Believe it or not, my favorite holiday is the Fourth of July. Probably because I just love fireworks so incredibly much (minus the part where my husband tries to blow his head off with mortars). They’re just magical and thrilling and simply beautiful. Now, add in a barbeque, a pool party, some cornhole, and our freedom, and it’s literally the perfect day. This week has been a blast teaching my little ones what the Fourth of July and being an American are all about. Check out these engaging USA math activities for preschoolers here!
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USA Lesson plans
Souvenir Shop
Coin Matching & Identification
There is such an immense excitement when children get to buy something at the store – even if it’s at the Dollar Store. It’s something new, and the kids get to choose themselves, which we (as teachers and parents) all know the importance of the power of choice.
For this first USA math activity, we set up our own souvenir shop with Statues of Liberty, flags, necklaces, and magnets. I just taped the statues onto blocks, added popsicle sticks to the flags, used binder rings to hook the necklaces to the stars, and added magnetic stickers to the backs of the magnets. Easy set-up!
Then, I set out the Souvenir Shop sheets (it comes with many different combinations of coins and fronts/backs of coins), the coin spinner, and a tub full of coins. To play, spin the spinner to see which coin it lands on. Next, find the matching coin in the tub and place it on the matching picture in the Souvenir Shop. Once all coins for a souvenir are collected, the kids get to “buy” that item off of the shelves. (Cue the excitement.) They get to continue playing until all souvenirs are “bought.” Then, put the souvenirs back to play again!
Skills:
- analyze, compare, and sort objects (coins)
Ameri-Cake
Counting Sensory Bin
So my eldest daughter definitely inherited some of my creativity. There are art projects littered all over the house. For this reason, I have started adding art to my weekly lesson plans, which hopefully will be helpful for both teachers and parents.
Anyway, Ameri-Cake did not start out this way. We had already made the red, white, and blue rice and added a few USA-themed items, but I really wasn’t feeling it. My daughter was playing with it, and she said, “I’m going to make a cake.” And I was like, “Ah-ah!” Cue heavenly music. “Ameri-Cake!!!” Also, cue the happy laughter.
For this activity, just draw a recipe card (comes with numbers 0-5 and 0-10 to easily differentiate) and scoop the red, white, and blue “batter.” Then, add star sprinkles (found at Hobby Lobby), flags, and candles, and you’ve got Ameri-Cake! Sing the song (music makes everything more fun), dump it back out into the sensory bin, and bake another cake. Too much fun!
Skills:
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when counting objects, say the number names in standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name
- understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted
Counting Flags
Fine Motor USA Math Activity
Now, after all that excitement from Ameri-Cake, you’re gonna need a quiet activity. And Counting Flags can provide you with exactly what you need. We taped pipe cleaners onto the numbered flags and the kiddos laced the corresponding number of pearl beads onto the flag pole. I think all of those fine motor skills at work took all of their concentration because it got real quiet. Ahh. To add in some subitization/ten frame counting, the kids found the matching number of stars to go with the flag. Such an easy set-up with this math center!
Skills:
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- when counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name
- understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted
- uses pincher grip
Lincoln Hat Measure
Non-Standard Measurement Activity
After reading about Abraham Lincoln and his signature hat, we decided to measure the height of his hat using snap cubes. Using snap cubes is a great way to begin to use a ruler. Since rulers don’t physically end where the objects we are measuring do, little learners can simply continue to count to the end of the ruler rather than the end of the object. Snap cubes solve that problem because we can adjust the number of cubes in our “ruler.”
For this activity, we used snap cubes to measure the height of Lincoln’s hat. Then, we recorded the height on the recording sheet. There are numbers written on the bottom to help with number formation or little ones can just add dots to the boxes to show the number. This math activity is easy to set up and also includes a STEAM challenge, which you can read about on my USA fine motor activities blog post.
Skills:
- identify measurable attributes of objects, such as length and weight
- when counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name
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- manipulates small objects with ease (snap cubes)
U.S. Ten Frame Tour
Ten Frame Identification
The last USA math activity we did was go on a tour of the United States. I taped these beautiful photographs of important U.S. landmarks around the room, and then we pretended to fly in an airplane to each location. I announced where we had landed and read the fun fact aloud to the kiddos. Then, we counted the dots in each ten frame and recorded the number on our recording sheet. We also stopped to discuss different ten frame strategies such as:
- If the ten frame is full, there are 10 dots.
- When the ten frame is missing one dot, then it is one less than 10, or 9!
- If the first row is full, that is half of 10, or 5.
- One full row is 5, plus 1 more is 6.
This was a great way to incorporate math with significant landmarks in our country. Plus, it led to some awesome creations during block time. Check out our landmark STEAM here.
Skills:
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- count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 10 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circl
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These USA math activities were bursting with fun and learning. I absolutely love it when my kiddos can’t wait for the next activity! They are having so much fun that they don’t even know they are learning! I hope you and your little learners can have a blast with these activities! If there is anything you need to make them work for your students, please don’t hesitate to contact me by filling out a form here.
