Montessori Activity: Playdough Number Line

Idea from Tot School

Age: From 4 years old

Duration: 5 - 15 minutes

Materials:
1. 1 container of 20 popsicle sticks labelled at the top with number 1 - 20 with a pen
2. 1 container of playdough
3. 1 tray

Directions:
1. Tell your child that you are building a number line and invite him to roll the playdough into a long line.

2. Find the no. 1 stick and stick it onto the start of the playdough line.

3. Ask your child to find the no. 2 stick and stick it next to no. 1.

4. Do the same to the rest of the sticks arranging them in numerical order.

Additional Information:
I got this fanastic activity for teaching the tens and teens numbers from Tot School. Joshua (3Y5M6D) tried it with Amy on 11.8.2012. Amy enjoyed it a lot and went on to complete it, but Joshua got frustrated mid-way. Next time I will only display 1-10 for Joshua.

References:
http://totschool.shannons.org/?p=5397

Popsicle sticks are available from Amazon: