Egg Carton Flyer

Save your egg cartons to construct a flying wing! It soars with the help of a penny inserted in the "cargo bay!" Click here for the template and instructions!

integration:
geometry: angles (best angle for distance)
estimating: distance
measuring: distance
science: potential / kinetic energy / wind

Pencil Top Place Value

Practice place value by stamping pencil tops (ink pad or paint), creating a place value abacus!

Rattlesnake Eggs!

Explore animal adaptations, while playing a prank on your class! All you need is an envelope, one paperclip, and a rubber band. When someone opens the envelope, they jump back because the sound of a rattlesnake projects from inside!

Click here for a video tutorial (easy construction: 3 materials)
Check out the prank in action here! (Instructions with metal washer or button)
Instructions here using 2 clips
Instructions with soda cap

After you scare everyone, ask kids, "Why do rattlesnakes have a special tail?"

Time Beads

Make a fashion statement by creating a portable time bead necklace! Kids can practice telling time wherever they go! Plus, they can flip over their numeral beads to help them tell minutes on an analog clock. The small beads help them figure out exactly what the minute hand is on. They just count and slide!

materials: yarn, plastic beads, construction paper, markers, and pipe cleaners

Numeral paper beads: Cut 24 squares or rectangles out of construction paper. Write numerals on them (1-12) and (00-55 - counting by fives). Staple the squares that match back to back (12 and 00), so you can string it on your necklace. 

Necklace: Alternate stringing your paper number beads and your plastic beads. Once beads are strung, tie a knot to make a necklace.

For the hands, use pipe cleaners or anything else you can find! If you're at a restaurant, grab 2 straws! Kids lay their clock on a flat surface and create a time on their clock. Then, they figure out what time they created! They can cheat and peek, if they're not sure what the minute hand is on.

1 minute

What Can You Do In One Minute? This activity is from Mixing in Math! When introducing time to kids, explore 60 seconds. Have them choose three activities (example: drawing stars, jumping jacks, hopping on one leg, etc.) Then, have them estimate how many they can do in one minute. Did anyone choose the same activity? How did their score compare? What activity could they do the most of? Which activity did they do the least of?

For older kids, have them do 5 activities. Then, have them find the mean, median, mode, and range. They use their score for each activity. (Example: 60 hops, 50 stars, 40 jumping jacks, etc.) They find the m,m,m,and r of 60, 50, 40.....

- or - Choose one activity for the entire class to do in one minute. Then, write their scores on the board and have them figure out the m,m,m, and range.

Lego Roll

Last year I wrote about learning fractions with Legos. To turn this activity into a math station, I made a Lego Roll game. Kids roll a die to determine what color comes next for their fraction tower. After ten rolls, have kids figure out their fractions for each color.

Another Lego math station idea is to write fractions on notecards and have children create the fraction out of Legos (like a fraction museum). Once they've built all of their towers, they can call the teacher over to check.

Close to 100

Materials: Uno Numeral Cards (0-9) and Wild cards (at least 4)

(2-3 player game) Shuffle cards and deal out 6 to each player. Players use four of their cards to create two two-digit numbers. For example, a 7 and 6 could be 76 or 67.

Wild Cards can be used as any numeral (0-9).

The goal is to create 2 two-digit numbers that add up to a sum that is close to 100. Once players figure out their sum, they subtract their number from 100 (see example above). The player with the lowest score wins the round! 

For the next round, players put the cards they used in a discard pile and take four different cards. When finished playing, players add up their score for each round: lowest score wins!

Click here for free score cards and full instructions from Williston K-12!

Heads vs Tails

Kids shake a group of various coins, cupped in both hands, and drop! Then, they compare heads and tails: writing fractions and coin amount. 

Big Spender or Bill Saver?

This economics project is by Emily Stout at We are Teachers (2nd grade lesson plan). Kids explore wants / needs as they balance money in Kid Town. 

In order to have money, they startup a business. They collaborate, design store signage, create a window display (out of poster board), and market their product. However, they have expenses (rent). Plus, their list of needs comes before their wants. Students find that they might not always be able to get what they want with their earnings.

Who's a big spender and who's a bill saver? Click here for the full activity! 

Color Mixing Fractions

This idea was inspired by Mama Jenn's Magic Painting / Color Wheel activity. Kids explore primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, while learning fractions! Check out her site for a free printable. Plus, see how you can do this activity with food coloring and paper towels.

Soil Density Column

How much sand, silt, clay, and plant material is in your soil? Integrate science and math with this simple experiment! Kids pour 1/3 of their jar with soil. Then, they add water and stir. Let your jar sit for  at least a day. The longer you let it rest, the better the results! Once the soil separates, have kids figure out the fraction for each of the soil components. Older kids can figure out the percentage.

Visit Soil-Net for full instructions. Click here for a pdf from Soil-Net to go along with the experiment.

GEO Eggs

Investigate circles using various sizes of plastic easter eggs. Kids trace egg halves with a pencil. 
Click here for more plastic egg ideas!

Fruit Snack Math

The wrapper tells you how many fruit snacks are in the bag. Estimate how many of each flavor is in your bag before opening it.

Write a fraction for each flavor. Then, graph your flavors. How did your bag compare to your peers? Do you think that the flavors are evenly distributed?

Lay your fruit snacks out an a straight line. Can you find something that is the same length? (measure)

Find a friend and compare your fruit snacks. Who had more cherry? Did you have the same amount of cherry? Compare each flavor using greater than, less than, or equal to signs.

Create a multiplication array with your fruit snacks. Then, practice division. How can you divide your snacks evenly if you shared your bag with your mom and dad?

Write addition and subtraction number sentences: What is the sum of your strawberry and grape (2+3=5)? If you ate all of your orange and lemon, how many fruit snacks would be left (12-5=7)?

Make different patterns with your colors. Did you have any difficulty because of the colors in your bag?

More fruit snack activities:
Fruit by the Foot Ruler - measure by the foot
Chopsticks! - practice place value with swedish fish
Growing Gummy Bear - grow a gummy in water and measure!
Gummy Worms - How long can a gummy worm be stretched?
Fruit Roll Up - Area/Perimeter

Hello my name is...

This activity was inspired by Mrs. Bremer's Kindergarten's Hello My Name is: letter / number / sight word recognition.

Kids go around the room, figuring out the standard form of each of their peers' numbers. They record their answers on paper next to their classmates' names. Once all numbers are figured out, have kids find the largest and smallest number. Can they identify which ones are even or odd?

You can practice any concept on a name tag: addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. Have kids write a number sentence on their name tag. Then, they go around the room and solve each equation using a list of their classmates' names. 

Kids can also work on parts of speech. Each kid has a word on their name tag. Kids have to organize themselves in the correct group. Do they have a noun, verb, or adjective?

Synonyms / antonyms, compound words, or homophones: Have kids find their match!

Water Cycle Dominoes

Water Cycle Dominoes: Kids rotate paper dominoes, matching terms to the correct definition.

Capacity and Fractions

Over at 5th Grade Rocks, 5th Grade Rules, kids worked on capacity using fraction strips! Check out the activity here!

Fraction Treasure Hunt

Sensory Box activity / fraction game from FlapJack Educational Resources! Kids hunt for fraction tokens (reducing, improper to mixed, or fractions to decimal). Check out the post here for instructions and free recording sheets!

Note: You can fill your sensory container with anything to hide your tokens. Kids dig and try to uncover the hidden treasure! I recommend using one large, deep container for a math station.

What time is it?!

Fun, telling time activity from Chalk and Slate! First, kids design paper watches (bands for their analog clock). While they're creating their bands, the teacher writes different times on pieces of scrap paper (one for each student) and tosses the times in a paper lunch bag. Kids pull out a time, without showing it to anybody! Next, the teacher passes out miniature, blank analog clocks. Kids draw hands on their clocks (to show their time), tape it on the band they created, and sport it on their wrist. Now the fun begins! Each child gets a piece of paper with their classmates' names typed on it, with a line next to each name. Children go around the room and ask each other "What time is it?!" The peer they ask shows them his/her watch, without saying the time. The child writes down the time that each one of his/her peers have on their watch. Could they tell the right time? Check out the activity in action over at Chalk and Slate!

Click here for a time printable! Kids record 3 activities that they did! - when they began the activity and when the activity ended.

Balloon Rounding

Rounding demonstration to grasp the concept:
Hold a balloon with all five fingers. "Release one finger at a time, then ask does the balloon go up with 1 finger, the reply is no it stays the same. This continues until you release the fifth finger. Then the balloon goes up. Therefore 0-4 stay the same, then 5-9 round up." - For the Kids via Teacher Vision

Release the pinky first. Keep your thumb around the twist last. Then, release the balloon!

Earth Day: Design a Bag

Online Project: "The Earth Day Groceries Project is an easy, cost-free environmental awareness project that teams up youth and grocers to spread the message of Earth Day. To participate, teachers simply borrow paper grocery bags from a local grocery store. Students decorate the bags with environmental messages about reuse, recycling, wildlife, etc. The bags are then returned to the grocery store, and on Earth Day, April 22 of each year, customers receive their groceries— along with the message that kids care about our environment— in the decorated bags."- Earth Day Bags

Click here to get your class involved!

(Note from Earth Day Bags): "Another Idea: If you can't use paper bags, you can have your students decorate individual fliers, or even bookmarks, which can be handed out to shoppers or inserted in their shopping bags.  These will be counted in the project tally."

Place Value Necklace

Write down numbers and toss them in a paper brown lunch bag. Have students pull a number out (no peeking!). Next, they create a necklace to represent their number using Froot Loops Cereal and Pasta. Tell kids to keep their number a secret! Once everyone has their necklace constructed, instead of reading the room, they read each other! Give each student a list with their classmates' names on. Next to the names make a line for kids to write down their peers' numbers.

When kids are finished, have them find the largest and smallest number. Then, have them draw a red checkmark next to the even numbers and a blue checkmark next to the odd numbers. (Example left)

Place Value Slider

Create a place value slider: DIY teaching tool from Tattling to the Teacher! All you need are paint chips (gradient strips). Cut a square out of the center of each color and label the place value. Cut out a piece of cardstock or construction paper for the back. Staple the left and right edge of your paint chip to the heavy paper backing. After you staple the edges, staple the side of each color to create pockets for your number strips (see image below). Next, create rectangular strips of numbers 0-9 for each place value. Then, insert your strips, slide them, and create a number!

Note: For older students, you can attach multiple paint chips to create larger numbers or to incorporate decimals. 

Balloon Geography

How far will your balloon go? Check out the Helium Balloon Experiment here!

Instructions: Tag each balloon with your school address and the student's name, along with a note for the receiver to write back. Then, send them off! Kids mark off on a map where their balloon ended up. Whose balloon travelled the farthest?!