Sorting is a beginning math skill. It may seem that a big chunk early math is about learning numbers and quantity, but there’s much more to it. By sorting, children understand that things are alike and different as well as that they can belong and be organized into certain groups. Getting practice with sorting at an early age is important for numerical concepts and grouping numbers and sets when they’re older.

This type of thinking starts them on the path of applying logical thinking to objects, mathematical concepts and every day life in general. Studies have even been shown that kids who are used to comparing and contrasting do better in mathematics later on. For this activity, we practiced sorting different colored moose. Using our thinking minds, we placed different colored moose onto the different colored circles of a Twister board! Since we are learning about moose, this was a perfect complement to our curriculum!

Food preparation is not only a fun, engaging activity for children,  but one that can be used for years as an important teaching and development tool for all ages. For one thing, hands-on cooking activities encourage a sense of pride and confidence. The act of following a recipe can encourage self-direction and independence, while also teaching children to follow directions and use thinking skills to problem solve.

Working with food also inspires children’s curiosity, thinking, and problem solving, offering new opportunities to make predictions and observations.

Additionally, creating snacks offers authentic opportunities for students to understand and apply their knowledge of measuring, one-to-one correspondence, numbers, and counting. As they follow a recipe, children organize ingredients, follow a sequence, and carry out multiple directions.

Lastly, chopping, squeezing, mixing, and spreading materials help develop a child’s small muscle control and hand-eye coordination. For this activity, we used a few ingredients to crease Moose Snacks. We used graham crackers as the head, pretzels as the antlers, and blueberries as the eyes. Once we were finished, we ate up our yummy creations!

We began our Arctic Animal month with a lesson about all things related to the moose!!

Although native to Europe and Asia, moose are found throughout Northern hemisphere in Northern Canada and other colder climates.

Moose are also called “elk” and are members of the deer family.

These large mammals are solitary and do not form herds. Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move quickly if angered or startled.

Using small toy moose, pine cones, artificial grass, rocks, and clay, we created our very own moose habitats!