Candy Counter

What You Need:

• Bag of candy
• Paper
• Pencil

What You Do:

1. Help your child clear off a working space and grab some paper and a pencil.
2. Dump an ample amount of candy in the middle of the space.
3. First, have you child count the candy. Have him start by counting by ones, then fives, and then tens. He might want to use tally marks to keep track of how much candy he's counted.
4. After he's finished the counting practice, give your child a little time to decide on three different ways he wants to categorize his candy.
5. Encourage him to describe to you how he's decided to categorize.
6. Help your child write the categories on the piece of paper.
7. Let him sort and categorize his candy.
8. Have your child explain his reasoning behind categorizing the candy the way he did.
9. Finally, have him count, tally and write down how many pieces are in what category.
10. If time permits, let your child discover new ways to categorize and count his candy.