Recommended Grades: Preschool and up

It seems like summer flew by. But it was a great summer filled with adventures, fun, education, and lots of quality family time. I love the summertime but can appreciate the calmness a good, structured routine can bring. School has officially started and now comes the hard task for this mama, to convince my four-year-old that learning can be as fun as playtime.

My daughter currently loves playing with her colorful polished rocks (the pink and purple ones especially). With her newest favorite “it toy” I decided to teach her how to count, work on her fine motor skills, and her ability to follow instructions. This activity is so easy and versatile you can use any of your kiddo’s favorite trinkets.

Materials needed.

• A 10 square (download one here)
• 10 small items (rocks, beads, pom poms, pasta, etc…)
• A small baggie to conceal items in (optional)

My Lesson Plan

• I gave my daughter her small baggie and asked her to dump it out revealing her pink and purple polished rocks.

• I then explained to her that I wanted her to put only her pink rocks in a square on the piece of paper. *Be sure to tell your kiddo only one rock can go in each square on your paper.

• Once all her pink rocks were put out, I then asked her to help me count all her pink rocks.

• As we counted, I instructed her to move her finger with each rock she was counting. Helping improve her fine motor skills which are essential for writing and drawing.

• I then instructed her to leave the pink rocks on the paper and proceed to put the purple rocks in the available squares.

• Once again, I asked her to count just the purple rocks.

• After counting all the rocks, I asked her to count all the rocks on the paper.

• Now, I asked her to tell me which color of rock we had more of the pink (6) or the purple (4).

• Next, I instructed her to separate her rocks into 2 groups. One group should have all the smaller rocks (both colors) and the other should have all the bigger rocks (both colors).

• Once, she had them sorted out, I instructed her to put the smaller rocks on the board, reiterating to only put one rock in a square.

• Once she placed them all out, I had her count all the small rocks. After she counted, I had her clear the board and repeat this step with the larger rocks.

We both had a lot of fun with this activity/lesson. In fact, she requested we do it again every day for school. As a mom, it is so fun to do something with your child that is both fun and educational and it is a huge bonus when they request to do it again.