counting ideas

when teaching counting to the kids, i like to be really hands on and let them be touching the things that we are counting. occasionally, i'll read a "counting book" and sit at the front of the class, while i point to the pictures that we are counting. but i really prefer more physical activities for this type of thing.
this tends to be a bit time consuming when you want to make sure that every child has a chance to do the activity. most of these activities work best when counting 1~10, but i'll give some tips for higher numbers at the end.
here are some ideas that i've found very effective:
*build a block tower--kids count the blocks as they are building up to 10. once you have reached 10, then they get to knock the tower over. they really like to knock the tower over. :-)  when working with young children, make sure that you are holding the tower as they place the blocks on, so that the tower doesn't fall over prematurely.
*egg counting/shopping--we're really lucky in that we have these little egg toys where you match the shapes to make a full egg and we also have a little toy shopping cart. i have the kids count out 10 eggs to put in the cart and then they can take the cart for a walk around the room.
*lego tower--i also sometimes use legos. they get to count 10 legos and put them together.
*playtime counting--when the kids have playitime they often make something that they are proud of. this is a good opportunity to have them count out how many they have.
*stair counting--count the stairs as you go up them.

for higher numer counting:
*work together as a class--do the same thing as lego counting or block counting, but instead of having each child count out so many, let each child put one into the class' effort.
*circle count to 100--with older children who can count to 100, have everybody sit in a circle. go around the circle and have each child say the next number. to make this more of a challenge, you can turn it into a competition. if a child makes a mistake he or she is "out" and you can see who can count the highest.
Tags: esl, counting, teaching counting

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