Here's a fun way to help your child learn math.
What you need:
- Bright Paper (Construction paper or colored card stock)
- Craft Eyeballs (Googly Eyes, as we call them)
- Scissors
- Clear Contact Paper (I used the clear book covers I had on hand)
- Dry Erase Marker
Instructions:
- Fold 1 piece of paper in half, and cut out a monster shape. What is great about monster shapes is that they are easy to make because they can be whatever you want them to be. They don't have to have arms, or legs. You can make them with eyes coming out of their head, or spikes coming out of their body. There really is no wrong way to create them.
- Use the clear contact paper to cover each monster you create, placing the sticky sides of the contact paper on the monster, front & back. Then cut them out. Leave a border around the monsters, though, otherwise the contact paper will peel off. I left about a 1/4-1/2" edge, and I did not cut exactly the same shape, just around the edges is fine. It does not have to be perfect.
- Use the dry erase marker to write an addition problem on each monster, leaving the answer blank.
Now comes the fun part for your little learner! They can place the eyeballs on the monster to help them with the addition problem. For example, if the problem is 5+2=___, the child would begin by placing 5 eyes on the monster, and then they would place 2 eyes on the monster. Now they can count how many eyes are on the monster and complete the problem by writing in "7".
Because each one is covered in clear contact paper, the problems wipe right off and we can do monster math over and over again!
