Exploring Junk/Treasure Boxes & other Math Materials with a Partner
- pattern blocks
- Unifix cubes
- tiles (either the plastic kind sold as math manipulatives or bathroom tiles)
- colored wooden cubes
- flat toothpicks
- any items collected in junk/treasure boxes
Students work in pairs. One builds a design with the materials and the second copies it using another group of the same materials. If they are things that the children can glue onto cardstock, such as the toothpicks, they can create permanent records of their discoveries. In the case of things that you don't want them to glue down, like pattern blocks, they can glue down paper shapes that match the pattern blocks. Either they can trace the blocks, or you can make up the shapes in advance for them. Some things such as wooden cubes can be drawn on a sheet of paper, or colored in on a sheet of 1/2 inch graph paper.
At another time they could explore single mirrors and two mirrors hinged together with magazines and books with colorful pictures to look at with mirrors. After they have done this awhile, provide them with 3" to 5" tagboard numerals and letters (capital and lower case) or a bowl of pattern blocks.
Sources: 
Mathematics... A Way of Thinking
GEMS: Treasure Boxes
Kindergarten
6 Activities
102 pages
Mathematics strands explored include discrete mathematics, statistics, number, logic and language. The educational sequence of these activities is designed to build real-life understandings of graphing, sorting, and classification while encouraging cooperation and appreciation for the many ways we can recycle and reuse materials.
Kindergarten
6 Activities
102 pages
Mathematics strands explored include discrete mathematics, statistics, number, logic and language. The educational sequence of these activities is designed to build real-life understandings of graphing, sorting, and classification while encouraging cooperation and appreciation for the many ways we can recycle and reuse materials.
Mathematics... A Way of Thinking
by
This activity-centered program contains lessons and blackline masters that covers problem solving, computation, geometry, measurement, probability and graphing.
