Counting 'Til the Pigs Come Home

Animals and insects line up to be counted in painted scenes.

• 1.

  Cover your work area with newspaper. At the top of your paper, use Crayola® Washable Watercolors and Crayola So Big Brushes to a paint background scene, such as a farm, garden, or ocean. Leave space at the bottom for a description. Dry.

• 2.

  Imagine what kinds of creatures live in the setting, such as pigs on a farm, bugs in a garden, and fish in an ocean. On a separate sheet of paper, use Crayola Washable Markers to draw a set of creatures. Cut out each creature with Crayola Scissors.

• 3.

  Count your creatures. Attach them to your dry watercolor scene with a Crayola Washable Glue Stick.

• 4.

  With markers, describe your scene using words and numerals. Exchange scenes with classmates to count and read each other's work.

Benefits

• Children practice counting skills, connecting the abstract to the concrete by creating scenes and adding animals and insects to be counted.
• Children write about their counting scenes, using words to describe mathematical ideas.

Adaptations

• Write stories, songs, or poems about the scenes, incorporating counting as an integral element. For example, write a story about a pig that gets lost, causing the farmer to repeatedly count the pigs. Or write a song about bugs in a garden that gets more a
• Each child chooses a different setting (forest, space, classroom, kitchen, football stadium) and a different number of items to count. Compile artwork and captions into a class counting book to take home for additional counting practice.
• Younger children and special needs students may need assistance with using scissors and keeping track of small pieces. Arrange helper partners as needed.