Colorful Counting Octopus Craft
In this fun art activity, you and your child will make a colorful paper plate octopus to practice counting.
Learning Goals
This activity will help your child:
- Develop number recognition and counting skills
- Apply one-to-one correspondence in counting objects
- Build fine motor skills
Materials
- Paper plate
- Construction paper
- Markers or crayons
- Small items like cereal loops, sequins or buttons
- Scissors
- Glue
- Googly eyes (optional)
Vocabulary
One-to-one correspondence means matching one and only one number word to each item being counted.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Make the octopus' head. Cut the paper plate in half and use half of the plate as the octopus head. Decorate it with crayons, add googly eyes and draw its mouth.
2. Make the octopus' legs. An octopus has eight legs, also called tentacles. Cut eight long strips out of construction paper. You can use different colors for each leg or keep them all the same.
3. Write the numbers 1-8 on each leg. Label each leg with a number from 1-8 and glue them to the back of the octopus head in order.
4. Octopuses' legs have suckers that help them grip rocks and move around. Have your child add suckers to the legs according to the number on each leg. You can use small round items like cereal loops or sequins for the suckers. Glue one cereal loop for the leg labeled 1, two cereal loops for the leg labeled 2, and so on until you get to eight cereal loops for the leg labeled 8.
5. Practice counting together! Ask your child, "How many legs do we have in total? Let's count out loud: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8! There are eight legs! How many cereal loops do we have altogether? 36 cereal loops!"
Keep the Conversation Going
Even though octopuses generally have eight legs, you can add two more to create 10. Have your child practice "counting on" and solving even larger equations with the legs. What happens when they add all the numbers on the legs together?
Book Suggestions
"Hippos Go Berserk" (Ages 2-5) by Sandra Boynton
In this book, your child will enjoy counting the hippos and guessing how many friends will show up next.
"My Very First Book of Numbers / Mi primer libro de números" (Ages 1-3) by Eric Carle
In this bilingual book, your child will practice counting the number of fruits on each page.
Corresponding Standards
California Preschool Learning Foundations
- Number Sense 1.0 Understanding number and quantity
Head Start Early Learning Outcome Framework
- Goal P-MATH 1.Child knows number names and the count sequence.
California Common Core State Standards
- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4 Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.
