Countdowns

I am convinced that visual countdowns for toddlers and preschoolers are magical!! My sweet-as-sugar 4 year old little girl is a planner much like myself and I love that BUT lots and lots and lots of questions about days' events are asked because of it. On the RARE occasion I tell her about an exciting event weeks or even days in advance... it's like an extremely long car ride with endless "are we there yets! Like most moms, I've quickly learned to only share exciting plans hours or even minutes before they take place. ;) & if I do share great news weeks before hand, I now lean on our countdown chains to keep track of all the "are we there yets for me. I'm telling you, they are magic!

Here's one we used to keep track of the days left to visit family in Alabama. My teacher-heart absolutely LOVES all of the hidden opportunities the chain provides to expose my little ones to number sense. We had some great discussion about subtraction, totals, remainders, and lots of great practice with good ol' plain counting!

For our Thanksgiving countdown we decided to go a different route. My Gabby and I pulled out these awesome links we picked up at the dollar store a few weeks ago. She picked the perfect colors - we decided, together, they were the most appropriate for the season. We worked together to use the colors and shapes to make a pattern. Everytime we take a link off our Thanksgiving chain we have the opportunity to work on colors, shapes, and patterns. I can't wait to see where our future countdowns will take us.