Problem-solving, Object inquiry skills
Toddlers participate in guided play with fit-together toy fish, including requesting one or two more fish from a pretend fish store.
Be Prepared: The fit-together toy fish are also known as fish builders. Organize two fish of the same color for each toddler who participates. Do not connect the fish. Organize the remaining fish by color for a pretend fish store that you manage. Use a container or tray for keeping the remaining fish in your pretend store. The activity may be adapted for use with bunny builders as an alternative to fish builders.
Invite 3–5 toddlers to join you to play a game with toy fish that fit together. Explain that the name of our game is More fish, please! Give each toddler and yourself two fish of the same color. Emphasize the number of fish you are giving each toddler. Example: “Here is one fish. Here is one more fish. Each of us has two fish.”
Put the container or tray of remaining fish near you. This is the pretend fish store. Keep the remaining fish builders in the container next to you.
Provide sufficient time for toddlers to explore their toy fish, especially if this is a new material for most toddlers in the gathering. Then use your two toy fish to demonstrate several ways the fish can fit together. Encourage toddlers to connect their two fish. They may wish to explore several different ways.
Explain that we have a fish store. You are the person who works at the pretend fish store. Toddlers can get more fish from the fish store. Show the collection of remaining toy fish in the pretend store. Encourage toddlers to say “More fish, please” when they want more fish. Remind toddlers that More fish, please! is the name of our game.
When a toddler asks for more fish, respond by asking: “Would you like one fish or two fish?”
Repeat the toddler’s request. Example: “Robin wants one more fish.” Then put the requested fish in front of the toddler. Point to and say the number of fish you are giving the toddler. Emphasize the word more. Examples: “Here is one more fish.” “Here are two more fish.” Provide the same color of fish that the toddler already has unless the toddler requests a different color of fish. (see Enrichment tip.)
Describe toddlers’ actions with the fish. Draw toddlers’ attention to their peers’ work with the fish. Examples: “Sarah is making a line of fish.” “David is making a fish tower.” Use size words, especially bigger and taller, to describe what happens to a creation when a toddler has more fish.
This activity continues the ELM Curriculum’s use of fit-together toys to support toddlers’ problem-solving skills. The most recent uses of fit-together material are in Blocks 19 and 20. Although the current activity description invites toddlers to connect the fit-together fish, some toddlers may be more interested in stacking the toys or exploring them in some other way. Connecting the toy fish is not central to the activity goal of strengthening awareness of the concepts of one and two.
Toddlers may be more interested in adding fish to their collection than in building with the fish. This is fine because the activity is intended to focus primarily on the concepts of one or two more fish. Toddlers are generally aware of numbers one and two due to their age, but may have had limited experiences in applying the concepts of one and two to objects.
Using the same color of fish helps a toddler focus on the concepts of one, two, and more without color as a potential distraction. See the Enrichment tip for adding color to the game. Attention to color of fish can be done at a general level (same color or different color) or at a specific level (example: “two more blue fish”) if toddlers know the colors of the toy fish. Avoid using the activity to teach color unless toddlers have full grasp of the concepts of one, two, and more.
If you run out of a specific color of fish in the pretend store, simply explain to the toddler that the store has no more fish of the needed or requested color and offer an alternative color.
If a toddler asks for more than two fish, explain that in our game we get one or two fish at a time. But we can ask for fish as many times as we like (until the pretend store runs out of fish).
If toddlers in the gathering readily participate in the game, consider having a toddler manage the store. Sit next to the toddler storekeeper and offer verbal support as needed.
Extra support
Enrichment
Problem-solving, Object inquiry skills
Toddlers select one farm animal toy for each dot on a set of cards that includes one or two dots each.
Be Prepared: Offer this activity to 1–4 toddlers at a time. Organize sets of two cards—a one-dot card and a two-dot card—for each toddler. Each toddler is to receive two sets of two cards (a total of four cards: two cards with one dot and two cards with two dots).
A full set (bucket) of farm animal counters includes 30 counters that represent five different animals (cow, horse, rooster, pig, sheep). Color of counter is not a factor in the current activity. Use all 30 counters for 3–4 toddlers. Use 20 counters that include 3–4 of each of the five animals for 1–2 toddlers. The jumbo farm animals used in the current activity are also used in Block 4 and again in Block 25.
Offer the activity at a low table that has adequate space for each toddler to have four dot cards in front of him/her. Set the farm animal toys in the middle of the table. Keep the assembled sets of dot cards near you.
Look at all of the farm animal toys in the middle of our table! Each of us can pick some farm animals in our game.
[Hold and show each animal toy as you name it or invite toddlers to say a farm animal’s name.]
We have a cow. We have a horse. Here is a rooster. Here is a pig. And we have a sheep.
[Show a one-dot card and a two-dot card. Point to dots when you describe them.]
We will use these cards in our game. The cards have big dots. This card has one dot. This card has two dots. One, two.
We will pick a farm animal toy and then put the animal toy on one of the dots. We can pick any animal we want, and we can put the animal on any of our dots that does not have another animal on it. We put one animal on one dot.
[Put the two cards on the table so all toddlers can see them. Leave space between each card. Describe picking an animal toy—say its name—and putting it on one of the dots. Then describe picking another animal toy and putting it on another dot. Emphasize one and two when you describe how many animals can be put on each card.]
We can put one animal toy on our card that has one dot. We can put two animal toys on our other card because it has two dots.
[Point to the open dot on your two-dot card.]
Do I have a place for one more animal? (yes!)
[Describe picking another animal toy and putting it on the open dot on the two-dot card.]
Now each of my dots has a farm animal toy. I have one animal on one card and two animals on my other card.
Are you ready to play our game?
[Distribute a preassembled set of two cards to each toddler: a one-dot card and a two-dot card. Invite toddlers to put the cards on the table in front of them, with dots facing up.]
Let’s touch each of the dots on our cards. We can begin with the card that has one dot.
[Lead toddlers in touching the dot on their one-dot card. Say “one dot” when you touch the dot on your card.]
Now let’s touch the dots on the card that has two dots.
[Lead toddlers in touching each dot on their two-dot card. Example: “Here’s one dot. Here’s another dot. Two dots.”]
Now each of us can pick one farm animal to put on one of our dots.
[Encourage toddlers to pick an animal and put it on any dot on their cards. Continue the process with two more farm animal toys, one at a time.]
We put one animal toy on each of our dots. We put one animal on one card. We put two animals on our other card.
Would you like to pick some more farm animal toys?
You may choose an animal for each dot.
[Distribute the second set of two cards (a one-dot card and a two-dot card) to each toddler who wishes to pick more farm animals. Show cards and point to the dots when you describe each.]
These cards are just like our other cards. One card has one dot. The other card has two dots.
[Invite toddlers to place their two additional cards in front of them, next to their two cards with farm animal toys. Repeat the process used previously for supporting toddlers in picking one farm animal toy for each dot. Provide verbal support as appropriate.
After each toddler has put an animal toy on each dot, invite toddlers to tell what farm animals they picked. You may wish to initiate this sharing by pointing to and saying the names of animals on your cards. If toddlers seem hesitant to talk about the animals they picked, say the names of 1–2 animals for each toddler. Example: “I see a cow on one of Anton’s dots. I see two horses on Tenisha’s cards.”]
We played a game of putting a farm animal on each one of the dots on our cards. Some of our cards had one dot. Some of our cards had two dots. We had fun picking farm animal toys to put on our dots.
This activity is consistent with the NAEYC accreditation standard for cognitive development that calls for opportunities for very young children to explore and manipulate materials in ways that support early mathematics skills. Placing one toy on one dot can promote beginnings of one-to-one correspondence. Using cards that differ in number of dots extends the Option 1 attention to the concepts of one and two.
Toddlers will likely differ in their interest in specific farm animals. Some may want to select specific animals, whereas other toddlers may simply enjoy the process of manipulating an appealing set of materials. Some toddlers may want to collect a certain color.
Toddlers will generally use a pincer grasp to pick up an animal counter and set it on the card. If you see a toddler who does not use his/her thumb and finger to grasp the toy, ask the toddler “Would you like to try a different way to pick up an animal toy?” and offer a demonstration. Correction is not needed during this activity, but note the need for other activities to foster the toddler’s fine motor skills.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: water table, fit-together toy fish (Option 1), clear containers, Option 2 materials
Place the toy fish in a water table and provide two small clear containers for each child. Invite toddlers to put one toy fish in one container and two toy fish in their other container. Toddlers can empty their containers into the water and start again. One way you can participate at the table is to ask a toddler to give you a specific number (one or two) of fish for your container.
Some toddlers may enjoy using the Option 2 set of cards and the jumbo counters on their own. Arrange a play space for one child on a large tray or small table. Arrange the counters by color and stack the cards face up.
Materials Needed: play dough, small animal figures, beads and laces, My First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle
In addition to offering Options 1 and 2 for older toddlers, provide materials for toddlers and preschool-age children to manipulate that can foster understanding of one and two. Soft balls of play dough are easily divided for children to see one ball and then two balls of dough. Add small animal figures to a dough activity to increase opportunities to talk about one and two. Preschoolage and older children also may enjoy making necklaces from beads and laces. My First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle offers pictures of numerals and objects for numbers 1–10.
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