Identifying Numbers Should Be Fun!

I am always looking for new ideas to help with educating our kids. Facebook can be a great resource. 

I came across this page : The Best Ideas for Kids and decided to try out an idea to teach number identification. 

On a whim, I looked through our supplies and found everything we needed:

Toiler paper rolls
Paint/Paint Brushes
Hole Punch
Popsicle Sticks
Scissors
Cardboard

One thing we learn from homeschooling is how to improvise and how to be resourceful. 

We didn't have enough toilet paper rolls so we grabbed a paper towel roll that was just about done being used and cut the roll into three more pieces. We had 7 rolls we could work with now. 

Finn's job was to paint each popsicle stick the corresponding color of the number painted on the rolls. 

Mom did the numbers. Finn did the popsicle sticks.  I remember when she first started painting she had a shaky hand and made a huge mess. It's been great to watch how steady her hand has become and how precise she tries so hard to be. 
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When we paint, we typically use paper plates as pallets but this time we didn't have any in the cabinet so we decided to look for cardboard. We usually keep a box or two here and there to paint/draw/color/write on. 

We ended up using the cardboard bottom of a water bottle case. Worked perfectly! 

We had a little system going on. I would paint the rolls with the number on it, then stick the number of popsicle sticks inside the roll until Finn was ready to paint them. 

We let the popsicle sticks dry over night. I will need to find a way to secure the rolls to a platform.. more than likely another piece of cardboard we have laying around the house, but this afternoon we won't have much extra time before soccer. 

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Eventually she was over painting the popsicle sticks and wanted to paint something else. She found her dad's Styrofoam cup and decided to have at it! She decorated the entire cup and then stuck her paint brushes inside after she was done painting. Brilliant! She now has a place to store her brushes! 

This was the aftermath. She was covered with paint. It was fun running with her across the house to the bathroom so we could clean up. The belly laugh was worth it enough to me. 

What did we learn?

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Identifying (some) numbers
Colors
Shape
Job duties
Improvising
Resourcefulness

Edited to add on 9/6/21:

This was our finished product.  We ended up not painting the back side of the popsicle sticks and use the pallet made from the bottom of the water bottle case to secure the paper towel rolls. 

My OCD heart wants the pieces to stand up straight and tall, not lean and fit just perfectly, but my unschooling momma's heart knows this is just perfect for what we need. 

I see a turkey project idea coming from this! 

Until next time, 
Brandi & Finn