Less & more, big & small- by the age of 3, most kids understand the visual interpretation of these terms. Comparing a handful of balls with one ball or showing a mama bear and a baby bear works pretty well in learning the basics in earlier years too. You can make several simple math games around these objects.
In kindergarten, I thought of introducing kids to the concept of the “Grater Gator”- yes, the >< signs to depict greater or lesser while talking about numbers
If you are parenting a kindergartner and not sure how to make these concepts a bit more catchy or interesting for the child, read on.
My tip is to begin with the question-
Do you want to eat more cookies or fewer cookies? ….. this always works 😉 !!Moving on, introduce the “Greater Gator”- the naughty gator that always eats the number that is BIGGER…just like the little one wants to eat more cookies.
We then moved on to this really interesting and engaging game using our UNO cards.
🚦Take out all of the cards that aren’t number cards (such as the Wilds, Skips, Reverses, etc.) from your UNO deck. Only the number cards are needed for this game.
🚦Shuffle the cards and keep 2 popsicles sticks around to make the <> symbol.
HOW TO PLAY:
1. Each player turns over the top two cards.
2. With those two cards, the player places the cards in an order that would give them the largest number.
For example, if I picked a 5 and a 9, I would want to place them like this: 95 & Not 59, because 95 is the largest two-digit number I can make with these two numbers. {First way that this game reviews greater than/less than}
3. Both players display their two-digit numbers side by side.
4. Then give a turn to player 1 to make the appropriate symbol using popsicle sticks in between the numbers to show how the numbers relate to one another (< , > , or =). {Second way this game reviews greater than/less than}
5. The player with the highest two-digit number gets to keep all four number cards.
Go Mommy tip- Continue the rounds of the game till both players win🤦🏻♀️! Else be ready to handle some tantrums and tears!
Hope you enjoy this family game that is a wonderful blend of numerical concepts as well as lots of fun.
Go Mommy!