Materials
Old books or workbooks
Scissors
Glue stick
Index cards
Felt and flannel board, optional
Instructions
1. Cut out strips of construction paper approximately 1 1/2 " in width and 8" long.
2. Choose the focus for a math lesson, such as counting patterns, more/less, or
maybe even some simple addition or subtraction for very advanced threeyear-
olds.
3. Loop a paper strip and staple it to make a circle. Add more strips by looping
them together and stapling them.
4. For a simple lesson in counting, ask the children to sit in a circle and count
together as you add links. Ask the children, "How far do you think our chain
can reach if we put 10 links on it?" Count as you add them, but then go back
and re-count when you're done. Give each child a chance to come up and
count them individually.
5. For a lesson in simple patterning, choose two colors and alternate the links
three times each so that you have six links on the chain. Ask the children to
tell you what color should come next. Say the colors out loud together as you
point to them to help the children establish the pattern: "BLUE-RED-BLUERED-
BLUE-?" If they are ready, try a three-color pattern.
6. For a lesson in more/less, divide the children into two or three groups, with
an adult in each group. In a five-minute span, ask each group to make as long
a chain as they can. Then hold them out next to each other. Whose chain has
more? Whose has less? Count them to confirm your guess. (Three-year-olds
will still be unsure which number is higher, so make it as visual as you can,
showing the difference between the longer and shorter chains.)
7. For children who are ready to start seeing a little bit of basic addition and
subtraction, ask two "teams" to each make a chain and count the links. Then
link both chains together and see how many there are. For subtraction, start
with a chain with five or ten links. Ask a child to come up and snip off a
designated number of links. How many are left?
8. Don't be afraid to use words such as "add" and "subtract." Exposure to these
terms will only help the children down the road.
More to do
Art: Encourage the children to decorate the paper before using them in a math
lesson. They can decorate them according to the theme or just for fun.
Holidays: Make a link chain to designate how many days are left until a holiday
or a special event in the classroom. Take a link off every day and recount. Or
start a chain at the beginning of the year or particular month and add a link
every day to see how many days they've been in school or to help calculate the
date. For example, "There are eight days on our March chain that means it is
March 8th."
