Valentine's Learning Centers

Valentine's Day has come and gone but we are still having fun with our learning centers!

We do many versions of "Roll and Color" or "Roll and Cover" type game. It can be as simple as a ten frames with either dice or number cards.

For this first game we used a hearts worksheet with 48 blank hearts printed on it.Roll and Color Hearts page.
I found these cute red and pink plastic hearts at the Dollar Tree---I think they were for vase fillers or table scatter but they work so well for counters!

So, I have 2 ways to play this game....one for my kiddos who need a bit of a challenge, and another way that helps my kiddos still working on 1-6 subitizing.

For my younger students, they simple roll 1 die and identify that number, then add that many counters to onto their heart page. My students needing the challenge, they get two dice. We have started math conversations about comparing numbers (which is bigger/ more?). I have taught them to find the bigger number and stick it in their head (I point to my head) and then count on with the smaller number.
For example....say a student rolls a 6 and a 3; I ask them which is the bigger number (6), put 6 in your head and let's count up: 6...7, 8, 9! Then they add their 9 pieces.

So many of these four year olds are starting addition concepts and building their number sense ---all in a game! You gotta love that !💖

Most kids love a race, so they try to race to see who can fill their board first :)! This game can be played in small groups, teams, or individually.

This game is two fold--we are working on counting, subitizing, AND our fine motor skills! Those little hearts are a bit slippery and you have to use your pincher grip to pick them up and to place them where you want!

I had a few students who took the activity a little further and put their counters in a pattern as they worked to fill their page ;D.