Mystery Boxes:
The object of this activity is to bring about an awareness of organizing objects into groups and counting them. These organizational strategies help the students to count the items in the box. This also works on their counting and addition skills. We have talked a lot about having organizational strategies when counting objects to 20. Like making rows or groups. Also, double checking our answers!
Example 1:
This student decided to group by colors and count the groups "all together" to get a total. I seriously would have grouped cars and frogs if it had been me. This one really thought "outside" the box! I love it!
Example 2:This treasure chest of dishes and flatware has been a big hit! The possibilities are endless. 16 can be "4 groups of 4"
Example 3:
These buttons are great because they can sort by size, color, and sets. This student forgot the total amount on the paper, but counted 15. This one allows them to see that 15 can be "3 groups of 5".
Mystery Boxes is an easy activity you can do at home for practice with your child on counting, grouping, adding, and organizing strategies.
