- crayons or markers
- paper
- plastic cubes or other small object (various sizes)
- plastic cups (various sizes)
- enough
- explore
- letter
- top
MA Standards:
Mathematics/Measurement and Data/PK.MD.MA.1: Recognize the attributes of length, area, weight, and capacity of everyday objects using appropriate vocabulary (e.g., long, short, tall heavy, lights, big, small, wide, narrow).
Head Start Outcomes:
Approaches to Learning/Cooperation: Helps, shares, and cooperates in a group.
Logic & Reasoning/Problem Solving: Recognizes cause and effect relationships.
Logic & Reasoning/Problem Solving: Uses past knowledge to build new knowledge.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Mathematics/Measurement 13: Use estimation in meaningful ways and follow up by verifying the accuracy of estimations.
Mathematics/Measurement 14: Use nonstandard units to measure length, weight, and amount of content in familiar objects.
Science and Technology/Inquiry Skills 1: Ask and seek out answers to questions about objects and events with the assistance of interested adults.
Small Group: Enough Room?
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Place the materials on a table at children's reach.
Revisit the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Ask, Why do you think there wasn’t enough room for all the letters at the top of the coconut tree? (too many letters to fit on the tree top)
Draw children's attention to the materials. Tell them they are going to explore whether or not there is enough room in the cup to fit all the cubes. Have them predict before you begin. Record responses on a sheet of paper to revisit after the activity.
- Engage children as they explore.
- Encourage them to turn to another child and share their ideas and work together to come up with a solution.
- Repeat the process with different size cups.
Have children draw a picture of one observation they made while fitting the cubes in the cups.
Reflect and Share
Ask children to share their drawings and talk about their findings. Revisit children's earlier predictions and responses. Ask questions such as,
- What did you notice happened when you tried to put all the cubes into the small cup? Why do you think that happened?
- How was this similar to what happened to the alphabet letters on the coconut tree? How was it different?