Many storybooks provide children with opportunities to develop their understanding of important math concepts, such as counting, measurement, and shapes. The activities outlined below are based on three storybooks and build upon children’s exploration of mathematical ideas introduced in these storybooks. The first page of each activity provides an introduction to the mathematical concepts and explains how to prepare the materials and complete the activities.
Storybook-Based Math Activities
“Let’s Count” by La Coccinella is a counting book, introducing numbers one to 10. The activities build upon the story to give young children opportunities to practice saying the number words, counting sets, and identifying how many are in a set. They also give young children opportunities to match quantities and explore ideas of more and less.
Download the “Let’s Count” activity in PDF format.
“Mouse Shapes” by Ellen Stoll Walsh is a book about shapes, helping children learn the names of shapes, how to identify them, and seeing that shapes can be used to construct other things. The activities give young children opportunities to sort, name, and identify shapes, copy the constructions from the book, and make their own constructions.
Download the “Mouse Shapes” activity in PDF format.
“Crash! Boom! A Math Tale” by Robie H. Harris is a book about building with blocks, involving counting and measurement. The activities here give young children opportunities to build towers with blocks, make predictions about which is taller, and make direct comparisons to find which is taller.
Download the “Crash! Boom! A Math Tale” activity and parents’ guide in PDF formats.
