Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Grocery Store Game {Math}

My 5 year old is obsessed with math! She is constantly counting, sorting, and adding things. While at the grocery store yesterday I decided I would create a pretend grocery store at home. My goal was to do it with items we already had at home so it wouldn't cost us anything, and thus I present you "The Grocery Store Game".

To recreate something similar you will need:

- pretend food
- baskets
- cash register and/or calculator
- pad & pen
- pretend or real money
- labels for pricing (I used address labels I had leftover from Christmas)

1) Create the labels for your prices. We kept it simple and made all the prices 1, 2 or 3 cents.

2) Label the food.

3) Sort according to types. My daughter sorted as follows: veggies, fruits, refrigerated items, bakery and cans/cartons.

4) Set up your store. We put the food out in appropriate baskets, set up the cash register, calculator, pad and pencil and baskets/shopping carts. Start to play!

I had my daughter write down the prices on the paper and do the math manually.

Then I had her double-check her math using the calculator.

Lastly the money (pennies) was counted and put in the cash register.

We had a really good time playing! We all took turns acting out different roles and it was a blast. One of my favorite moments was when my son only had 3 pennies left and my daughter explained what items he could afford and which ones he would have to buy next time after he got paid ;) I also loved it when my daughter decided to use their menu board to advertise some sales, she even included an offer for free juice to see if more people would come to her store. Love her way of thinking!

Variations for the future:
- we will change prices as our math improves to have larger digits.
- use other coins as we learn the value of each.
- pay more so change is due back (subtraction).

Objectives covered:

  • to recognize numbers
  • to be able to write numbers
  • basic addition
  • counting and using coins (US, Euro, or Canadian)

    Proudly linking to:
    Making Making your home sing Mondays Sumo Sweet Stuff Keeping It Simple
    Passionately Artistic Creations by Kara http://www.thethriftyhome.com
    Show and Tell Green
    NightOwlCrafting



13 comments:

Grandma Bonnie said...

This is a great way to work on math. I am going to try this with my oldest granddaughter. New follower from the Creative Bloggers hop. Hope you stop by and visit. http://grandmabonniesweeclassroom.blogspot.com/

momstheword said...

oh how fun! I love this! When my oldest was that age we didn't have fake food at that time, so I used the food I had in our pantry and marked it with a price.

He loved playing that "game" and I loved that he was learning math, lol!

Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday!

Mel Creates Often said...

Very cool, what an amazing idea! I'm a new follower from the More the Merrier blog hop. Please come by mine, if you get a chance.

Esther Asbury said...

What a fun way to do Math!!

Michelle said...

My daughter is obsessed with playing store, I have been wanting to add this element to it for awhile now! Looks like you all had a lot of fun...can't wait to try it here :)

Our Creative Day said...

How fun - a great way to enjoy math!

Anne @ Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy said...

Fun game!

Natasha Mairs - Serenity You said...

definitely going to be doing this with my 6 year old son this week!! thanks

i would love it if you would share this on my link party , Serenity Saturday over at www.serenityyou.blogspot.com

xxx

Vicky @ Mess For Less said...

What a great idea! I love how it is fun yet also teaches all these skills at the same time.

I am a new follower from the Show and Tell Blog Hop. If you have a moment stop by www.messforless.net and say hi!
Thanks!

'Becca said...

That's a great game! I used to play something like it, but I was 8 or 9 before my friend and I thought of it. My son is 6 now; I'll try it with him once he gets over his obsession with making our house a "museum" filled with his "exhibits"--there isn't room for a grocery store, too!

When I was a Girl Scout leader, we did a grocery store field trip that was educational in math but also nutritional decision-making. It was fun, too!

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas said...

how fun!!!! This was fabulous! We have so much play food, a register, etc and yet I've never thought of setting up an official store. The girls play store all the time but I love how you incorporated learning and math into the fun and even calculator practice!

would love to invite you to link this up to the Sunday Showcase - http://momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Showcase

Bern

Sweet Peas and Bumblebees said...

Such a GREAT idea! We are featuring you tomorrow at the start of a new What I Made Wednesday Linky Party @ Sweet Peas and Bumblebees! Come and grab a button and join in on the fun!

Alisa

Anonymous said...

Nice blog!!
Grocery Store