LADYBUG DRAW & ADDITION

This activity introduces basic addition and even/odd numbers in a creative fun way. The materials needed are basic, so hopefully you already have them at home. First your child will get to make a ladybug by tracing lids found in your kitchen cabinets (see directions below). Then they’ll color it in (practice coloring). We chose to make ours red, but it can be any color. Lastly, they’ll be given a number and use play dough balls to create the ladybug’s spots.

After our ladybug was complete, we took out a container of black play dough and made several round balls. These were used for the spots on the ladybug. *Play dough can be any color (use whatever you have).

I then got out my computer and googled “number generator”. I chose to have the numbers 1-10 generated. For older kids, you can choose larger numbers. After she solved one number, we generated another number and continued on until we did them all. If a number repeated, then it was a good review.

Once we got a number, she got to work counting out the black play dough balls. We did this two different ways. You can try both with your child or pick one that you think will be easier. My daughter preferred the second option.

Option #1: Example- generated “6”. She counted out 6 play dough balls, put all of them on one side/half of the ladybug. Then one ball at a time, she would put on the other side of the ladybug until there was an even amount on both sides. After she moved every ball, we would count to see if even. If she could place an even amount of balls on both sides, then it was an even number. If she couldn’t (had extra balls), then she knew it was an odd number. Then we counted each side and discussed how 3 +3=6.

Option #2: Example- generated “7”. She counted out 7 play dough balls. She then placed one ball on the left side of the ladybug and then one on the right side and repeated until all of the balls were gone. She determined if even or odd- same way as above. We counted each side again and discussed how 3 +4=7.

By the end she was very proud of herself for “adding” numbers together. It was a simple activity, but great introduction into addition. The concept of even/odd was an added bonus.

• When we were cleaning up i had her put the balls in order from largest to smallest before putting in the container. I added some balls together to get a bigger range of sizes.