Where is Jerry Now? A Math Fun

My little one was introduced to simple addition and subtraction a long ago using colored pastas.

 I also used these beads for single digit addition and subtraction.  I took some sticks and pasted the equations.  My little one has to add or remove the beads according to the equation.

For big numbers like 9+8=? , counting and putting many beads would be boring. In our childhood, we were taught to do our addition like 9 in the mind, 10, 11…. and would say the answer 17. In the same way, I used this ‘Where is Jerry now’ method for my little one.  I drew 20 circles in a paper and write numbers in it. Then I took my little one’s favorite tiny ‘Jerry’.

For addition like 9+3=?  Place Jerry  in ‘9’ and move forward by ‘3’ positions, 1(10),2(11),3(12).  “Where is Jerry now?   12.”

Similarly for subtraction like 9-3=? Place Jerry in ‘9’ and move backward by 3 positions,  1(8), 2(7), 3(6).  “Where is Jerry now?   6.”

I am happy that my little Ramanujan loved this. 

Small Wonders: Insects

The theme of this week is Insects.  My little one can identify most of the common insects like ant,  butterfly, dragon flies, lady bug, grass hopper, praying mantis, house fly, mosquitoes, cockroaches… But, I still want to have some activities on this theme. 

      Bug watching:

        To get started, we went for bug watching.  We watched the honey bees going inside the flowers, busy ants moving in and around their ant hills; dragon flies and butterflies flying around the yard.Undoubtedly, these tiny creatures will grab the attention of kids. It creates an opportunity to see a variety of new bugs too. (Later, we googled with a key word ‘bugs’ and found their names).

Hurrah! We found these jewel bugs in the river bank.

Look at these baby jewel bugs.

Box elder bugs.

Stink bugs on teak leaf.

We finally found one lady bug.  

 2.        Everybody is so fascinating about ants and watching an ant colony is one of the favorite activities for most of us. But how the any hill would be beneath the land surface? After reading many articles and watching videos about making an ant farm, I decided to make one.  Of course, my aim is not to make an ant farm.  Just to watch an ant hill. It’s really great to watch.

3.        And finally, here is our insect theme sensory bin for small world play.