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Happy Chinese New Year!  – 2015 – The year of the…sheep…or goat…or ram. Take your pick! In Mandarin, “yang,” or “horned animal,” covers all three so no one is quite sure. The general consensus seems to be the sheep. View a brief history here of Chinese New Year.

So what do you think of this idea?

Planning on those traditional store-bought Valentine cards this year? How about creating opportunities for each child to make Valentine book markers instead? They make a sweet little gift, can be used all year long, AND might even encourage more book reading!

Supplies Needed:

• Paint chip cards (please respect the paint/hardware stores and ask for permission to take extras) OR cut and paint your own colored strips.

• A small hole puncher and a heart puncher
• Colored string or narrow ribbon

Developmental benefits:

• Hand-eye coordination
• Order
• Concentration
• Independence
• Self confidence
• language: finger strengthening for writing, left-to-right movement for writing and reading,
• math: units through counting hearts, understanding directionality – up/down, in/out, over/under (string or ribbon through hole)
• THE JOY OF CREATING & SHARING

Photo: teachingmyfriends blogspot

Martha Huester of Muenster, Germany shares a Math Project: “Counting Apples”
Great project Martha! Thank you.Materials
1. Tray
2. Mat with the dividing line
3. 1 – 10 laminated numbers – randomly. (for a younger children, start from 1 – 5 )
4. 55 (fifty five) wood green apples (for a younger children, 15)
5. Small container for wood apples.Control of Error
1. 55 apples
2. Visual stair shape; each step increasing by one
3. Lines for apples
4. Ten spaces for numbers

A blog of the United Montessori Association- Montessori Distance Learning – Montessori Teacher Certification