Materials
clothmagic wand (painted dowel)various items
Instructions
1. Put out several items. Count how many there are with the children.
2. Have the children close their eyes. Pretend you're a magician and you are going to make items disappear. Cover the items, tap on the cloth, and say, "Hocus pocus." Take one item away.
3. Remove the cloth and ask the children to open their eyes. Count the items that are left. Ask the children how many items disappeared.
4. If the children have trouble with the subtraction, see if they can tell you what's missing and figure how many disappeared using this method.
5. Gradually make the activity harder by putting out more items and taking more items away.
