Skip Counting Activities

It's easier to learn things that have meaning for you, or are placed within a framework you already understand or a perspective to which you can relate. That's why including movement to skip counting can really help kids. When counting all the numbers, but emphasizing the skip count numbers, kids will remember the emphasized numbers in proper context. (Rather than some random pattern memorization they might not understand) 

This can be simple bean bag passing or full body movement, etc.

Bean Bag Passing

1. Emphasize each pick up and place down.

2. Emphasize each place down (not pick ups)--even numbers.

3. Pick up, tap on lap, place down (emphasize).

4. Pick up, tap on left knee, tap on right knee, place down (emphasize).

5. ....keep coming up with your own ideas!!

Body movements (works great with dance movements or learning music)

1. Tick tock big arm movements around a clock.

2. Use a line (left, right, left, right)

3. Use a triangle (down, over, up)--prepares them for leading music 3/4 too

4. Use a square (down, right, up, left) or lead 4/4 (down, left, right, up)

5....the sky is the limit!

Hop scotch (just write a bunch of numbers on sidewalk that are sequentially close to each other)
1. Hop in order
2. Hop every other number (can do odds in one color and even in another)
3. Draw triangles (sets of three) and hop on each point....emphasizing/writing only the third number, but having kids say each number as they hop the corners.
4. Draw a square?
5. Draw a star?
6. ......
Or just draw a numberline and have the kids do different versions on the same number line.

Counting Everyday objects
We like to use peas in pods or our hands to show various ways to skip count or group things into sets. Just count normal, but emphasize the evens, if you are skip counting by twos, etc. pea pods are fun for lower numbers, just group them by how many they have in them (so a bunch of t-pea pods would be skip counting by threes). Skip counting is a great way to help kids understand both addition as well as multiplication at the same time.


Chinese jump rope and hand clapping games can then be used to reinforce the skip counting learned.

Chinese 101: Number Story

In order to retain things in memory, associations are helpful. Mom mom taught me an association story for counting to ten in Japanese when I was ten, and it has always stuck with me. So...I decided to try it with a few key languages I want my kids to learn. 

Create a story...

1. Write foreign numbers 1-10

2. Then translate numbers into an equivalent-sounding English word

3. String them together into a simple story line

...

Deliver story and create memory...

1. Tell the story to your child

2. Tell an abbreviated/simplified story using few words and emphasizing each number in your fingers

3. Then point to each finger one at a time and say the word associated and have your child fill in the parts of the story

4. Next have your child tell you the story as you point to your fingers and ey say the words associated with each one.

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VOCAB: Chinese numbers 1-10

• 1. 一 yī [eee] (eee-arr... --like donkey braying sound 1 & 2 together)
• 2. 二 èr [arr]
• 3. 三 sān [sahn] (sun)
• 4. 四 sì [ssuh] (see)
• 5. 五 wǔ [woo] (woah)
• 6. 六 lìu [liou] (Lee...you)
• 7. 七 qī [chee] (chee-se)
• 8. 八 bā [bah] (bah....as in bahumbug!)
• 9. 九 jiǔ [jeou] (joe or Gee....oh!)
• 10. 十 shí [sher] (sure!)

-----------

The Story... (Chinese Donkey: Cheeeeeeee-se --outside)

Once there was a hungry donkey "eee-arr," who was plodding along, tired from the hot sun.

When all of a sudden he looked up. What did he see? woah! It was his friend Lee, the mouse, nibbling on something.

Donkey's belly grumbled: he wanted some food too. Donkey asked Lee nervously... "Lee...you ok? Lee...you happy? Lee...you have something?"

Lee started mumbling something "cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-se. Cheeeeeeeeeeeeee-se. CHEEEEEE-se!"

He got louder and louder, until he realized donkey had come right up to him and snatched the cheese from him and gobbled it down in one bite. (Which wasn't very nice!)

Lee was so sad his friend swiped from him that he grunted in frustration..."Bah! Gee...oh I wish I had my cheese." Lee was so sad.

Then donkey felt bad. So he thought he'd make it up to Lee and asked if he could give a ride back to his house to get more cheese. Lee was so excited he said "sure!" And off they went both happy as could be.

German 101: Number Story

In order to retain things in memory, associations are helpful. Mom mom taught me an association story for counting to ten in Japanese when I was ten, and it has always stuck with me. So...I decided to try it with a few key languages I want my kids to learn. 

Create a story...

1. Write foreign numbers 1-10

2. Then translate numbers into an equivalent-sounding English word

3. String them together into a simple story line

...

Deliver story and create memory...

1. Tell the story to your child. Embellish it and make it fun and memorable, emphasizing the keys words with emotion or repetition.

2. Tell an abbreviated/simplified story using few words and emphasizing each number in your fingers

3. Then point to each finger one at a time and say the word associated and have your child fill in the parts of the story

4. Next have your child tell you the story as you point to your fingers and ey say the words associated with each one.

----------

VOCAB: German numbers 1-10

1 Ein(s) (I)

2 Zwei (spy)

3 Drei (dry)

4 Vier (where)

5 Fünf (humph...!)

6 Sechs (zack's)

7 Sieben (see Ben)

8 Acht (Acht, Acht, achoo!)

9 Neun (a-nnoyin-g)

10. Zehn (sane)

The Story... (German Dog: annoying accidents-rooms in house)

(My abbreviated version, but feel free to embellish and connect it with the children somehow so it's easier for them to like and retain.)

Ralph was a dog. He and his brothers were all at home cleaning the house for their mom. Ralph decided to go into the kitchen to help zack do the dishes. Ralph said "I spy a towel to dry with."

As Zack said "where?" He stepped right on the towel and slipped and fell, dropping a jar full of ground black pepper. "FfHumph!"

Ralph was sad his brother slipped..."Oh no! zack's fallen down! See Ben?"

So his other brother Ben came over to the kitchen to see, but when he smelled the pepper that Zack spilled he couldn't stop sneezing... "Acht, Acht, achoo!" 

All that sneezing was annoying! And it was so loud that Ralph would have gone insane. But instead of going crazy he decided to pick up Zack who had fallen and clean up the pepper so ben wouldn't sneeze. Then everyone was happy...including mom, because peace was restored to the kitchen. Haha.

Spanish 101: Number Story

In order to retain things in memory, associations are helpful. Mom mom taught me an association story for counting to ten in Japanese when I was ten, and it has always stuck with me. So...I decided to try it with a few key languages I want my kids to learn. 

Create a story...

1. Write foreign numbers 1-10

2. Then translate numbers into an equivalent-sounding English word

3. String them together into a simple story line

...

Deliver story and create memory...

1. Tell the story to your child. Make it long and meaningful and fun. It will stick more.

2. Tell an abbreviated/simplified story using few words and emphasizing each number in your fingers

3. Then point to each finger one at a time and say the word associated and have your child fill in the parts of the story

4. Next have your child tell you the story as you point to your fingers and ey say the words associated with each one.

--------------------------------

VOCAB: Spanish numbers 1-10

1. uno (eew no...)
2. dos (does)
3. tres (tray...[finished run-on with number four])
4. cuatro (s-quat...row)
5. cinco (sink...oh!)
6. seis (says)
7. siete (see it...eh?)
8. ocho (ouch...oh!)
9. nueve (new wave...eh?)
10. diez (days)

The Story... (The Spanish Monkey: 1st picnic-food)

Dora was getting ready for her tea party with her monkey, Boots. So she started gathering some fruit. One piece dropped on the ground. "Eew....no!" Whoops! So she picked it up and rinsed it off with water. She asked Boots "Does this look clean now?" He said "It does." So she handed him his fruit on a plate, along with his cup. Everything was placed nicely on a tray to carry to the table. But Boots was confused where to go because he wasn't used to tea parties since he was always on Dora's bed. In fact, he didn't even know what a tea party was!

Dora tried to tell Boots to take the tray and sit at the short, long table crowded against the wall, with cushions to sit on all placed neatly in a row. But she didn't want to confuse him so she tried to just tell him with three short words, "tray...squat...row."

Boots was even more confused. So Dora explained: Take the tray to the table. Then squat down onto one of the cushions in a row by the tea table. Now Boots understood. so he went to sit down, but dropped a piece of fruit. "I'll take it to the sink. ...Oh!" Boots had accidentally dropped the fruit down the sink drain. "Mother says once food goes down the drain it's lost for good. That what mother says. Boots...can you see it, eh?" Asked Dora. Boots couldnt see it: "I'll try to get it." He said as he reached down his paw. "Ouch! Oh!" Boots ended up hurting his paw on something poking out from the drain. Dora bandaged it so it was better, which made Boots happy. He thanked Dora by waving his paw at her. "Hmmmm....new wave, eh?" She asked, as she didn't see the normal friendly paw she was used to high-fiving, but instead saw a bandaged stub waving back and forth through the air. "Next time I'll listen to your mom and not put my hand down the drain. Moms know best!" Boots said. So, for the next 10 days Boots and Dora had tea parties until his hand got better. And Boots made sure to listen extra well to Dora's mom's advice so he wouldn't have any more accidents.

French 101: Number Story

In order to retain things in memory, associations are helpful. Mom mom taught me an association story for counting to ten in Japanese when I was ten, and it has always stuck with me. So...I decided to try it with a few key languages I want my kids to learn. 

Create a story...

1. Write foreign numbers 1-10

2. Then translate numbers into an equivalent-sounding English word

3. String them together into a simple story line

...

Deliver story and create memory...

1. Tell the story to your child

2. Tell an abbreviated/simplified story using few words and emphasizing each number in your fingers

3. Then point to each finger one at a time and say the word associated and have your child fill in the parts of the story

4. Next have your child tell you the story as you point to your fingers and ey say the words associated with each one.

--------------------------------

VOCAB: French numbers 1-10

1    un (un-der...1 & 2)

2    deux (see above)

3    trois (the)

4    quatre (cat)

5    cinq (sang)

6    six (cease!)

7    sept (set)

8    huit (wheat)

9    neuf (enough)

10  dix (this... 'dis. My son said it sounded so.)

-------------------

Example: The Story... (French Cat: singing-activities)

Under the table there was a cat who sang and sang and sang. At first it was quite lovely and pleased his mother. But the he started to sing louder and louder, just to see if he could bother his sister.

After a while his mother said "cease!"

She asked the cat to stop bothering and instead to be of some help set the table with wheat. So he set the table, but he was sad he had been told to stop singing. So he said to himself, "enough of this bad singing. I'm going to sing again!" So he started singing, but this time he sang soft and lovely again, and this made all his family come gather to listen. And mom was happy to have lovely music, help setting the table and that everyone gathered for a peaceful dinner.

Square Dance for Kids

Here is a simple square dance for kids that you could make up a tune for... (I use chords d,c,e on guitar)

chorus:
            D chord           C chord
Around your partner: Do-si-do.
           D chord           E chord
Around your partner: here we go.
            D chord           C chord
Around your partner and you'll see
D chord   E chord      D chord 
Just how fun square dance can be.

         E chord                        D chord
Now Bow to your partner, say "hello."
         E chord                  D, C, D chords
Bow to your partner and say "he-llo."
[chorus]

(repeat verse chords same as before)
Clap hands with your partner. Clap, clap, clap.
Clap hands with your partner. Clap! Clap! Clap!
[chorus]

Put your back to your partner and stand real still.
Put your back to your partner. And stand still, still.
[chorus]

Hook arms with your partner and swing 'em 'round.
Hook arms with your partner. Swing them 'round and 'round.
[chorus]

Bow to your partner, cay "Thank you."
Bow to your partner. And say "tha-nk Yooooou."
[chorus]