Math doesn’t need to be scary for your young learners when you create a set of these adorable math monsters to help them practice.
What you need:
What you need:
- Bright Paper (construction paper or colored card stock)
- Craft Eyeballs (Googly Eyes, as we call them)
- Scissors
- Clear Contact Paper
- Dry Erase Marker
Instructions:
Fold a piece of paper in half, and cut out a monster shape. What is great about monster shapes is that they are easy to make because they can be whatever you want them to be. They don't need to have arms, or legs. You can make them with eyes coming out of their head, or spikes coming out of their body. There really is no wrong way to create them.
Use the clear contact paper to cover each monster you create, placing the sticky sides of the contact paper on the monster, front & back. Then cut them out. Leave a border around the monsters, though, otherwise the contact paper will peel off. I left about a 1/4-1/2" edge, and I did not cut exactly the same shape, just around the edges is fine. It does not have to be perfect.
Use the dry erase marker to write an addition problem on each monster, leaving the answer blank. Dry erase markers will wipe right off the contact paper so you can do monster math over and over again!
Now comes the part for your little learner! Encourage them to place the eyeballs on the monster to help with the addition problem. For example, if the problem is 5+2=___, the child would begin by placing 5 eyes on the monster, and then they would place 2 eyes on the monster. Now they can count how many eyes are on the monster and complete the problem by writing in "7".
Wipe off the marker with a paper towel and try another math fact!
Fold a piece of paper in half, and cut out a monster shape. What is great about monster shapes is that they are easy to make because they can be whatever you want them to be. They don't need to have arms, or legs. You can make them with eyes coming out of their head, or spikes coming out of their body. There really is no wrong way to create them.
Use the clear contact paper to cover each monster you create, placing the sticky sides of the contact paper on the monster, front & back. Then cut them out. Leave a border around the monsters, though, otherwise the contact paper will peel off. I left about a 1/4-1/2" edge, and I did not cut exactly the same shape, just around the edges is fine. It does not have to be perfect.
Use the dry erase marker to write an addition problem on each monster, leaving the answer blank. Dry erase markers will wipe right off the contact paper so you can do monster math over and over again!
Now comes the part for your little learner! Encourage them to place the eyeballs on the monster to help with the addition problem. For example, if the problem is 5+2=___, the child would begin by placing 5 eyes on the monster, and then they would place 2 eyes on the monster. Now they can count how many eyes are on the monster and complete the problem by writing in "7".
Wipe off the marker with a paper towel and try another math fact!
