Disclosure: We received these bug counters from Oriental Trading to facilitate this series on getting ready for kindergarten through play. All opinions and ideas are our own.
Meet Toby the Monster.
He's not very scary, but he's the key part of a great game for counting. That makes him a smart, although funny-looking, monster. (Hey, nobody's perfect!)
He's not very scary, but he's the key part of a great game for counting. That makes him a smart, although funny-looking, monster. (Hey, nobody's perfect!)
He's easy to make. In fact, this was going to be my practice monster to see what worked and what didn't before I made a better one, but in the end I just said, "Eh, this one will do."
I removed the paper on a plastic bottle and cut a hole in the middle-ish, big enough for some counters to go in and easily come back out again. (The sides can be sharp after cutting, so you can smooth them with a nail file or sand paper or just put tape over the sharp parts.) I glued on construction paper teeth and googly eyes (have to have the googly eyes!). He also has ears and earrings made from pipe cleaners and star beads (from our friends at CraftProjectIdeas.com).
I removed the paper on a plastic bottle and cut a hole in the middle-ish, big enough for some counters to go in and easily come back out again. (The sides can be sharp after cutting, so you can smooth them with a nail file or sand paper or just put tape over the sharp parts.) I glued on construction paper teeth and googly eyes (have to have the googly eyes!). He also has ears and earrings made from pipe cleaners and star beads (from our friends at CraftProjectIdeas.com).
He's goofy, and that's just the idea. And like I said, it's not really about him anyway. It's about counting!
We used colorful cardboard bug counters to "feed" Mr. Toby. (By the way, his name came from Kay, who, when I asked what we should call him, scanned around the room and settled on our poodle-mix named, yes, Toby.)
We used colorful cardboard bug counters to "feed" Mr. Toby. (By the way, his name came from Kay, who, when I asked what we should call him, scanned around the room and settled on our poodle-mix named, yes, Toby.)
How to play: You'll need 1 die and something to feed him with. I gave us each a pile of 20 counters to start with. One of us would roll the die, and whatever number came up was the number of bugs Toby was fed from our pile. The first person to use up all her bugs, wins!
Kay really liked this one. "Don't touch his scary teeth!" she'd warn me.
But her favorite part was the end, when the winner (always her in our case!) was decided and it was time for Toby to "throw up" the bugs. Yes, the secret to getting preschoolers attention is to add anything gross to the mix. It certainly worked in this case.
But her favorite part was the end, when the winner (always her in our case!) was decided and it was time for Toby to "throw up" the bugs. Yes, the secret to getting preschoolers attention is to add anything gross to the mix. It certainly worked in this case.
Variations: You could use 2 dice and the players have to add the number on each one and feed that many counters to the monster. Great for early addition!
What we're working on here:
What we're working on here:
- Counting
- Taking turns
- Being a good winner and loser
Welcome to the Getting Ready for Kindergarten series, full of ways to prepare for school - the fun way! See what you've missed so far...
