Here’s a Halloween math idea for October. This Spider Ring Counting Game is an activity we did recently in my classroom during small group, and the kids loved it. Even the children who usually don’t want to sit down and practice counting… loved it.
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I first want to say that I do not like worksheets in Pre-K, and while this may look a little worksheet-like, this is what I call a “hands-on game with a recording sheet”. The game is fun and hands-on, but without a recording sheet it won’t really work. (I only do a few recording sheets here and there.)
Supplies and Set Up
Put two plastic spider rings in an empty tissue box for each child in the group. Choose two colors of spider rings to place in each box. You only need two spider rings per box, one of each color. Spider rings typically come in orange, black, green, and purple.
You will need bingo dot markers in whatever colors match your spider rings. Black dot markers are not included in all sets, but I found black ones in this set from Amazon — and these do work well.
How to Play the Spider Ring Math Game
To play, children reach in the box without looking and pull out a spider ring. They mark a spider on their recording sheet with the same color dot marker. Then, they drop the spider ring back in, and try again. They continue pulling spiders out and marking them until every one on the page is marked.
When all of the spiders are marked, have the children count how many they have of each color.
In my Pre-K class, the top part of the recording sheet was for the children to do, and the bottom part was for the teacher to do. The children counted the spiders and I wrote the number they counted in the space. I did have a few children who were able to write the numbers themselves and wanted to do it, so I let them. You can also use number stamps and have the children stamp the number of spiders.
Download the Spider Counting Game
Download: Spider Recording Sheet
Note: This printable is free, just click to download.