Jump to It!: A Counting Game

Your child can reel off his numbers. But does he have a real handle on what those numbers mean? This jumping game gets math off the page and into the real world-- and it works on both number sense and estimation, key skills for kindergarten readiness.

To play, each child picks a challenge card out of the box. Then they estimate how many jumps it will take to get there. The final step? It's time to jump to it... literally! As your child attempts to make it to his destination in the estimated number of jumps, he'll gain practice predicting distance, estimating, and connecting number words to amounts.

What You Need:

• 20-30 index cards
• markers, or old magazines and catalogs
• tape
• a small box

What to Do:

1) This game requires some initial set-up. Before playing for the first time, you'll need to create a set of Challenge Cards. If you're a decent artist, you can draw your own pictures. If not, grab a stack of old catalogs or magazines and cut out pictures of some household objects and items. It's completely up to you what to include, but here are a few suggestions: a door, a window, a table, a book, a desk, a bed, a couch, a closet, a circle, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a chair, a computer, an oven...

2) If you are drawing your own pictures, draw a picture of one item on each of the index cards. If you are using pictures from catalogs and magazines, tape one picture onto each index card. When you're finished, put all the cards, picture side down, into the box.