Clothes Pin Counting
This one takes a little planning…but not much.
You will need:
Clothes Pins (the kind you pinch to open)
Paper plates
Write the numbers 1 -10 on the paper plates (one number on each plate) and you’re ready.
Activity
Show the child/children how to use the clothes pins.
Then have them attach the correct number of clothes pins to each paper plate(#of clothes pins matches # on plate).
This takes some math and fine motor skills as well as some eye/hand coordination.
As they are putting the clothes pins on, stop and count how many they already have on one and then talk about how many more they need to match the number on the plate (this is called counting on…you have 5, how many more do you need to get to 7? 6,7 …just two more)
Once all the clothes pins are on, ask questions about which has more or less? Which has the most or the least?
Extension
I will warn you that with preschoolers this can turn into a whole different activity.
Connor asked me “What are these for?”
I said, “A long time ago people used to hang their clothes up outside with these.” He, of course, said “I want to do that!”
So I had to find a string and some doll clothes and now we have a clothes line hanging between two kitchen chairs…but that’s a life skill, right?
Check out what else we did with clothes pins by going here and here.
