We are all about math and numbers in my house. That's what happens when you have a kid with hypernumeracy...
As a result, we do a lot of playful math activities with loose parts. And, since the leaves are changing colors around here, we have been in full fall mode for our play activities. So, why not combine the two, hey?
The result is this super simple no-prep fall math activity tray. It's the perfect way to explore counting, grouping, and color sorting.
Fall Math Activity Tray for Kids: What You'll Need
As you'll see, this math tray is super quick and easy to set up. Here's what we used:
- 10 shower curtain rings, small cups, or similar - Use whatever you happen to have on hand. I just happen to have an abundance of shower curtain rings and shower curtains on hand (they were extras that were retired from my parents' motel).
- Acrylic leaves - I used 40 leaves total, 10 for each of the four colors that I had. Feel free to use as many as you want and/or makes sense for your child's skill level.
Simply set out your materials onto a tray of some kind, similar to what's pictured below. That's it! It is now ready for play.
And, as you can see, little hands could barely wait to check it out...
Toddlers & Preschoolers Will Love this Simple Fall Leaves Math Tray!
My oldest J started things off by sorting the leaves by color. He noted that there were 10 of each color and promptly told me there were 40 leaves altogether.
Next, J set out seven rings and practiced some grouping (and multiplying!). He put three leaves inside each of the shower curtain rings and declared, "That's 21, mom!"
My youngest K also attempted some grouping and sorting.
And he did manage to successfully group his leaves into groups of two, as you can see him starting to do here.
If you wanted, you could propose questions like, "What if you did 5 groups of 4?" or "What if you tried 8 groups of 4?" and encourage your kids to determine the total number of leaves.
Personally, I prefer to leave things more organic and let the kids explore the materials on their own and at their own pace. Sometimes they use the materials as I hope and sometimes they take the exploration into new directions that I never considered before.
Regardless, this fall math activity is such a simple and meaningful math exploration for toddlers and preschoolers. Will you be giving it a try?
