Egg-O

I am always looking for fun ways to promote learning in our home – games to play, activities to do, places to go, craft projects to make, etc.  Many of the ideas that I am currently using in homeschooling, I used when I was teaching so have been relying on my memory or things that I have written down in folders.  Yesterday was no exception.  I pulled out my Easter/Spring folder over the weekend and decided to make a game with Grace to help with math equations.

It is called Egg-O.  All you need is an empty, clean egg carton, permanent marker, two coins/chips, and markers/stickers to decorate the carton.  I gave Grace and Hannah the responsibility to decorate the outside of the carton.  With several dozen stickers in hand, they plastered them all over the carton to create this lovely masterpiece:

 

Then I programmed the inside of the carton with numbers 0-10 and then repeated 5 to have one number in each of the wells.

I put two chips in the carton and then closed it tightly.  Grace shook the carton for five seconds and then opened it.  She noticed that the chips landed on 5 and 3. 

I had her make a number sentence or equation with them.  She wrote 5+3=8.  She put the chips back into the carton, closed it, and started again.  She made a whole page of equations.  It was fun to see her make these number combinations and she LOVED it! She did this over and over again and then had to show Danny when he got home! 

So… if you are looking for an activity for your kiddos, try these variations:

1.  Fill the wells with numbers and have your children tell you what the two numbers are.  For example, 3 is THREE and 5 is FIVE.

2.  Fill the wells with numbers and have your kids use the two digits to make a two digit number.  For example, 3 and 5 would be 35 or 53.

3.  Fill the wells with numbers and have your children add, subtract or multiply the numbers they land on. 3+5=8, 5-3=2, 3x5=15

4.  Fill in the wells with letters and have your children tell you the letter names, the sound that each makes, and/or a word that begins with that letter.

5.  Color in each of the wells with a circle of different color using a marker or a sticker.  Have your child put an Easter Egg in the well that matches that color.  For example, color the bottom of the well blue, orange, red, yellow, green, pink, white, black, brown, etc.  Have eggs that match those colors and the children will have to put the eggs in the right places.

 

The possibilities abound.  Do you have a cool activity to share using egg cartons?  Let me know… we eat a lot of eggs when they go on sale!   We are going to make Resurrection Eggs at MOPS next week.  If you don’t know what they are, stay tuned… I may have to share about that as well!