Building Fact Families

Awhile back, I saw a great idea from Margaret at KinderJourney.   She was using clothes pins and craft sticks to build sight words.   I loved the idea because kids enjoy working with the materials and get to develop important fine motor skills while also working with academic tasks.   

My kids couldn't get enough, so we started using these materials to build addition facts and then fact families.   

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To build addition facts, just write the addition sign and equals sign on the craft sticks. Provide kids with sets of clothespins with numbers you are working with.  My kids love to fill a table with facts they have built!

Kids love building fact families too! I put the craft sticks and number pins that kids will need to build one fact family in a large ziploc bag. Kids then act as detectives to figure out what fact family they can build using these components. 

To develop an understanding of missing addend problems, kids pick up a "fact" and remove one of the pins.  Their partner has to figure out what number pin they removed.    

If you decide to try this out, I'd love to hear how it works for you! Thanks for stopping by!   Anne

To get it in their minds, start by putting it in their hands . . .

This simple game helps kids become excited about working with addition.

In a classroom, I start by demonstrating with a group of 5 students and then use the game at a math center. This quickly becomes a favorite.  At home, just enjoy with your kids!

To prepare:
Gather 5 beanbags (or other objects to toss) and a basket for kids to aim at.

To play:
Have kids toss beanbags, trying to “make a basket.”
When all the beanbags have been tossed, work together to create an addition number sentence.
For example:  2 beanbags are in the basket and 3 beanbags are on the floor.   2 + 3 = 5
At first, say the number sentence together.
Once kids are confident saying the number sentence, extend this activity by writing the number sentence.  A whiteboard makes writing more fun for many kids!  

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by,  Anne