Make Number Rubbings

What You Need:

• paper
• black marker
• 10 pieces of blank paper with one block number written on each
• at least 10 objects with lots of different textures (sandpaper, homemade paper, leaves, coins,…etc.)
• safety scissors
• pencil
• crayons
• lined paper

What You Do:

1. Draw the numbers 1-10 on blank pieces of paper, with one number per sheet. Make these numbers big, blocked, and outlined so that your child can color the numbers in.
2. Show your child how she can make a cool design on paper, by “rubbing” a crayon across a piece of paper that’s on top of an unusual texture.
3. Sit your child down at a table with the stack of numbers and a variety of textures to work with. Explain to her that for each page, she is going to match the number with the correct amount of textures. For example, for the “3” page, she’ll find three objects with different textures to rub under the paper, in order to form a design. She might use: one coin, one leaf, and one comb.
4. Help your child with the first page. Show her how to lay an item on the table (for example, the sandpaper), and then lay the printed out template page on top of it. Using a bare crayon, turned on its side, show her how to press down while rubbing the crayon on the white paper to form the rubbing.

Easy? Yes. Fun? You bet. But also a great lesson in math. This activity helps preschool kids connect written numbers with the amount of objects they represent. And it has some pre-writing and science experimentation thrown in, too.