Counting playdough balls

• Playdough

This activity marked some improvement! For the longest we’ve been stuck route counting and counting using one to one correspondence only up to the number five. For today we counted using one to one correspondence to 8!

In the past activities, even though he could only route count and count using one on correspondence to the number five, I would always continue to count to 10 with him. It looks like it could’ve paid off! Although maybe not super consistent right now, over time, if I continue to do what I’m doing I think he will eventually count to 10 with me!

We’ve had Play-Doh put away for a bit, so I made sure to add this to the lesson. I took out two different colors of Play-Doh and rolled them into balls. Once I was finished rolling them I created a pattern to make it look a little more interesting for Theo.

I asked him to help me count these “mommys not sure how many I have.” Willingly as always, he came over and begin to count with me. However, when we began, we counted silly so all the numbers were out of order and I knew he could count at least some of them. So I redirected and I asked him to help me count.

I did give him the direction to count the next number in the number sequence when he touched a new ball, encouraging the one on correspondence. This also helps the child slow down and focus on what they’re doing instead of being silly. Once this happened, he counted independently to number eight.

I screamed of excitement! He expressed that he was very happy to, when this happens, it’s a very subtle encouragement for them to do it again! These are the building bridges to help children become confident, and morning willing to try and do it again!