Simple counting games work well for young children and help them strengthen their math skills and comprehension. Have the kids count how many acorns are in a bowl. Offer them several note cards that have various numbers of squirrels on them and ask the kids to count how many squirrel friends there are on each card. Draw a forest picture and place some squirrel and acorn stickers throughout the picture. Have the kids locate and count each of these items.
An acorn sorting game works well to introduce basic math concepts to preschool and kindergarten pupils. Collect several acorns and separate them into piles of 10. Pour at least three different colors of non-toxic acrylic paint into some paper cups. Dip each pile of acorns into a specific color until they are fully coated, set them on paper plates and allow them to dry. Ask the kids to sort the acorns according to color.
Acorns and squirrels can be used to expand on regular story problems and give them a real life application. Write up five to 10 story problems that involve dividing, such as “Billy squirrel is having a party for his friends. He has six guests total and 24 acorns. How many acorns does each guest get?” Hand each child a bag of acorns and have the students use them to solve the problem.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, graphs and charts help older kids learn how to communicate information visually. Use at least five stuffed squirrels and make a sticky-backed name tag for each, like Sally, Mikey, George, Lily and Mae. Place a handful of acorns in a small bowl next to each squirrel. Hand each of the kids some graph paper. Let them know that they need to create a bar or line graph. The children must write the squirrels’ names below the bottom horizontal line or x line and write numbers from 1 to 20 for the acorns to the left of the left vertical line or y line. Have them count the number of acorns for each squirrel and document their findings on their graph.