Materials
colorful newspaper ads (found in newspaper inserts)magazinesglue stickspaperscissorsmarkers or crayons
Instructions
1. Give each child a piece of white paper, a glue stick, and a pair of scissors. Place several newspaper ads and magazines in the center of the table for the children to browse through.
2. Explain to the children that they will be making counting books by gluing pictures of similar items on different pages.
3. The children begin by cutting out one picture of an object to glue on page one. Help them write the numeral 1 somewhere on that page.
4. As they complete page one, give them another piece of paper. Ask them to glue a picture(s) of two similar objects on the page. They might use pictures of two dogs, two animals, two stuffed toys, and so on. Let the children decide how "similar" the items should be. This helps them learn to categorize while also encouraging creative thinking.
5. Help them write the numeral 2 on the page.
6. Continue until each child decides she is finished (perhaps five pages). Older children may want to work on their books for several days and make 10 pages.
7. Encourage the children to dictate a story about the items they chose for each page and how they are similar. Help them to write the name of the item at the top or the bottom on the page. For younger children, it sometimes helps to write the word on a separate piece of paper for them to copy.
8. Help the children create covers for their books. On a piece of construction paper, help them write "My Counting Book," "My Book of Numbers," or whatever they want. Let them write their names at the bottom of the cover.
9. Punch two holes in the cover and the pages of the book on the left side. Use brads or yarn to bind or tie the pages together.
