Working with Pennies on President's Day

Working with currency is a natural extension of President's Day {at least we think so!} so, to go along with this concept, we found some cute and simple math ideas for you to use this coming Monday! The ideas come from Little Giraffes - former blog of kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Flanagan, and now a part of the A to Z Teacher Stuff family of sites!

Penny Grid Game

This game is great for strengthening early math skills! As they roll the game die, count the number of dots displayed, and mark off the same number of pennies on their worksheet, your students will build counting skills as well as reinforce the concept of 1:1 correspondence. Coloring is great, but for a more tactile experience (and a way to provide your kiddos with more fine motor practice), consider providing each player with a roll of pennies to use as markers on their game board.

Penny Probability

Invite your kiddos to practice collecting and analyzing data with this fun penny probability exercise! To begin, demonstrate for your students how to properly toss a coin, read the results, and record the outcome on the worksheet. Then, armed with the proper equipment, invite them to toss the coins X number of times. When finished, have them count up the total of each outcome and write or dictate comparative sentences...

• There were more heads than tails.
• There were less heads than tails.
• There were equal heads and tails.

You can use any coin, of course, or perhaps a combination! Since you'll most likely discuss both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, consider using the quarter for one of the exercises and the penny for the other...

For these and other fabulous President's Day lesson/activity ideas, be sure to visit Little Giraffes!