altogether. 4. Estimates how many objects they can see. The child counts reliably nuts and says how many are there altogether. 5. Recognises differences in quantity when comparing sets of objects- uses mathematical vocabulary such as: less, more, the same. The children carefully count the number of objects and they are able to say which sets have more/less/the same items in group. 6. A game developing the concept of numbers. The teacher placed few nuts at the front of each child in order. The pupil can give reasonable estimates for nuts without counting them. 7. Saying goodbye to the squirrel.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 13. SPRING BUGS-A LADYBIRD FRIEND LESSON PLAN FOR 3-4 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: PAULINA ZDANOWSKA

Objective:  an introducing some minibeats (ladybird, ant, beetle, fly, bee, wasp, spider)  broadening children’s knowledge of the different bugs environment and key facts about which bugs may pose a threat to people.  counting the elements of a set according to their abilities.  recognises differences in quantity when comparing sets of objects, understanding mathematical vocabulary “less”, “more”, “as many as”  cooperating on a project in a small group. Teaching aids: pictures with minibeats (ladybird, ant, beetle, fly, bee, wasp, spider), big sheets of paper for teamwork, black cardboard with circles outlined on it, crayons, telt-tips, scissors, glue, halved styrofoam balls, black and red paint, paintbrushes Procedure: 1. A chat by the theme board – describing what specific bugs look like, how their body is built (wings, legs, antennae) where they live; making the children aware of the situations when some of them can be dangerous (wasps, red ants). 2. A motor game “A ladybird on a meadow”. The children move around the classroom to the music. On hearing “grass” they squat, whereas on hearing „sky” they jump as high as possibile. 3. Introduction to a class – describing a ladybird focusing on the same number of dots on each wing. 4. Distributing black cardboard sheets with circles outlined on them. The children cut out the circles (each child at least 3 of them). 5. Making four groups (the children forming a circle counting off to 4). Each group receives a large sheet of paper with a ladybird pattern on it. The children glue the dots they cut out to the wings. The teams need to remember that the number of spots on every wing should be the same. 6. Counting the dots – saying which ladybird has got the most dots. 7. Making styrofoam ladybirds. Each child receives a half of a styrofoam ball. Then they paint it red and black to place the dots (the same number on each wing). 8. Making a head. One needs a crumpled strip of crepe paper to make a head and some creative wires to hold it to the body of a ladybird. 9. Displaying children’s work and saying thank you for a good time together. Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 20

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 14. IN A SPRING POND LESSON PLAN FOR 4-5- YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: MICHALINA ZIĄTEK

Objective:  counting items, adding and subtracting using finger-counting  using ordinal numbers  creating interest in nature, nurturing environmental awareness in children  developing manual dexterity Teaching aids: a cartboard frog, plastic insects, frogs and pond templates, frog masks, strips of corrugated paper, PVA glue, scissors Procedure: 1. Introducting the topic - reading a poem “A hippo and a frog” by Jan Brzechwa. English source: http://gromader.civ.pl/home4all/archive/index.php?t-4299.html 2. Getting to know the frog – multimedia presentation based chat. 3. Music and movement activity “Five Little frogs”. Five children are crouching in a row with numbers on their backs and wearing frog masks. Blue headscarfs imitating ponds are placed in front of them. While singing the song, children show as many fingers as frogs were sitting by the pond. English source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd62jx5iBX8 4. Technical task “Frogs and a pond”. Children cut out the templates of a frog and a pond. They sit in a circle and sing the song, placing their frogs, one by one, in their ponds. After each stanza, the teacher asks the pupils to count the frogs that have been left by the pond. The teacher asks: Which frog has jumped into the pond? 5. Game „Hungry frog”. The teacher has plastic insects, sitting on a leaf and a cardboard frog. All pupils try to remember how many insects are sitting on the frog (the number changes every time before a children leaves the classroom). The teacher introduces a nursery rhyme: “Ene, due, rabe”. The child who is selected at the conclusion of the rhyme leaves the classroom. Others feed the frog throwing some insects into its mouth. When the child comes back, he or she is to guess how many insects the frog ate. „Ene, due, rabe. Zjadł Tadeusz żabę. Żaba - Tadeusza, w brzuchu mu się rusza.” One, two, three. Teddy ate a froggy. Now Teddy’s froggy is moving in his tummy./ 6. Art work “Froggy”. The children use the strips of corrugated paper to make a frog, according to the example. Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 21

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 15. AT A FARMERS MARKET LESSON PLAN FOR 4-5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: PAULINA ZDANOWSKA

Objective:  practising counting skills  development and perfection of pattern classifying as well as its production  recognising graphic representation of one-digit numbers  revision of vegetables  associating the harvest with a particular time of the year (late summer and autumn) Teaching aids: pictures of different vegetables (leek, pumpkin, onion, pepper, carrot, parsley, beetroot), Colourful sashes or a string, A4 sheets of paper divided in two by a line (as a game board) Procedure: 1. A welcome game „Fruit or veg”. The children move around the classroom to the rhythm of music until it stops. Then the teacher says a word- either a vegetable or fruit. The children jump and clap their hands above their heads on hearing the name of a vegetable and sit down if the word is some kind of fruit. 2. At a farmers market the children receive cards presenting different vegetables. They need to divide them between some market baskets (circles of sashes placed on the floor). 3. Buy what I do. The children play in pairs. Each pair receives a game board (A4 sheets of paper divided in two by a line). They make tasks for each other (patterns e.g. one child places vegetable cards according to a certain pattern: beetroots, onion, potatoes, beetroots…. The other child must finish the shopping following the pattern. 4. How many do we have to buy?. Children continue the pair-work and use the game board. The teacher presents flashcards with random digits and vegetables on them. Each team has to place their cards with a given vegetable on the board according to the number shown by the teacher. 5. Encouraging the children to play „Shopping at a market”. choosing the salespeople and the customers. Arranging the classroom so it resembles a farmers market (making stalls with vegetable cards out of the chairs).

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 16. WE COUNT THE SNOWBALLS LESSON PLAN FOR 4-5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: DOROTA WIKTORSKA

Objective:  counting training ;  consolidation of notions: a small and a big ball;  careful listening to the teacher as well as following their instructions;  developing body and movement awareness in children. Teaching aids: A rug for each child, paper balls, a bag, hoops, cards with dots and numbers, a toy drum, CD. Procedure: 1. The welcome song: ”Hello, welcome. Time to play, everyone. Raise your right hand, raise your left hand and say hello to your friend.” 2. Creating a set according to one characteristic – object size. 3. The teacher takes some paper snowballs out of a bag. They differ in size. The children take a look a them and try to tell the difference. Then they put the small balls and the big balls into two hoops according to their size. 4. The children count the balls in each hoop (ordinal numbers). 5. They say in which hoop the balls of a given size are (cardinal numbers). 6. Arranging the balls to the drum pattern played by the teacher. The children sit and arrange the balls on a rug in front of them, listening to the rhythm played by the teacher, e.g. two strokes – pause, one stroke- pause, five strokes – pause. The expected snowball arrangement: 2,1,5. Then the children count all the balls etc. 7. Arranging the balls according to the teacher’s instructions: “Place four snowballs on the rug, then add three and two more. How many balls are there? You have ten snowballs, take six and then four more. How many balls are left?” The children use cards with dots or numbers to solve the task. 8. A motor game developing concentration “Count and find”. 9. The teacher pins the cards with snowballs and numbers (depending on children’s skills) around the classroom. The children move to the rhythm of the music until it stops. The teacher hits the drum several times. The children count the strokes and find a card with a given number on it. Then they stand or sit nearby. 10. Class evaluation: The children who had fun today smile, those who didn’t show a sad face. Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 23

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 17. SNOWFLAKES LESSON PLAN FOR 4-5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: JOANNA ADAMSKA

Objective:  practicing cardinal and ordinal numbers up to 6  creating situations for children’s individual achievements  creating situations to practice: categorizing elements form the smallest to the biggest one, for developing memory, logical thinking, associating and focusing skills  understanding teacher’s instructions, practicing focusing on the given task  developing perceptiveness, memory and logical thinking Teaching aids: CD, cards with dots and numbers, mats, different size clouds, paper snowflake Procedure: 1. Introducing the subject of the lesson to the children. 2. Movement improvisation to the music “Snowflake dance”. While hearing the music the children act out snowflakes dancing in the wind. When the music dies down the snowflakes slowly fall down onto the ground. 3. “Clouds”. Putting objects from the smallest to the biggest ones. Showing which cloud is the biggest, which is the smallest etc. Using ordinal numbers. 4. “Snowflakes”. Counting and adding together. The teacher puts the snowflakes under a cloud drawn at the blackboard and asks the children to do so with their own clouds on the carpet. E.g.: Asking children to put first three snowflakes under the cloud and then adding three more. Task: count all the snowflakes. 5. Physical exercise game to the music “Snowflakes”. Children being the snowflakes swirl around to the music. When the music stops their task is to build groups of three, four or another number according to the flashcards shown by the teacher (either with numbers or dots) 6. “What`s your score?” Children sit down in a circle and get cards showing dots from 1 to 6. The teacher throws some stones into a container, slowly one by one, but in a way that the children cannot see his/her actions. Their task is to listen carefully how many stones were thrown into the container and choose the card showing the right number. 7. Art work “Snowmen”. Children draw cards with numbers or dots and draw as many snowmen as the card shows.REN Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 24

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 18. SUMMER TRAIN LESSON PLAN FOR A GROUP OF 4-5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: PAULINA ZDANOWSKA

Objective:  broadening children’s knowledge of safety guidelines on holiday, including travelling. Developing the ability to match facts with new information.  creating interest in natural surrounding and typical Polish holiday destinations (mountains, sea, lakes)  developing and consolidating counting skills (counting elements). Teaching aids: the map of Poland, the pictures of holiday destinations in Poland, the pictures presenting safety rules on holiday, e.g. sun protection, swimming in a life belt or a life jacket, safe mountain trekking; colorful newspapers, soundtrack for movement games, coloured paper, scissors, glue, a long sheet of paper. Procedure: 1. “A Holiday Game”. Children run around the classroom to the rhythm of the music played in the background. On hearing the words: ‘sea’ or ‘mountains’, they mime an action that is likely to happen in a particular place, e.g. swimming in the sea, collecting shells or climbing up a mountain and admiring the landscape. 2. A chat at a theme board and the map of Poland. Children answer the following questions: ‘Where can we spend our holiday?’ The teacher points to the places the children mention. „What do we need to take on holiday? Something that can be of use during travel and after reaching our destination,. 3. “Going on holiday”. Children mime different means of transport. 4. Artwork “Summer train”. The teacher puts various colourful papers on the floor (e.g. supermarket flyers). Children choose objects that can be of use while on holiday or on the way to a particular place. The selected pictures must fit into the ‘railway car’ which is a B5 sheet of paper. Children cut out the pictures and glue them onto the sheets- ‘railway cars’. The teacher sticks a locomotive onto a long strip of paper. Then each child sticks on their car saying what things and why they would take along on summer holiday. Children count the cars and check if the number of cars corresponds with the number of group members. An activity based on the fragment of a poem “Locomotive” by Julian Tuwim – children mime the poem as they hear it: English source: http://allpoetry.com/poem/8537691-The-Locomotive-by-Julian_Tuwim

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 19. SEASONS - Rhythms and rhythmical organisation of time according to LESSON PLAN FOR 4-5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN Professon gruszczyk- kolczyńska TEACHER: GRAŻYNA ZIÓŁEK

Objective:  recognizing seasonal regularities  counting practice  developing logical thinking and introduction to attentive listening Teaching aids: Hoops, ribbons, plastic bottle caps in 4 different colours, paper plates, paper strips in 4 different colours, flashcards with seasonal attributes, glue Procedure: 1. “Seasonal clock”. Introducing the current season and taking up other seasons. The teacher proposes making a seasonal clock. Each season has its colour: yellow for summer, orange for autumn, blue for winter and green for spring. The teacher creates a clock divided into mentioned four colours. Children have to correctly match and glue flashcards on the clock. The finished clock will decorate the classroom. 2. “Rise when you hear…” Children are divided into 4 groups (seasons) and wear ribbons matching given season. The teacher tells them about different seasons. When the group hears their season being described, they rise and try illustrating teacher’s story with different poses, movements, dancing etc. 3. “Calendars”. Each child receives a hoop and 8 bottle caps (two of each colour). Children try to recreate the seasonal calendar in the correct order. Then they present the calendar starting from summer, each time touching the right bottle cap. 4. “Fun with Teddy”. Children try answering the following question: What does Teddy do each season? Then the teacher tells them about bears catching fish in the summer, eating honey in autumn, sleeping wintertime and waking up for spring. Afterwards children start dancing to the music. When the teacher raises their hand or points at the seasonal clock, the children show with a gesture what bears do during the chosen season. 5. “My calendar”.Children work on their own seasonal calendars using paper plates and colourful paper strips (paying attention to seasonal cycle) 6. Presentation of calendars.

Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 26

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 20. AUTUMN FUN WITH MATHS LESSON PLAN FOR 5 YEAR OLDS CHILDREN TEACHER: GRAŻYNA ZIÓŁEK

Objective:  counting practice  developing abilities to recognize rhythm regularities, logical thinking  application of counting on word problems Teaching aids: mats, Teddy bear, work sheet, flashcards with autumn attributes, i.e. mushrooms, chestnuts, acorns, leaves, pens, dice with chestnuts instead of dots. Procedure: 1. Children are welcomed by their friend – the teddy bear, who wants to play together with them before he can fall into winter slumber. Children are sitting in a circle, math mats in front of them. 2. “Small, big, the biggest”. Children get different leaves and try to arrange them according to size, from biggest to smallest. 3. “Rhythms”. Children are shown a certain rhythm on the board, which they have to continue using chestnuts and acorns. 4. “Jumping around with Teddy”. Teddy rolls the dice and children count the number of dots (value), then jump as many times as shown on the dice. 5. “Little, more, the most”. Children receive envelopes containing flashcards with mushrooms that represent different values from 1 to 6. The goal is to put the flashcards in a row from the lowest to the highest value, starting from the left. Teddy will make sure that the children complete the exercise correctly. 6. “Counting and moving around”. Teddy shows the children flashcards with different objects and values. Children jump, clap or stomp as many times as many object there are on the flashcards. 7. “Counting and drawing”. Each child receives a sheet with a number of leaves drawn (1-6). Children count and draw a line for every leaf on the sheet 8. “A riddle”. Teddy needs children’s help. He tells them the following story: There were 6 mushrooms growing in the woods, Teddy picked 3, how many are left? The children solve the riddle using their math mats; they put out 6 mushrooms, then remove 3 and tell Teddy the result. 9. “Saying goodbye to Teddy”. Teddy says thank you to the children and says goodbye until they see each other again in springtime.

Przedszkole nr 237 im. Warszawskiej Syrenki, Poland 27

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

YAVRUVATAN ANAOKULU, KAYSERİ/TALAS, TÜRKİYE yavruvatananaokulu@hotmail.com tel: +0090 3524379039

Authors: Leyla Kiliç Fazilet Işik Seher Yalçinkaya Hatice Küçük Çağlar Vahide Efe Gürek

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 21. CAN YOU WEIGH WITH SCALE Stones ,leaves,branches and cones are collected with children and they are taken to the class.The scale is placed according to children so that they can easily use it. Children chosee form the naturel things and put them on both sides of the scale (eg: They place Stones on one side of the scale and branches to the other side.) Children are shown that one side of the scale is lower than the other side. Teacher talks to children about the fact that stone is heavier than branch. This activity heps the children improve their ability to think by enabling them observe the similarities and differences between objects

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 22. MEASURING THE DISTANCES We prepare measurement tools (raffia, pieces of cloth, band,etc) then we go out to the garden and measure the things around such as trees, windmill, bridge etc. We compare these things as the tallest, the shortest, the thickest, and the thinnest. Children learn these concepts by their own experiences.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 23. GEOMETRIC SHAPES WITH CLAY The teacher brings clay to the classroom and then took the children and the clay to the garden. The clay is put in a bowl and mixed with water. Children take a piece of clay. The collect some pieces of branches in advance and combine the pieces with clay and create geometric shapes.The shapes are then placed in a sunny place and dried. When the shapes dry thet are studied. Children talk about the shapes they made. The parents are informed about this activity and recommended to do it at home with different materials.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 24. MATS GARDEN A area is selected in advance and it is prepared. Children draw shapes and write numbers they want on the area. Then grass seeds are planted on the shapes and numbers. The planted grass is watered by the children regularly . Children observe the shapes and the numbers for a month. They observe that grass grows slowly. When the grass grows enough they are studied and children are asked what shape or what number are they. Children look after the grass. Children learn to relate the shapes and events.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 25. OBSERVATION WITH MAGNIFYING GLASS Children are given magnifying glasses and taken to walk in the environment. They observe the things they see such as tree, leaves, stone,soil etc. They observe everything they want. They are asked to observe the leaves carefully.They observe that just like humans leaves have vessels. Thet are told that when we water the flowers they get the water through these vessels. They are taught to be environmental friendly individuals and love the nature.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 26. MATHS WITH PHOTOS IN THE ENVIRONMENT Stones, soil, and canes are collected in the garden and around the school with the children and the materials are brought into the class. With the help of the infotmation cards children revise the shapes and numbers. Information cards are placed on the floor. Children makes shapes and numbers by looking at the cards. By this way by seeing and memorizing the mathematical concepts are consolidated.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 27. MAKING HOME,TREE AND TRAIN Children collect pieces of wood and Stones and they are taken to the class. Children form triangle, square and rectangular on the floor. Then the children are instructed to make a pattern by using these shapes. Children commbine triangle, square and rectangular and form house, tree and train. They learn how tomake things by using geometric shapes.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 28. HIDING SHAPES Children collect thin branhes and take them to the class. They make geometric shapes and numbers by using sticker. Children observe the shapes elaborately. Class is divied into two groups and they go out to the garden. One of the groups is hiding group and the other is finding group . 1.Group determine some placed where to hide the shapes around the school and paint their pictures and hide the shapes and the numbers . 2.Group waits facing the other side lest they should see the hiding group. When the 1.Group hides the shapes and the number they show the pictures of the places where they hid the shapes and the numbers and ask the. 2.Group to find them and bring in 20 second (they count until 20). In this way learning maths becomes enretaining.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 29. SHAPES WITH CONES Children collect cones around the school and bring them to the class. Cards with geometric shapesand numbers are observed carefully. With the help of a rope cones are shaped as numbers or geometric shapes and they are observed. With a different experience children’s maths knowledge is improwed.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 30. ICE EXPERIMENT Children bring kitchen equipment in geometric shapes (plate, jar cover, cake pans, etc.) to the class and fill in them with water and place into a freezer. After they are frozen they are taken to the classroom. Children observe the stages of melting and evaporation forms of the ice. By this way they observe the different forms of matter.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

ЦЕЛОДНЕВНА ДЕТСКА ГРАДИНА №1 „ЖЕЛЯЗКО ПОП НИКОЛОВ”, BULGARIA 3700, ул. „6-ти септември“ № 9, Видин, България e-mail: cdg1_vd@abv.bg, tel. +359 94 601757

Authors: Vaska Zdravkova Bilyana Borisova Emiliya Tsvetkova Daniela Todorova Izabela Nikolova Milena Mutina Nataliya Asenova

Vasilka Tsenova Vera Ivanova Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 31. TIC TAC TOE First, you have to draw the board, which is made up of a 3 x 3 grid of squares. This means it has three rows of three squares. The first player goes with “X” or “O”. These symbols will be placed on the table, in the attempt to have three of them in a row. After the first player goes, then the second player should put down his symbol, which will be different from the symbol of the first player. The second player can either try to block the first player from creating a row of three, or focus on creating his or her own row of three. Ideally, the player can do both. The first player to draw three of his or her symbols in a row, whether it is horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, has won tic-tac-toe. However, if both players are playing with optimal strategy, then there's a good chance that no one will win because you will have blocked all of each other's opportunities to create a row of three.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 32. SWALLOWS There are 6 nests, painted on the ground, numbers 1, 2, 3. Each of the nests has 1, 2 or 3 pinecones. The number of the swallows living in the nests corresponds to the number of the figure. At the signal “Swallows, fly!”, they begin to fly around their nests. At the signal “Cat!”, they hurry to go back to the nest, making sure there are as many swallows in it as the number of the pinecones and the figure in it.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 33. THE PUMPKIN Ten children make a circle. Each child choose a number 1, 2, 3… One child says : “Our pumpkin have 6 little pumpkins”. The child who is number 6 asks: “Why 6, let’s be 8 pumpkins!” and this child go out of the circle. The child who is the number 8 says: ”Why 8, let’s be 3 pumpkins!” and this child go out of the circle. The game is continues until one child remain in the circle.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 34. PRECISE SHOT Each participant has 5 small potatoes (sand balls) and bucket in front of him/her at a distance 1,5 – 2 m. Blindfolded he/she has to throw as many balls as he/she can into the bucket. The winner is the one who has the biggest number of balls.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 35. DRAW WITH STICKS Each player has 7 sticks and has to draw with them a known geometric figure – a triangle or a square. The fastest is the winner.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 36. MEASURE AND COUNT Game task: 1. Place as many walnuts as long is the stick. ( 5 to 10 walnuts ) 2. Compare the length of your stick and the number of the walnuts the child next to you. Game rules: 1. 4 children take part in the game. 2. Each child places as many walnuts as long his/her stick. 3. Two by two the children compare their sticks and the number of the walnuts.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 37. THE KING , WHAT TIME IT IS One child is a king and other children are arranged in front of him. The first player asks: “ The king , what time it is? “. The king says: “ One rabbit step forward!” He/she jumps once forward. The second player asks: “The king , what time it is? “. The king says: “Two giant step forward! ”. He/ she makes two big step forward. The third player asks “The king , what time it is?”. The king says:” Three mouse steps back!”. He/she makes three small steps back. The player who comes first to the king is a winner and becomes the king.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 38. GIANTS AND DWARFS The children are order to each other. The teacher says what they must do. When the teacher says “Giants!” all children must stand up and raise their hands. When the teacher says:” Dwarfs!” all children must squat. The teacher should says the words quickly. The child who doesn’t respect the

rules leaves the game.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 39. MAKE A GEOMETRIC FIGURE Game task: Who will be the first to make a geometric figure using a certain number of sticks? Who will solve the task correctly by putting a different number of natural materials on the left and on the right and put the correct sign >, <, =, between them? Game rules: 1. Any number of children can take part in the game. 2. Each child is given a set of sticks and natural materials( walnuts, chestnuts, pinecones). 3. Each child modeling figures on his/her own, as he/she first is counting the necessary sticks and then is looking for a solution. 4. The winner is the child who first finds a solution, makes geometric figures and places the correct sign so as to have a quantitative equality between the groups of natural materials.

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 40. LITTLE BUNNIES The children make a circle and the teacher says:” Little bunnies live in the forest. One morning they wake up and order in a row – the first, to it the second, to it the third….They go on walk and they order one behind the other – in a column. The little bunnies walk and walk and stop to play on the glade. Game: The children make a circle. One child go on the middle of circle. He/she is the bunny. The other children singing: “One little bunny sleeps on the glade, let’s jumps and let’s find a friend.” The bunny jumps and chooses a friend and they go together to the middle of circle. The other children singing again: “Two little bunnies sleep on the glade, let’s jump and let’s find friends.” The bunnies jump and choose friends and they go together to the middle… The game continues until all children are select to be a little bunny.”

Целодневна детска градина №1 „Желязко поп Николов”

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

TÜNDÉRKERT ÓVODA ALDEBRŐI ÓVODAI TAGINTÉZMÉNY, HUNGARY

Authors: Tóthné Bíró Mónika Bodó Józsefné Menyhártné Kovács Márta Vass Jánosné Mezei Tóth Veronika Kis Ágnes Kerékgyártó Andrea

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 41. GO INTO THE HOUSE, CHICKS! Mathematics content, development of abilities:      

interest, self-control, recognition of identities and differences memory verbal development counting identification relations

Required instruments: Dice, five hens, chicks Course of the game: You give out the houses. The windows of the houses are different: each house has one more window. Children look for the hen having the same amount of eggs as windows on their house. They put their hens into the basket and breed their eggs. Children have to throw the dice. If the dots on the dice are equal to the number of their eggs, the hen could break an egg and put a chick into the house. The winner is the child whose eggs are all broken and there are chicks in every window.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 42. PAIRING GLOVES Recommended to children from 2 to 4 Mathematics content, development of abilities:       

perception, denomination and matching colour and shape analysis, synthesis idea of a pair constitution of sets: according to colour, pattern, number of fingers patience, persistence visual memory development of being conscious of a task

Required instruments: Mittens or gloves in different colours and patterns Course of the game: Children have to sit in a ring. You put one gloves on the carpet and their pairs remain the kindergarten teacher’s hand. Children have to look for the pairs of gloves that the teacher gives them. Additional possibilities: The teacher put the gloves on the carpet in pairs, but one pair is not correct. Children have to find the odd-one-out. The teacher describes a glove and children have to find the pair of the glove. It can be played as a competition: two children have to find pairs of gloves in contest with each other.

Tündérkert Óvoda Aldebrői Óvodai Tagintézmény, Hungary 52

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 43. WHAT IS IN THE SACK? Recommended to children .at the ages 3-4 Mathematical content, development of abilities:      

coordination of eyes and hands development of shape perception enlarging of ideas development of memory visual memory development of attention

Required instruments: a linen sack, solid figures (about 10, they may be cubes, brick-shaped solids, spheres, cylinders) Course of the game: The kindergarten teacher shows the different solid figures and describes them. Children pass round the solids, examine by touch them name them, and put them into a basket. The teacher describes one of the solids in the basket, and a child chooses the correct solid figure. After that, the figure is taken into the sack. When all of the solid figures are in the sack, a child touches a solid in the sack, names it and pulls out and shows it.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 44. THROW AND BUILD! Mathematical content, development of abilities      

visual situation recognition spatial relationships recognition and use of spatial directions relation, lesser and greater development of comparative ability creativity, planning

Required instruments: colourful plastic sticks, two kinds of dice Course of the game: You display a bigger amount of sticks on a tray, after that, children sit around the table. There are colours on the sides of one of the dice, and dots on the other. The first player throws the dice with colours at first; it determines the colours of sticks can be taken. After that, the player throws again the ‘dotted’ dice and can take as many sticks as he or she threw. As a result of these, the first player can start building. The others can throw, one after the other. The game lasts till everybody throws 5 or 6 times, at the end they decide what the best ingenious shape. Additional possibility: Children have to copy a definite building that is drawn by teacher in advance. In this case, they use only the normal dice with dots. The winner is the child whose building is ready first and it is also correct.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 45. ‘I AM MY EYE, YOU WILL BE MY HAND’ Mathematical content, development of abilities:       

orientation observing ability communicatory ability development of colour perception identification, selecting creation and recognition of symmetrical figures development of rule consciousness and patience

Required instruments: a set of logical devices (big and small colourful triangles, squares and circles), a folding screen Course of game: It can be played by three children at the same time. One of them is ‘The Eye’, the other is ‘The Hand’ and the third child is ‘the unloading player’. There is a folding screen between ‘the unloading player’ and ’The Hand’, so they cannot see each other. The unloading player starts to build a formation from the set. ‘The Eye’ has to comment the process of building to ‘The Hand’:”There is a big red triangle. Above the triangle, there is a small yellow circle. Put a small, blue square next to the big, red circle on the left....” At the end, we compare the two strctures. Variational possibilities: There are only two children in this variation, ‘the unloading player’ and ‘The Hand’. The unloading player has to copy a given formation and comment the steps to ‘The Hand’. Naturally, they cannot see each other. This game is also can be played in space, with building blocks.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 46. ANIMAL COUNTING Mathematical content, development of abilities:     

orientation, directions coordination of eyes and hands consciousness of tasks, and observance of tasks knowledge of nature and animals practice of postpositions

Required instruments: nine cubes with animal pictures, a ‘house’ (a sheet of paper ruled with squares) Course of game: You put the cube with a beetle in the centre of the house. The kindergarten teacher gives instructions to the children, who have to follow the instructions and put the cubes into the correct places. For example: ‘The rabbit lives on the left, at the bottom of the house. Step two on the right, the dog lives here. The cat lives above the dog. ‘ You continue the game the other animals. Variational possibilities: You can make the game more difficult orientation with cardinality. The exercise: five animals live on the left side of the beetle, three animals live above the beetle and two animals live under the beetle. Children have find, how many animals are in the cubes and put them into the correct places. connecting

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 47. NUMBER STAIRS Mathematical content, development of abilities:     

interpretation of mathematical ideas (even numbers, odd numbers) sequence of numbers going ahead and back in the sequence of numbers establishment of number idea, distinction of ordinal and cardinal numbers by number stairs counting of amounts

Required instruments: 55 cubes Course of game: Linking up details - column-puzzle. There are different pictures on the cubes (a mountain/on a cube, two wash tubs/on two cubes, three footprints/on three cubes etc.).You can make the column of the number stairs linking up details. The digit is always on the top. Variational possibilities: You can set out the number stairs with red and blue cubes. Blue colour represents oddnumbers, red colour represents even numbers. This method can help acquire the knowledge of even/odd-numbers’ idea and recognition of global quantity.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 48. HUNT THE NUMBERS! Mathematical content, development of abilities:      

recognition of visual situations stereoscopic relations visual memory observing ability recognition and adaption of stereoscopic directions and relations identifications of numbers

Required instruments: 9 big disks, 27 number cards (they are hidden under the disks), 6 colourful arrows, a magnetic board, 6 pieces of magnet. Beginning of the game Each child is given 3 colourful arrows. They stand on the starting mark and join the disks with the arrows, according to the teacher’s instructions. (The teacher gives directions: on the left/right) They match the disks and arrows by turns and answer the questions. If their answers are correct, they can take out the numbers. Course of game: ‘I will ask you some questions, there are some numbers are hidden in them. What number is hidden in the question? If you guess, you can take out the numbers. Children have to answer 6 questions, for example:   

How many fingers are in a hand? (5) What is the smaller neighbour of four? (3) How many sweets have I got, if there are 4 sweets in both of my hands?

They have to put the numbers on the board, turn back and list the numbers.

Tündérkert Óvoda Aldebrői Óvodai Tagintézmény, Hungary 58

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 49. SHAPE IDENTIFIER Mathematical content, development of abilities     

shape observation, space sight recognition of whole-part relation problem solving way of thinking logical way of thinking interest and persistence

It is offered children from 3, 4 players Required instruments: 4 boards, dice with different shapes of the slides for all participants Course of the game: Each child chooses a puppet and stands on the starting-mark. The first player can be chosen by a counting-out rhyme. The player throws the dice, identifies the shape on the dice and goes to the same shape on the board according to clockwise. The winner is who arrives at the starting-mark first.

Tündérkert Óvoda Aldebrői Óvodai Tagintézmény, Hungary 59

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 50. SEARCH IT AND FIND IT! Mathematical content, development of abilities     

recognition of formal properties recognition of identities and differences comparisons observation of shape and extent, shape and colour at the same time division of interest, development of memory

This game is offered children from 5 to 7 Required instruments: a board, different planimetrical shapes Course of the game: The planietrical shapes are in a basket displayed on the table. The four participants choose a board according to their pleasure. There are different models from the planimetrical shapes on the boards. Children have to choose the planimetrical shapes that can be seen on the board and put them on the board according to the model. Variational possibilities: You can turn this game into a competition. The winner is who can put the correct shapes on the correct places on the board first. You can make the game more difficult using dice with the pictures of the shapes. Children throw the dice and they can choose only the shape which can be seen on the dice.

Tündérkert Óvoda Aldebrői Óvodai Tagintézmény, Hungary 60

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

GRĂDINIȚA CU PROGRAM PRELUNGIT NR. 56 "CASTELUL FERMECAT",, CRAIOVA, ROMANIA

Authors: Dragoi Maria Bulugea Maria Pandelescu Mariana Tucu Vivica Marilena Godeanu Clarisa. Marcu Miliana Babadan Nicoleta Popa Mihaela Dumitru Georgeta

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 51. LET’S STUDY - NATURAL ASPECTS Objectives: Observing nature - aspects, shapes, symmetry, thickness, breadth; Finding the connections between maths and nature. Tasks: The children have to search in nature to find natural characteristics; The children have to register the results by writing or drawing. Materials: leaves or other natural materials, magnifying glass, pencils, scale, paper sheets for observations.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 62

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 52. GEOMETRIC SHAPES Objectives: Enhancing knowledge geometric shapes; Using knowledge about geometrical shapes in different occasions. Task: The children have to put fir cones around the paper form. “Drawing” geometric shapes without paper forms. Materials: fir cones, paper geometric shapes, blocks. Rules: the children have to follow the paper’s edges.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 63

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 53. DECOMPOSITION OF NUMBER Objective: Developing the capacity of understanding and using numbers and figures. Task: The children have to put the fir cones from the blue circle into the others; find all options. Materials: Plastic circles and sticks, fir cones. Rules: The children must separate the entire initial quantity of objects and find all the possibilities.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 64

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 54. GROUPING BY COLOR Objective: Grouping objects or beings by different criteria. Task: The children must find the tree that is suitable with their leaf’s color. Materials: whistle, big leaves for children and small paper to fix on the trees. Rules: At whistle’s signal the scattered children have to find the tree that have the same color of leaf as they have.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 65

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 55. LET’S PLAY WITH SNOW Objectives: Placement of a number in the right place in a row of numbers; Identification of the first and the last number in a row; Observing the properties of the snow. Task: Initial the numbers are mixed by teacher. The children must order the numbers then they have to press them in the snow; Forming geometric shapes in the snow; Materials: snow, plastic sticks and numbers.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 66

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 56. NUMBERS AND OBJECTS Objectives: Making the correspondence between number and quantity; Ordering objects by size; Practice writing numbers. Task: The children must put as more leaves in the circle as numbers shows; The children must select the smallest leaf to the bigger one. Materials: leaves, chalk, sponge. Rules: 1. Initial the numbers are written by teacher. After one game, children except one close their eyes; the teacher wipe the number and the child with open eyes, write another numbers. The children open their eyes and put in the circles leaves according to the new number. The game continues for all numbers from 1 to 10; 2. The children must put every chosen leaf exactly on drawing line.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 67

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 57. FIND THE NUMBERS, SHAPES OR FORMS IN THE NATURE Objective: Strengthening the connections between school’ s activities and the real world. Task: The children have to find natural aspects that fits the image they have. Materials: natural materials, images with numbers, shapes, forms.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 68

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 58. SPARROWS AT FOOD Objectives: Making the correspondence between number and quantity; Identification the object position using the ordinal. Task: The children have to move like a sparrow on drawing line and grab the stones as more as numbers they have. Materials: chalk, painted apricot stones, numbers. Rules: Four children stand in circles and the leader of the game give them numbers (1 to 4); they have to move only after leader’s signal that claps hands, by number that owns, from the little one to the biggest one. The participants come back to their circles and lay dawn the stones next to the number, count the stones. The game continues changing the numbers.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 69

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 59. NUMBERS ON THE ROPE Objectives: Ordering numbers from 1 to 10 and from 10 to 1; Identify which is the previous and which one follows it in the row of numbers. Task: Establish the correct order of numbers in the row; Gather natural elements from the environment and group them according to the numbers that are hanged on the rope. Materials: rope, laundry tongs, plastic numbers, sticks, stones.

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 70

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 60. WHAT INSPIRES YOU ? Objectives: Practice geometrical shapes using the imagination; Identify spatial positions. Task: The children have to complete circle, a quarter, so as to obtain an object’s image (sun, house, car, train, cat…). The children specifies the geometrical shape’s position in their drawings. Materials: white and colored chalk .

"Castelul Fermecat", Craiova, Romania 71

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

GRĂDINIȚA CU PROGRAM PRELUNGIT NR. 44 "EDEN", CRAIOVA, ROMANIA

Authors: Barbu Nicoleta – Livia Gheonea Oana Roşu Larisa Violeta Niţu Claudia Magdalena Stanciu Nicoleta Anda

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 61. CHOOSE AND MATCH AIM: estimate the size of objects, sort and classify objects by different sizes DIDACTIC TASK: The children will match objects by classifying according to their size (big-small) MATERIALS: wooden trees and apples of different sizes PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher will present several wooden trees with holes and ask the children to observe that the holes have different sizes. In a basket are put wooden apples of different sizes, too. Each apple has a particular place in the wooden tree. The teacher will ask the children to recognize the big apples and match them with the biggest holes from the trees. Then the children will have to sort the smallest apples and put them into the smallest holes of the trees. Finally, the teacher will ask the children to fill all the holes of the trees with the remaining apples. The child that completes the task first will be the winner.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 73

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 62. LOAD THE TRAIN AIM: Sort and classify objects by various shapes DIDACTIC TASK: The children will sort objects by classifying them according to shape MATERIALS: nuts, chestnuts and peanuts, a toy train PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher will mix all the nuts, chestnuts and peanuts and then will divide the class into three separate groups according to a given attribute (i.e. different chest badges). Each group is represented by one child, who should load one wagon with nuts, chestnuts or peanuts, choosing the right ones from the stack without making mistakes. The teacher will monitor continually the progress of each child. When all the wagons are loaded, the teacher names one child to be the train conductor and to move the train until he reaches the “train station”. The game can be repeated two or three times with other children.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 74

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 63. LET’S PLAY WITH GEOMETRIC SHAPES AIM: developing observation skills and the operations of thinking, consolidating the notions about with the geometric shapes DIDACTIC TASK: the children will identify and separate the geometric shapes by different criteria given by the teacher (shape, colour, size) MATERIALS: geometric shapes, big gymnastics circles PLAYING THE GAME: this game is intended to be played outdoor, but can easily be played inside the classroom too. The teachers arranges the materials for the game and also sets out the criteria: first, the children will identify the shapes by colour. They have to separate the shapes according to colour and put them inside the big circles. After that, another criteria is to separate according to geometric shape, regardless the colour. After that, another criteria is to separate according to size (big-small). The tasks solved correctly are applauded by the children.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 75

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 64. THE FLOWER VASES AIM: sort and classify objects according to number, counting from 1-10 DIDACTIC TASK: the children will make groups of flowers according to number on the vases MATERIALS: vases with numbers 1-10 on them, natural flowers of different colours PLAYING THE GAME: the teacher puts on the ground a basket of natural flowers and ten vases with numbers from 1 to 10 on the vases. The children have to take flowers from the basket and put them in the little vases according to the numbers. They have to count the flowers and verbalize the action using an appropriate mathematical vocabulary. The children applaud when a colleague solves the task correctly.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 76

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 65. THE ANIMALS TRAIN AIMS: Number recognition and counting from one to six, recognizing neighbors of a number DIDACTIC TASK: The children will consolidate their ability to count to six and number recognition; the children will demonstrate object correspondence with number recognition and the recognition of the neighbors of a number MATERIALS: a toy train, domestic toy animals PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher will present a toy train and ask the children to count the wagons to reinforce their counting skills. Each wagon has a number on it. The children will recognize each number from 1 to 6. First, the children will load each wagon with the right number of domestic toy animals. Then the teacher will put one more animal in each wagon. The second task is to take the extra toys from the wagons in order to leave the same number of toys as the number from the wagon shows. Finally, the teacher will ask the children to recognize the neighbors of the numbers from the wagons (i.e. the neighbors of number 3 are 2 and 4).

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 77

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 66. LET’S PLAY MATHS!” AIM: consolidate the knowledge about mathematical signs, numbers and geometric shapes, counting 1-10, developing the logical thinking and the operations of thinking DIDACTIC TASK: the children will have to build numbers, mathematical signs, geometric shapes from chestnuts (or any other natural materials) MATERIALS: tokens with numbers 1-10, cards of the geometric shapes, cards with mathematical signs, chestnuts PLAYING THE GAME: the teacher will ask the children to pick a card with a number on it and build up from chestnuts the number shown on the card. Another task is to build up geometric shapes with chestnuts. A card is given to a child and the child has to surround the shape with chestnuts. Another task is to build up the mathematical signs (+,-,=,>,<) also using chestnuts. The tasks that are correctly solved are applauded by the children. The game goes on until each child solves at least one of the tasks.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 78

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 67. BALLS IN THE BASKETS AIM: Sort and classify objects by different colours DIDACTIC TASK: The children will sort objects by classifying them according to colour MATERIALS: balls by different colours and baskets PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher will divide the class into three separate groups according to the colours of the baskets. Each group will have its own colour (i.e. blue, green and yellow). The children will choose only the balls that are the same colour as their team and match them with the baskets. The teacher will notice if the children make mistakes during the game and will correct them. The game ends when all the baskets are filled with balls and the team that completes the task first, will be declared the winner.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 79

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 68. ROLLING DICES AIM: counting from one to six and checking the correspondence with number recognition DIDACTIC TASK: The children will reinforce ability to count to six and demonstrate the correspondence between the execution of body moves and number recognition MATERIALS: a dice with dots, a dice with different images on it, a hula hoop circle, a jumping rope, a ball PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher will present all the materials to the children, which are standing in a circle. Only one child will come in front and roll the dice with the images on it that will indicate the movement he/she will make (i.e. hopping, clapping hands, making steps, playing with a hula hoop circle, a ball or a jumping rope). Then the same child will roll the dice with dots that will indicate the number of the movements he/she should make. Then another child will do the same until all the children complete the task.

Grădiniţa cu program prelungit “EDEN”, Craiova – Romania 80

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 69. THE MAGIC BAGS AIM: verifying counting from 1 to 10 DIDACTIC TASK: the children will have to count the objects found in the bags and verbalize the action using adequate mathematical language MATERIALS: small bags, different objects to put inside the bags (geometric shapes, nuts, chestnuts, natural elements), tokens with numbers 1 to 10. PLAYING THE GAME: The game is played outside in open air. Small bags are put by the teacher in a tree from the yard. The tokens with numbers are put down on the ground. The child named by the teacher will come to the tree, pick up a bag and discover the objects inside the bag. The child will have to count the objects and place them on the ground near the correct token. The tasks that are correctly solved are applauded by the other children. In the end of the game, the children can say or sing a poem/song about numbers.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 70. CONTINUE THE LINE AIM: knowing each number’s place in the numeric line, using correctly the ordinal number DIDACTIC TASK: the children will have to continue the line and put the objects in the same order MATERIALS: natural elements (fruits, vegetables, nuts etc) PLAYING THE GAME: The teacher has a basket full of fruits/vegetables. At first, she shows the children how the game is played. A line is formed out from elements. The teacher starts the first line as an example. The child observes the didactic material from the table and names it. The teacher tells the children the didactic task: continue the line. The child counts the objects from the line, using the ordinal number (the first, the second, the third). The game starts with two elements, and it’s complicated by the teacher who introduces a new element in the line. In the end, the teacher makes a fruit/vegetables salad with the children.

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“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

VRTEC ZARJA, ZAGAJŠKOVA ULICA 8, 3000 CELJE, SLOVENIJA

Authors: Ana Copot Marija Grahek Magda Klokočovnik Alenka Korenjak Danica Vasle Mirjana Štelcer Ana Cesar

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 71. MATHEMATICS IN NATURE, Methodical unit: Orientation and counting – forest Field: mathematics, nature Field correlations: language, movement Methods: games, explanation, observation Work forms: group, communal Children’s age: from 3 to 5 years Tools: cards with different numbers of children on them and with numbers Goals A child: - Understands concepts thick-thin. - Develops concepts for spatial orientation (in front, behind, next to, around). - Develops thinking operations (rearranging, counting). - Discovers, recognizes symbols and follows instructions. METHODICAL PROCEDURE - We discuss how to keep safe in the forest and we leave to the nearby forest. - Amidst the trees we chase each other and hide, we play counting rhymes ‘En kovač, An ban …’ - Both teachers encourage the children to observe the trees (thick, thin), to describe the differences and similarities between them, to count them. What are the trunks like? Feel them! What do you feel (coarse, smooth, spikey …)? What else can you discover? Which tree is the thickest, which the thinnest? How would we measure them? - With our hands we hug trees; we count and learn how many children it takes to hug a certain tree. We put cards with drawn children and a number on the trees. We then compare the thickness with outstretched hands and count the children. We discuss: How do you know which tree is thinner – thicker? Didactic game: Children run between trees and on a given signal (e.g. blown whistle) they stand around the trees according to the instructions (in front, behind – depending on the teacher’s position). The number of children around each tree depends on the number of children drawn on the card. The children count themselves and check if the task was done correctly. They verbalize their position. We also play the so that we bring materials to the tree, depending on the number on the card (find 3 pinecones, 4 stones, 2 sticks …). Follow-up: - Cards with drawn symbols (children) are arranged by quantity from the least to the most. - Cards with pictures of trees (thicker and thinner) are arranged from the least to the most. - Drawing trees after observing them. - Creating graphs.

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 84

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 72. DISCOVERING AND UNCOVERING THE PROPERTIES OF NATURAL MATERIALS, Methodical unit: Playing with wooden sticks – length, thickness Field: mathematics Field correlations: language, nature Goals A child: - Discovers, recognizes and names properties through games, distinguishes, groups, sorts according to the observed property (length, thickness). - Searches, perceives and uses different possibility of solving a problem. - Expands vocabulary, understands and uses opposite adjectives (smooth-coarse, long-short, thin-thick …). Learning time: several days Children’s age: from 4 to 6 years METHODICAL PROCEDURE Playing in the forest with natural materials (with sticks, freely creating: e.g.: building houses for gnomes …), learning through descriptive experience, with problem solving and with cooperation. Gathering sticks: incentives, possible teacher questions (to discover, explore): What do you feel? What did you touch? What shape is it? What is the length (thickness)? Does it remind you of anything? How does it smell? How would you find out if sticks make sounds? How would you do it? What do you suggest? How can you make music with sticks? Shall we make music together? Sorting sticks according to one property, two properties, e.g.: long-short, thick-thin; thick, short-thick, long … Questions for comparisons: What are the differences between sticks? What else can you discover when you compare the sticks? How do you know which stick is shorter or longer? Name their length, thickness! How would you discover the number of certain sticks? Which are more numerous? Is there another way to count the sticks? Thinking questions – questions of understanding: What would happen if we put together two or more short sticks? What do these sticks have in common? Active questions: What could we do with these sticks? What could we use them for? Creating a rhythm, pattern: With the use of sticks a child creates a pattern and then repeats it, explains (uses adjectives), draws, copies it on paper. Uses sticks to draw in dirt, sand … dips them in paint, draws on paper, observes the tracks, names the line: thick, thin, long, short … Makes a two (three) dimensional composition e.g. tree, house... Questions: How would you measure the sticks length? How would you use them to measure something? Measures with standard and non-ndard units (places short sticks next to long ones, counts – how many short sticks make a long one…), takes notes of discoveries. Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 85

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 73. WE DISCOVER AND EXPLORE THE PROPERTIES OF NATURAL MATERIALS, Methodical unit: Sorting and arranging Field: mathematics, nature, language Methods: games, learning from experience, observation Work forms: group, collective, individual Tools: natural materials (stones, branches, leaves, bark, pinecones, chestnut), paper, paints, glass bowls Goals A child: - Develops and trains thinking operations (comparing, arranging, counting quantities). - Learns concepts more, less, equal. - Discovers graphs, forms them and reads them. Learning time: several days METHODICAL PROCEDURE: - Children bring different natural materials to the kindergarten (stones, branches, bark, leaves, chestnuts and pinecones). They sort and from groups from the materials based on their qualities. They from sets that are in order and the elements become countable. - They explore, discover and look for information where the materials came from. They draw their conclusions (e.g. stones – water, branch – tree). They use arrow displays. - From the formed sets they compare the quantity of material. They learn which has more, less or is equal. To discover quantities they use the strategy of counting. - They discover and learn how to note the results. They are familiar with the table; they note the results in lines and columns. - With the natural materials they form pictures on the playground.

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 86

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 74. PLAYING WITH SNOW, EXPLORING THE PROPERTIES, Methodical unit: Melting, measuring, weighing, filtering Field: nature, mathematics, language Methods: discussion, experimentation, practical work, games Goals A child: - Explores, measures matter and liquids with nonstandard and standard measuring tools, discovers strategies of measuring volume. - Understands concepts of quantity (a little – a lot, less – more, equal). - Discovers and learns the properties of snow- Compares, predicts and foretells events. Tools: measuring cups, scales, different cups, several different strainers, cloth of various thickness, spoons of different sizes, snow, and water. METHODICAL PROCEDURE: Children bring the cups with snow into the playroom. We put several cups on the radiator. I ask them questions: What happens to the snow (in the sun, in the room on the table, radiator …)? Which is more in the cup – snow or water? How would you find out? What do we need? Children think, predict, foretell, and suggest … Together we prepare the playing corners for exploration: A. Game – measuring and weighing the quantity of snow/water; Children fill different cups, measuring cups, count, add, take from, and compare quantity (how many spoons, cups …, more, less …). B. Game – filtering the molten snow (water). Children compare the molten snow with drinking water. They pour water into the cups through various strainers and cloth … They observe, tell what is going to happen and what is happening (what remains on the filter – strainer, cloth; where there is more residue, less …). They note the data into a spreadsheet and compare them. Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 87

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 75. TRAFFIC, Methodical unit: Orientation, geometrical shapes Field: mathematics Field correlations: society, language, nature, movement Methods: observation, discussion, learning from experience Goals A child: - Observes, recognizes, names, distinguishes and revises names for shapes (triangle, circle, square, rectangle). - Discovers and understands the meaning of certain traffic signs. - Orientates, uses terms: left, right, in front, behind, near, far. Introductory activities: - A game with discarded materials of various geometrical shapes (boxes, tubes, unused wood…); a game with bricks: children touch, build, make and tip over pillars, roll and construct; outline and print bricks (geometrical shapes), name the created geometrical shapes, color them. - Games with puzzles (geometrical shapes, traffic signs). Methodical procedure: - Learning the purpose and goal of the walk (Where is my home or my path to the kindergarten?). - We stop next to children’s homes, observe the buildings and shapes of windows, doors, roofs. - Reading house numbers and street names, counting the houses in a row. - Naming the objects in front of us, behind us, the gardens on the left and trees on the right side. - We check for safety when crossing the street by looking left – right – left. - We observe a bus at a bus stop, recognize shapes: doors, windows, wheels, steering wheel, rail. - We stop next to traffic signs, learn their meaning, recognize shapes and colors. - We discuss who lives close to the kindergarten, who is farther away and who is very far away. - When returning via the same route we discuss why objects are in a different position than before – dependence on our current position. - We expand the activities to the kindergarten’s playground – in the following days teachers organize numerous group activities, such as: 1. Creating »our town« in the sandbox (houses, paths …). 2. Driving with scooters, bicycles on the asphalt according to the traffic rules and signs (pedestrian crossing, traffic lights, direction of driving …). 3. Drawing shapes in the sand with a stick. 4. Creating traffic signs from different materials. 5. Didactic game Recognize the geometrical shape: a child steps from shape to shape in the direction pointed by arrows. On a certain shape he performs a movement task (e.g. on the yellow circle spin right; on the green triangle make 3x squats, on the square…). 6. Drawing on the poster - »a map« of the kindergarten with its surroundings. Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 88

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 76. MATHEMATICAL MOVEMENT GAMES, Methodical unit: Aiming, counting (adding, subtracting) Field: movement, mathematics, nature, language Work methodology: games, verbal, practical work Work forms: group, communal, individual Tools: balls of different sizes (also different natural materials e.g. stones, pinecones, chestnut), card box, graphs for notes (card), blue and red colors, bowling pins, PVC hoops Children’s age: 4-6 years Goals A child: - Experiences joy, pleasure, self-confidence and relaxation. - Develops skills and accuracy of throws. - Develops coordination of movement and orientation in space - Understands and follows agreed upon rules, counts, learns how to add and subtract. - Uses graphs. METHODICAL PROCEDURE We agree upon a certain space of movement and the rules of the game Hunter and rabbits with the children. With a counting rhyme (‘En, dva, tri, lovec zdaj si ti) we choose a hunter that aims at the rabbits (children) with the ball. They try to avoid getting hit. The hit rabbit turns into a hunter and continues aiming. The game ends when the children loose interest. With children we set up different »stations« to play a game with a ball. Children go from one station to another as they wish but one station can have maximum five children. They throw the ball with one hand, both hands, from different distances… 1. Aiming through different sized hoops on different heights (we tie a rope between trees and the hoops swing from it). 2. Aiming into basket attached to a wall. 3. Aiming into a target on the wall. 4. Aiming into a basket on the floor and noting it in the chart. 5. Aiming into the card box on the floor and noting it in the chart. 6. Aiming into bowling pins (or ½ l water bottles filled with colored water) and noting it into the chart. At station 4 and 5 the child can throw three times (three balls). He counts the balls that hit the goal. In the chart he finds his name, draws a circle and gets back in the row. At the end he tries to count the number of all throws. At station 6 he counts and crosses as many pins as he managed to overturn. 1. 2. 3. Child name Balls inside Balls inside Balls inside = Together ? O O O O O O =O OO OO O Child name Cross over overturned Number of overturned pins pins = Standing pins?

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 89

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 77. MATHEMATICS THROUGH MOVEMENT, Methodical unit: measuring length Field: mathematics Field correlations: movement, nature, language, society Goal A child: - Gains experience and knowledge about standard measuring units, tools while playing. - Develops the ability to recognize and remember numbers from 1 to 10. - Develops the capability of teamwork, making agreements. - Searches, perceives and uses different possibilities of problem solving. - Develops pre-reading and pre-reading capabilities and skills; while measuring and marking revisions symbols for numbers, words (meter, start, finish). - Feels joy and pride through success and builds self-confidence. Learning time: several days Children’s age: from 4 to 6 years Tools: different kinds of measuring tapes, chalks of different colors METHODICAL PROCEDURE - I encourage children with booklets from the program ‘Little sun’; we discuss while reading tasks, comment on them, think and plan activities (where, what, when). - I focus their attention to the task about running (I remind them of the last year’s tasks – 200m run -

and tell them this year’s task – 300m run). I ask problem oriented questions: »This is more by how much? How would you find out? What do we need to measure the runway? How would we mark it? …«. On the asphalt we measure with the measuring tape, we draw and write the length and symbols with chalks of different colors. We run every day, we recognize how far we’ve ran by looking at the written marks, we write our results on paper and save them in our personal folder.

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 90

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 78. LIGHT AND SHADOW, Methodical unit: Measuring – when is the shadow the longest? Field: nature, mathematics, language Methods: observation, measuring shadows Work forms: observation, games, experimentation, discussion, practical work Children’s age: 4-6 years Tools: chalks, sticks (longer, shorter) Goals A child: - Explores properties of light and shadow, relations between cause and effect. - Observes, searches, recognizes differences, similarities. - Understands concepts: long – short, longer – shorter, longest –shortest. - Understands the meaning of new words and uses them in forms phrases. - Develops the ability to draw in all directions in a larger space (sandbox, asphalt playground). Learning time: longer time period Introduction: Children stand on a hill. One of them notices his shadow, points to with his hand and yells: » Look, it’s me! « METHODICAL PROCEDURE - Searching and observing shadows in nature: shadows from people, trees, buildings, clouds, animals, objects … - Movement game ‘Moving shadows’ (jump on your shadow, your friends shadow, shake its hand, escape your shadow …). - Observing and outlining shadows (people, objects), comparing shadows at different times (after breakfast, snack, lunch, when leaving home) and discussing: What happened to the shadow? How do you know? What is it like (shorter, longer)? Where has it moved (left, right)? - Making a sun clock: put a stick into the ground – each hour you mark its shadow at the end of the stick (discussion, thinking …). - Measuring the shadows length with nonstandard and standard units, comparing, distinguishing, discussing, taking notes. Follow up: - Playing with shadows by using a projector, flashlights (projection: putting the projector closer and farther). - Collecting and making different hours, comparing, making a dial for the sun clock … - Creating graphs (when the shadow is the longest and the shortest). Safe in the sun (health program for sun protection). Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 91

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 79. MATHEMATICS IN MOVEMENT, Methodical unit: Game snake of tricky questions Field: mathematics, language, movement Methods: games, conversation, observation and testing, exploring, practical work Work forms: group, in pairs, individual Tools: didactic games drawn on the asphalt, playing dice, cards with tasks, baskets with different materials Space: kindergarten playground Goals A child: - Learns and has fun through the game and movement – feels joy, happiness and success. - Follows instructions, understands and abides by them. - Searches, perceives and uses different paths of problem solving – develops thinking strategies. - Recognizes numbers, rearranges and counts – connects numbers with objects. - Describes, discusses and uses adjectives . - Orientates on the playground, intertwines tasks with movement. - Recognizes and names color and shapes. - Recognizes and describes symbols. METHODICAL PROCEDURE With team planning, teachers organize and make possible different kinds of games on the playground. Children from different classes change between the organized games according to the rules agreed upon between all the teachers and children. Up to ten children can play the game Snake of tricky questions. Game rules: A child pulls a card with a written task from a bag. Together we look at the symbol drawn on the card and the teacher reads the task. On the fields of drawn game the child seeks the place with the same symbol and solves the given task. Cards with tasks are formed by the teacher based on the goals and in cooperation with the children if possible. After several repetitions the children can recognize the task through the symbol without it being read to them by the teacher. Example of a card – different possibilities for tasks:

Jump as many times as there are spots on a ladybug. Count. Which number is written? How many spots do you need to erase to have six? The ladybug has 6 (show, count, bring), spin six times …

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 92

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature 80. MEADOW FLOWERS, Methodical unit: Discovering colors Field: nature, mathematics, language Methods: observation, discussion, experimentation, practical work Work forms: group, in pairs, individual Goals A child: - Explores, discovers and describes plant properties. - Distinguishes and compares according to properties (color, shape …), groups them and counts. - Understands concepts equal, different, similar and knows how to use them in discussion. Tools: mortars, cups, pipette, cards with tasks, game Memory, newspaper, press, gathered flowers, strainer, thick fabric, manual ‘Travniške cvetlice’ (Meadow flowers). METHODICAL PROCEDURE: We take the children to the meadow where we separate into two groups. A. group: Each child gets a card with a certain color and number of spots. He must pick only the flower blossoms. The color and number of the blossoms must match the number and color of spots on the card. B. group: each child finds and picks a bouquet of three different flowers. The picked flowers are taken to the kindergarten playground. The first group arranges the blossoms into cups according to color and the second group puts the flowers into cups with water. Together we prepare four parallel workstations (the first teacher guides activities at the first station, the second coordinates the other three): A. I motivate children with questions to describe the similarities and differences of plants, their parts, they search for their pictures in the manual, discover their names … B. Preparing for herbarium – the children put some individual plants on a newspaper. They put everything onto the press, cover it and tighten the screws or put weight on. C. Creating natural colors – children arrange flower blossoms according to color in mortars and grind them. With a pipette they add water by drops. In the end they filter the content through the strainer and thick fabric. They explore and compare the intensity of the colors (more-less added water) and create. D. Didactical game Memory (meadow flowers) – children search for pairs of the same plants, name them, describe their main properties … Follow-up: Creating a herbarium, exploring primary and secondary colors, comparing (bought colors to colors made from blossoms), comparison and color mixing results noted with symbols …

Vrtec Zarja Celje, Slovenija 93

“Maths through games” (2012-1-LV1-COM06-03567)  Math in the nature

Copies of the handbook for Slovenia issued by: Kindergarten Zarja Celje Zagajškova ulica 8 3000 Celje Slovenia

Prepared by preschool teachers from the Comenius project: Latvia, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia

A drawing by: Neja Jelić, 6 years and Alja Srovin, 6 years:

Partial design: Marija Grahek

Translation of the Slovenian chapter in the handbook: Nenad Vranešević

Head of the kindergarten Marija Grešak

Celje, June 2014 Print: