Dandelion Search Game!

Dandelion  search game is something I came up with just last week on the spur of the moment. ~Here is a little background information.....Every year my dad comes to spray the yard (sometimes twice) to get rid of those pesky dandelion...aka: weeds. Every year they come back because there are farm fields all the way around our property...grrrr! Since this has been such a warm Spring they are in prime form around here in our yard...so I got create to get rid of some of them!

Here is how we played: I gave everyone a bag of some sort....Julia used a plastic Easter bucket, and the boys used a regular plastic bag.

ROUND #1: They got three minutes to collect as many dandelions as they could! Goooooooo!
When the timer went off everyone gathered in a circle and they were told to put there dandelions in groups of ten. For Zach, who is in pre-school this helped him practice counting to 10 over and over.
For Lance & Caleb they got some practice with grouping, organizing, and counting by 10's.
The totals at round one: Zach 39 Caleb 59  Lance 95
Then I had the older boys practice there subtraction skills by counting how many more they collected than Zach. 
ROUND #2: Now that they had the hang of what was going on I added a little encouragement factor to the game. Each person that collected MORE than dandelions that they did in ROUND 1 got two pieces of Easter candy of their choosing. Again they had THREE minutes to complete this challenge.
The totals of round two: I don't remember the exact numbers, but I do know that everyone met their goals and scored two pieces of candy!
ROUND #3: Well everyone seemed to still have some energy so we went one more time with an additional incentive: Each person who yet again exceeded there ROUND 2 number got to stay up 1/2 late some night in the next week. Three minutes again was there time limit.
The result of round three: Lance is the only one who won this challenge.

I thought it was a great way to combine gym, exercise, and math all in one game! The kids really liked it and of course they always love being outside whenever possible. Zach enjoyed learning how to count by tens...I love sneaking in ways that are educational without the kids even realizing it's "school".

As you can see in the pictures Julia decided not to participate....I can't decide if she is just really smart and realized Mom was tricking the boys into getting rid of some of the weeds, or if she just wasn't feeling like playing a game. She instead sat on my lap while we all counted together and sat on my hip while we watched the boys during the "search time".

So if you have some dandelions hanging out and taking up residence at your home you might want to consider this fun and easy activity.


Hope your having a great start to your week! Happy Monday!!!

DANIELLE