- connecting cubes
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening: SL.PK.MA.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
Mathematics/Counting and Cardinality/PK.CC.MA.1: Listen to and say the names of numbers in meaningful contexts.
Mathematics/Counting and Cardinality/PK.CC.MA.2: Recognize and name written numerals 0-10.
Mathematics/Counting and Cardinality/PK.CC.MA.3: Understand the relationships between numerals and quantities up to ten.
Head Start Outcomes:
Approaches to Learning/Cooperation: Joins in cooperative play with others and invites others to play.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Mathematics/Number Sense 1: Listen to and say the names of numbers in meaningful contexts.
Mathematics/Number Sense 2: Connect many kinds/quantities of concrete objects and actions to numbers.
Connecting Cube Train Races
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Counting, Fine Motor Skills, Speaking and Listening
Have children build connecting-cube trains to send down ramps they have made. Encourage children to work in pairs.
- Have them connect cubes to make trains, then race them down their ramps.
- They can mark the distance each of their trains travels by using more connecting cubes (e.g., “the train went 4 cubes long”) or another method.
As children work, ask them to consider how the length of their trains affects how far the trains go. Encourage them to experiment with different numbers of cubes.