Kids will have fun creating these DIY Math Manipulatives.  They are perfect for teaching kids how to do double digit math. 

These will work as base 10 manipulatives, and can help kids visualize what is happening in double digit addition and subtraction problems, whether they are learning the “new” way or the “old” way.  

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Having objects to move around when learning to add or subtract can really help kids visualize what is happening.

Popular objects to use in math centers include bear counters, buttons, and tiny erasers.  

Your child may also enjoy using toy cars, mini figures, or other favorite items they have at home.  When working on early subtracting you can even use playdough and play Subtraction Squish.

DIY Math Manipulatives

Materials Needed:

• Pipe Cleaners (Chenille Sticks)
• Pony Beads
• Scissors

Cut the pipe cleaners into 2 1/2  to 3 inch (6 – 7.5 cm) long pieces.

Have your child string 10 beads onto each piece of pipe cleaner.   You can further challenge them by having them put the beads in a pattern.

Bend the ends of the pipe cleaner pieces to help keep the beads on.  

How to Use Homemade Math Manipulatives

Once you have your DIY math counters ready, use them for some hands-on math.

Get out 2 small plastic containers to hold your manipulatives.  

Put the pipe cleaner sets of 10 in one bowl.   Put a handful of single beads into the other bowl.  

One way to use the DIY manipulatives is to talk about place value in two-digit numbers.

Write a two-digit number on paper, or use a set of number cards like we did.  

Use the strands of 10 to represent the number in the 10’s place, and use the single beads to stand for the 1’s.  

For instance, in the photo below, there are 6 strands of beads to stand for the 6 in the 10’s place, and 3 single beads for the 3 in the 1’s place in the number 63.

Do this several times together until your child seems comfortable with the concept.  You can even stop to count each and every bead on your homemade manipulatives to prove you really have the same number of beads as the number.

There are so many ways to make math fun.  Another way to use your manipulatives is to work on counting by 10’s.   

As your child is counting by 10, line up the beaded pipe cleaner pieces — so there is one pipe cleaner with 10 beads for 10, two when they count 20, and so forth.  This is a great way for them to see what counting by 10’s really means.  

Of course these DIY math manipulatives are also great for helping kids visualize double digit math problems.

These are perfect for helping kids better visualize place value as well as what’s really happening when you add or subtract those double digit numbers.

Why spend money on expensive math counters when you can make your own?  For other ideas on how to make your own base 10 manipulatives, check out The Measured Mom.

More fun hands-on math ideas:

• Kinesthetic Math Activities
• Simple Hands-On Measuring Activity 
• Nerf Gun Math
• ABCs & 123s — Hands-On Learning Ideas 

Note:  This updated post originally was published November 28, 2014.

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But what about the younger learners?  Toddlers & preschoolers are naturally curious, making STEM activities for preschoolers perfect for doing at home or in the classroom.  

Why Is STEM Important in Early Years?  

Not only are STEM challenges for preschoolers fun, but they are a great way to work on early math development.   Preschool STEM challenges often deal with counting, one-to-one correspondence, measuring, and recognizing if a quantity is “more or less.”  

The use of STEM education also helps support critical thinking and problem solving skills.  

When it comes to group STEM activities, young children develop necessary communication skills as they learn to collaborate and work together to solve a problem.  

Preschool STEM Activities

Music Instrument STEM — Toddlers and preschoolers will have fun creating their very own musical instruments.  Once they’re made, you can use them to make your own mini marching band.  

Cardboard Tube Marble Run — Use cardboard tubes to create your very own marble run.  Preschoolers will have fun dropping the marble through the maze to see if it works.  

Plastic Egg Submarines — Preschoolers love experimenting with what floats and sinks.  Challenge your child to figure out how to get the plastic eggs to sink like submarines.   In the fall, your child will love this pumpkin sink or float, too! 

Build a Tree — This would be a perfect preschool STEM activity for fall.   Challenge kids to build a free-standing tree, using craft sticks, play dough, and colorful leaves.  

Icy Dinosaur Egg Excavation —  How can you get the toy dinosaur out of the frozen egg?  Kids will have fun experimenting with different techniques and rescuing the dinos.  

Fireworks in a Jar — This is a colorful twist to the classic oil and water experiment.  

Sunscreen Painting —  This is a fun STEAM activity to demonstrate how sunscreen works.

Making Sun Prints — Use objects around the house and the power of the sun to create silhouette art.  

DIY Water Wall — Water is always a hit when it comes to toddlers and preschoolers.  Kids will have fun using recyclables to design a path for water to flow through.  

Engineer a Stuffed Animal Chair — Challenge your child to use recyclables to make a chair for their favorite stuffed animal

Fizzy Blocks — Challenge your preschooler to build a tower with their favorite blocks.  Then amaze them with a simple science twist.

Coffee Filter Parachute — Kids will love making a mini parachutte for their favorite toys.   Once finished, they will have fun testing out how well their parachute works.  

Bucket Pulley — Little ones will have fun making this simple pulley and using it to pull toys up the stairs.  

Walking Water Experiment —  Demonstrate what happens when colors mix, all while doing a simple and fun science experiment.

Magic Wand Explosions —    A drop of soap on the end of a toothpick becomes a “magic wand” in these 2 super simple science experiments.   

Penny Cleaning Experiment —  Have a preschooler that loves to get messy?   This hands-on experiment is perfect for getting messy and learning a little about chemistry.  

Color Explosions — Toddlers and preschoolers will have fun dripping water from eye droppers and watching the colored marker dots spread out across their coffee filter.  You can use this same science to make colorful coffee filter suncatchers.   

Lava Lamp Sensory Bottle —  Start with the basic oil and water experiment…and give it a fun twist.  This preschool science activity can double as a calm down bottle once you’re finished.  

Engineer a Boat that Floats — This one is perfect for all ages.  What objects from the recycling bin, or nature, can you use to build a boat that really floats?  

Icy Lantern STEAM Activity — Preschoolers will love creating their very own lanterns, made of ice!  

Building Shapes — Learn about shapes while building your own with marshmallows & toothpicks.  

Melt a Frozen Heart — Can you get the plastic heart out of the ice?  Young scientists will have fun experimenting with how to get it out.  

Fizzy Halloween Science —  Mix up some fun with this preschool science experiment that’s perfect for October.  

Fizzy Rainbow — Young kids will love this baking soda experiment that results in a bubbling rainbow of colors.  

Melting Snowmen —  Preschoolers will have fun dropping their “snowman” into the water and watching it slowly disappear.  

Paper Cup Phone  —  Young kids will have fun engineering their very own working phone made with paper cups.  

If you liked these STEM activities for preschoolers, you’ll also like:

• Preschool Mad Scientist Lab
• How to Do the Egg Drop Challenge
• CD Hovercraft STEM Activity 
• Build a Balloon Powered Boat
• Preschool Vehicle Activities for the ABCs

 Check out my Youtube channel for more preschool STEM. 

The post STEM Activities for Preschoolers first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

I remember loving the books as a child and I thought I had read all of them, until I stumbled upon the book Wacky Wednesday.

The book quickly became a favorite in our house. 

We love it so much, in fact, that we have fun with Wacky Wednesday activities every year as part of our Dr. Seuss activities in March. 

The silliness in this book will delight kids of all ages.

You can easily have fun with these ideas for Wacky Wednesday any time of the year.  It doesn’t even have to be on a Wednesday!   After all, what could be wackier than having Wacky Wednesday on a Friday?   

Don’t forget older kids love getting wacky, too!  Check out these Seuss activities for older kids.

Dr. Seuss Wacky Wednesday

Prior to celebrating your own crazy day, take time to read Wacky Wednesday aloud to your child.  

The book is full of hidden pictures of silly things taking place.  Encourage your child to scan the pictures and look for the strange, crazy, and out-of-place items.  

Each new page will tell you how many items to look for.  Can your child find them all?  

You can continue the fun with a few of the ideas below.  

Wacky Wednesday Activities

The night before you plan to celebrate Wacky Wednesday, prep your house for a wacky wake-up in the morning.  

I suggest starting with ideas from the book itself. 

In the book the silliness all starts off with a shoe on a wall. 

You can do this quite simply.  If you have pictures hanging on the wall, take one down and use the hook in the wall to hang one of your child’s shoes.  

I love to go a little crazy with this, and use every shoe I can find. 

Start by hanging a few on the wall.  Then try putting them on top of curtain rods, hanging them from door knobs, balancing them on top of lamp shades…. 

Of course you don’t have to just use shoes.  Feel free to get wacky in other ways, too.

Try flipping over tissue boxes, a kitchen chair, and some toy cars.  

What about turning all the books around in the bookcase?

When the kids get up, it won’t take long for them to notice things are a little crazy. 

Announce that it’s Wacky Wednesday and send them on a scavenger hunt of sorts — looking for all the wacky things that are out of place.  

Wacky Wednesday Ideas

What other wacky things can you do that day?  

Make it an all day activity by trying a few of these fun ideas.  

• Try serving breakfast under the table.   You might even find yourself getting a little Seussical, “Eating under the table, well that shouldn’t be.  Things left that are wacky, there are now 3!”

• Dress silly!  Wear your shirt inside out or backwards.  Will your child notice?  Or try wearing 2 different colored socks.
• Eat dessert before your main meal.  
• Give each other crazy hairstyles.
• Try walking backwards or in different animal walks to get around your house.  
• Have a pet?  Our dog even got in on the action by wearing one of my husband’s t-shirts.

Wacky Wednesday Activities for Kindergartners

Looking for some educational activities to go with the book?  

These ideas will work in a classroom or at home.  

• Whack a Word —  Preschoolers and kindergartners will have fun with this early reading game.  
• Wacky Elephant Toothpaste — Mix a little science into your day with this wacky, foamy experiment that kids love.  
• Mixed-Up Hundred Chart Game — You can easily adjust this game to the level of your child.  Mix up the pieces to your hundred chart and challenge them to put the pieces back in the correct order.  Perfect for kids learning to count to 100!
• Dancing Frankenworms — Can you make a gummy worm dance?  This silly science activity will get kids excited about science. 

Wacky Wednesday Crafts

Craft time is the perfect time to get a little silly!  

• Silly Creatures — Inspired by another Seuss book, these silly creatures are perfectly wacky and wonderful.  
• Wacky Painting — Discover some wacky painting ideas that will inspire your child to get creative.
• Popcorn Faces — This silly craft is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.  
• Wacky Wednesday Hat — Print out this template and create your own hat to go with the book.  Or, create your own silly hats to wear!

More Dr. Seuss Activities:

• Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Printable Activity 
• Yertle the Turtle Math Game
• Seuss Inspired Sight Word Game
• Paper Plate Cat in the Hat Craft
• I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today — Craft

The post Simple & Fun Wacky Wednesday Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.