Bear More or Less Purpose
Learning how to compare quantities is a skill that develops over time with exposure and practice.
In this activity, children are using one-to-one correspondence skills to determine the number of objects counted, then comparing quantities.
Activities that provide opportunities to practice comparison skills deepen the understanding of numbers and quantity, thus building a strong mathematical foundation.
When we provide children with hands-on opportunities to manipulate objects, engagement and learning increase. Touching and moving blocks, counters, and other real world objects support research based best-practices of learning from the concrete to the abstract.
The skills covered in this activity include:
- subitizing: some children will be able to subitize the dots on the die, others only up to a certain number, and some, not at all
- one-to-one correspondence: pairing each object with one and only one number name as bears are counted
- more or less: identifying whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group
- understanding the meaning of the words more and less
Bear Activity Supplies
Here are the supplies you will need to make your own bear one-to-one correspondence activity.
- Paper bowls, one per child in your small group
- Gray or brown paint
- Paint brush
- Scissors
- Shaving cream
- Liquid glue
- One foam die
- Plastic bear counters OR Teddy Grahams
- Printable ten frames (click on link to original page to get the link to this)
Preparing the Bear More or Less Activity
First, turn the paper bowls upside down and paint them gray or brown to represent caves.
After the bowls have dried thoroughly, use the scissors to cut an opening in the front of each bowl to represent the opening in the cave.
Next, mix one part shaving cream and one part glue together to create “snow paint.” Use a paint brush to apply thick blobs of snow to the outside of the bowls. You could also use cotton balls to create snow if you prefer. (Blogger's note: I used cotton balls so I could store and reuse year to year. The shaving cream adds extra sensory fun, and can probably be peeled off at the end of the activity for storage.)
When the snow on the caves is completely dry you are ready to play the game!
Bear More or Less Activity Directions
First, ask your students to pair up or assign partners if you prefer. Next, give each child a cave and one foam die per pair.
To play, the students in each pair will take turns rolling the die and then place the corresponding number of bears in their caves.
After each child has rolled the die and placed the correct number of bears in their caves they will then lift up the caves to count and compare the bears and determine who has more and who has less.
The printable ten-frames sheet can be used to help children visualize quantities and develop number sense.
You can use plastic bear counters from your math center for this activity, or Teddy Grahams if your program allows. Or you could use the activity with plastic bears the first week, and switch to Teddy Grahams the second week for more hands-on learning fun!
