Issue each student, or pair of students, a set of colored tangram puzzles. Allow the children to explore the shapes and how each may be arranged to form an animal. After a five-minute time period of investigation, give the students models of tangram animals to replicate that are available as a free printable on various educational websites. Leave the tangram animals on the desks and allow students to roam the classroom to view what animals other student groups have constructed.
Cut out fish-shaped pieces of construction paper in various colors, write one number between zero and nine and attach a metal paper clip to one end of the fish. Form fishing poles for the addition game by adhering together wooden craft sticks, strings and small magnets. Student pairs or groups take turns fishing and add two numbers caught from a bowl containing the paper fish. Students find a correct answer by adding the two numbers and then place the fish back into the bowl.
Have students construct a traditional clock with a paper plate, two colored strips of paper and a brass fastener. Each student will write the numbers one through 12 on a paper plate in the correct places, replicating a clock. Adhere one end of each strip of paper to the plate by carefully pushing a brass fastener through the strips and into the center of the plate. The teacher may help with this portion of the activity for added safety. The teacher will call out a specific time and the students will display the exact time on their clocks. Assess student learning by asking students to hold the clock in the air to check for accuracy.
Encourage pairs of students to act as if they were a member of the wait staff at a local restaurant and a customer purchasing a meal. Devise a sample menu with food choices displayed in picture and word description along with the price for each meal. The prices must coincide with the level of student learning and the ability to add the number of cents. Allow the groups to use make-believe change to pay for the meal and leave a tip. The waiter and customer will count the money to ensure accurate payment.