This month the Virtual Book Club for Kids is sharing activities to go along with books by Eric Carle. There are so many books to choose so there are sure to be some terrific activities shared. We were inspired to create this fun math game for preschoolers and kindergarteners.
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Before doing this activity we read 1o Little Rubber Ducks. In the story ten ducks go overboard and find adventure out in the ocean. This concept set the stage perfectly for our math game.
Preparation
To set up the game I gathered one blue glitter foam sheet, a tan foam sheet, and ten small rubber duck party favors. Because I wanted to keep the ducks contained during our activity I also used a large glass baking sheet. You could use any tray or container that will fit your foam sheets and ducks.
I trimmed the blue sheet a bit to make it look like the edge of the ocean. Then I set the tan sheet down into the glass baking sheet and placed the blue sheet on top so that they overlapped a bit.
Math Game
In this game we are practicing combinations of numbers. You can set the game up with as few or as many ducks as you’d like. We used 10, so that we could practice identifying different ways to make ten.
To play, the kids scooped up all of the ducks in their “boat” (We used our hands, but if you have a small toy boat you could definitely use that, too!). Then they dropped them and yelled “OVERBOARD!” Then they counted to see how many ducks landed on the shore (tan foam) and how many ducks landed in the ocean (blue foam).
We repeated as many times as the kids wanted to and made observations along the way about the different combinations they were getting.
To extend the activity you could also have kids write out the combinations or tally how many times they got each combination during their game.
You can also modify the number of ducks used to play the game and explore different combinations.
Now that we’ve shared our activity with you, we’re excited to see what you came up with! Please link up your Eric Carle inspired posts to the blog hop linky below.
- Link up only posts inspired by Eric Carle’s books that share book inspired crafts, activities, recipes, etc. Any other posts will be deleted.
- Visit other blog posts on the linky and comment on or share the ones you love!
Stop by and check out some of the other blogs that participate in The Virtual Book Club for Kids.
Toddler Approved– The Educators’ Spin On It– Rainy Day Mum– 3 Dinosaurs– Learn~Play~Imagine – Crafty Moms Share – Reading Confetti–Inspiration Laboratories – Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas – Kids Yoga Stories – Enchanted Homeschooling Mom– Ready-Set-Read – Boy Mama Teacher Mama – PlayDrMom – Fantastic Fun and Learning – Growing Book by Book– Royal Baloo – The Outlaw Mom® Blog – Kitchen Counter Chronicles – Teach Preschool – Mama Smiles – Coffe Cups and Crayons – Juggling With Kids – Here Come the Girls
If you are looking for more book-related activities to try now, check out the Virtual Book Club for Kids Pinterest Board.
Looking Ahead to Future Virtual Book Club Authors
Below is the author list for the upcoming year. Mark your calendars so you can join in and read along with us! 
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More Math and Science Activities with Fizz, Pop, Bang!
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It includes 40 educational projects and 20 printables including a set of build-your-own 3D shape blocks, engineering challenge cards and a range of math games.
Learn more about Fizz, Pop, Bang! or you can buy it now!
Dawn
What age range would be appropriate for playing the rubber duck math game?
Shaunna Evans
This will vary based on the child. Generally I’d say this would be an activity for kids ages 4 to 6 who are able to count sets to 10 and able to identify more and less.
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest
What a sweet little math game!
Cerys from Rainy Day Mum
Brilliant – we’re working on number bonds for 10 and this would be a perfect activity for this. I love the glitter foam I wonder if we can get it over here
Carrie
What a fun activity to go with the book.