Patterns
Visit Pattern Bridge activityPattern Bridge
Children add and remove core units from a pattern to fill the spaces on a board.
Using These Activities in Your Classroom
- Developed with teachers and for teachers of early childhood classrooms, these math center activities are easy to set up, fun to do, and require low to moderate teacher involvement.
- After teachers demonstrate the activity, students can do the activity independently or in groups (we offer tips to promote peer collaboration).
- Teachers can search for activities that align with their objectives for math content, and many activities provide prompts for teachers to make connections between different areas of math content.
- These activities are suitable for use in any setting with children ages 3-6 years.
All activities use common classroom materials or printables, including:
- Counters: counting bears, counting chips, other counters, or Unifix® cubes
- Counting Tools: number lines or five and ten frames
- Turn-Taking Tools: number die, spinners, or cards
- Pattern Blocks: pattern blocks, attribute blocks, or square color tiles
- Building Blocks: wooden blocks, foam blocks, sticky blocks, or Legos
- Balance: measurement scale
- Every activity includes ideas to make it easier and harder, and to differentiate based on students’ needs. Some have themes and all have conversation starters to deepen math learning.
- The activities are designed to be used multiple times during the year. We include ideas on how to modify the activities to keep them interesting and challenging for students. You can also use these as ideas or examples for creating your own activities.
Using These Activities in Your Classroom
- Developed with teachers and for teachers of early childhood classrooms, these math center activities are easy to set up, fun to do, and require low to moderate teacher involvement.
- After teachers demonstrate the activity, students can do the activity independently or in groups (we offer tips to promote peer collaboration).
- Teachers can search for activities that align with their objectives for math content, and many activities provide prompts for teachers to make connections between different areas of math content.
- These activities are suitable for use in any setting with children ages 3-6 years.
All activities use common classroom materials or printables, including:
- Counters: counting bears, counting chips, other counters, or Unifix® cubes
- Counting Tools: number lines or five and ten frames
- Turn-Taking Tools: number die, spinners, or cards
- Pattern Blocks: pattern blocks, attribute blocks, or square color tiles
- Building Blocks: wooden blocks, foam blocks, sticky blocks, or Legos
- Balance: measurement scale
- Every activity includes ideas to make it easier and harder, and to differentiate based on students’ needs. Some have themes and all have conversation starters to deepen math learning.
- The activities are designed to be used multiple times during the year. We include ideas on how to modify the activities to keep them interesting and challenging for students. You can also use these as ideas or examples for creating your own activities.
Activity Directory
Measurement
Data
Visit Measuring Myself activityMeasuring Myself
Compare the relative length of body parts to other objects using words such as longer or shorter.
Data
Visit Speed Sorting activitySpeed Sorting
Children figure out the sorting rule based on pictures and then sort objects as quickly as possible.
Addition & Subtraction
Visit Hidden Objects activityHidden Objects
One child hides some counters from a small set, and a second child estimates how many were hidden.
Measurement
Data
Visit Heavier or Lighter? activityHeavier or Lighter?
Compare the weights of objects using a balance and then sort the objects into two groups
based on their weights.
Addition & Subtraction
Visit Follow the Path activityFollow the Path
Practice counting-on and adding in this short path board game
Number, Counting & Cardinality
Visit Zookeepers activityZookeepers
Compare the number of objects in different sets to feed an animal.
Spatial Relations
Visit Creating Copies activityCreating Copies
Copy a geometric design or building shown in a picture using blocks or square color tiles.
Spatial Relations
Visit Draw Your Building activityDraw Your Building
Children draw a picture of a building they made to explore spatial relationships
Spatial Relations
Visit Build Together activityBuild Together
Work together to create a unique building that includes a certain number of features, such as stairs, towers, doors.
Number, Counting & Cardinality
Visit Tower Power activityTower Power
Roll a die to determine how many blocks to add to a tower. Keep going until the tower falls over.
Spatial Relations
Visit Mirror Blocks activityMirror Blocks
Practice symmetry by placing blocks on one side of a line to create a mirror image of the blocks on the other side of the line.
The Math Center Activities were developed by the DREME Vanderbilt University team led by Kelley Durkin and Dale Farran and composed of Luke Rainey, Rachel Kasul, Katie Roland, and Danielle Davis. Eric Dearing, Lindsay Clements, Ariadne Nelson, Julie Kim, Alden Burnham, and Alexia Kovatsis at Boston College also contributed to the creation of these resources. The authors are grateful to their collaborating teachers in Nashville, Boston, and the greater Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan region.