Skip-counting is counting forward or backward by a number other than one. For example, "3, 6, 9, 12..." is skip-counting by threes.
Have children stand in a circle and pass a ball around. As each child catches the ball, she calls out the next number in the skip sequence. At first, have students pass the ball clockwise around the circle. As the children become more comfortable with the skip sequence, have them throw the ball to one another at random.
Twelve children stand in a circle, each assigned a number from one to 12, to form a large human clock. The teacher calls out a time, and the two children corresponding to that time run into the center and stick out either an arm (for the hour) or a leg (for the minutes) to represent the time.
If the teacher calls "seven twenty-five," for example, the seventh child runs to the center and holds out his arm, pointing midway between his original position and that of the eighth child. The fifth child also runs to the center and holds out his leg, pointing back at his original position. When the hour and minute hand are in the same position (for example, 2:10), only one child runs to the center and puts out one arm and one leg.
On sturdy colored cards, have the children draw pictures of groups of various items such as dogs, houses and bicycles. Pair cards, with one collection of odd-numbered items and matching collections of even-numbered items. For example, one card shows three bicycles, and its matching card shows four bicycles. Write a kind of movement -- run, job, skip or hop -- on the back of each card.
Place the even cards in one bin in the center of the playground, and place the odd cards in bins around the perimeter. One child runs to the central bin and selects a card at random. She follows the directions on the back of the card to get to the perimeter bins and search for the matching card. When she finds the matching card, she follows its direction to get back to the starting point.
As soon as one child has left the central bin, the next child begins his turn.
Tour the playground with the class and invite children to identify the geometric shapes they see. Point out that the school building, the climbing apparatus, the hopscotch court and even the cars in the parking lot are all comprised of geometric shapes. Provide each child with a large piece of paper with the desired shapes printed across the top as samples. Ask the children to draw what they see, using as many geometric shapes as possible.
Return to the classroom and have the children label the shapes in their drawings. Discuss how important geometry is in the construction of buildings, toys and cars. If desired, you can award prizes for the most geometric shapes, the greatest variety of shapes and the most unusual position of a shape.
Giant Steps can be used to drill addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Arrange children in a row, standing with their feet behind a marked line. A leader stands about 30 feet away, supplied with drill questions and answers. The leader reads out the first drill question, and the first child answers. If the child's answer is correct, she gets to take one giant step forward. If incorrect, she stays where she is, and the next child may answer. The first child to reach the leader becomes the leader.
For a more chaotic version, every child shouts out the answer to each drill question, and everyone who is correct takes a giant step forward.