Thursday, December 30, 2010

ROCKin' Penguin Counters!


These penguin counters make me smile. I can't wait to use them the week after next when we begin our penguin unit! I have a few ideas for how to use these little guys:

1. Use them as counters to help with penguin addition and subtraction word problems.
2. Use them to "push" the sounds in words with Elkonin Boxes {or Elkonin ice cubes!}
3. Write small numbers on the flat side (or back side) of each penguin. Have the kids draw 2 out of a bag, then write addition sentences with the numbers.
4. Use them for game pieces!


How to make your very own ROCKin' Penguins:

1. Go to Hobby Lobby. {Tip: Go ONLY to the section with the vase fillers. If you go anywhere else, you'll spend ridiculous amounts of money, like me.}
2. Find the vase fillers, or glass gems/marbles. They have a many different and fun colors, but of course, you'll want black ones for your penguins.
3. You will need 3 fine-tip paint markers in white, orange, and black.
4. Draw on the eyes and belly using the white marker. Let them dry.
5. Draw on the beak and feet using the orange marker. You should also be able to add the black dots for the middle of each eye.

Enjoy your adorable baby ROCKin' penguins! {Teacher friends, please fill me in on how you use these guys or plan to use them in your room! I'd love some more ideas!}

29 comments:

kinderpond said...

Those are adorable!!!! Guess where I will be going tomorrow lol

Cyndy said...

Super cute idea! Thanks for sharing! I am really wanting to do a penguin unit in January! This will go great! We don't have Hobby Lobby, but you better believe I will be hittin' the Micheals tomorrow! Thanks for the idea!!!

bwjules1 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Katie King said...

I love it Sarah! I hope you plan on sharing some more penguin ideas! I just put up a hall display for us that has some adorable penguins on it. If you want to see : http://queenofthefirstgradejungle.blogspot.com/2010/12/snowball-fight.html

Thanks for Sharing!
Katie

lovetwoteach said...

I love it! Such a smart idea!

Ashley said...

Adorable!!!

Amanda said...

Super cute! I teach third grade, but we DO read Mr. Popper's Penguins. I'm thinking about using them to create arrays, to use as counters for multiplication bingo games, and to practice working with coordinate grids.

Kathleen said...

LOVE! I laughed out loud when I read your tip about going directly to the vase fillers! Hee hee!!
growingkinders.blogspot.com

Bethany said...

Adorable idea!!!!!

Curly J said...

Ohmy... those are adorable!!! I'm starting my long practicum next week (on route to becoming a teacher) and I'm going to be doing a penguin Language Arts unit! Any more penguin ideas would be MUCH appreciated!! I'm SO making these!!!!

Kara said...

Oh my! My daughter loves penguins so we will definitely have to make these!

Deanna Jump said...

I love these! They will go perfect with my penguin unit. :) I can't wait to make them.
Deanna Jump
www.mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com

Ms. D said...

Silly question...did you paint on the bottom or top of the gems? I have a ton of these that I "procurred" after my brother and sister in law's wedding. They're clear but I'm sure I can figure out something....:0).

Plants seeds of knowledge...for our future! said...

I absolutely love this and I am going to get me some rocks now!!! So simple an so easy! Thanks for sharing!

Alison @ Educational Creations said...

How adorable!! I HAVE to make these for our South Pole unit!

So glad I stumbled upon your log, I'm a follower now!!

Alison

First Grade Smarties said...

I love your penguins so much that I made a set of my own. My plan is to use them as behavior incentives. They will be earning them. I couldn't find the black glass marbles so I bought black stones instead. They all look just a little bit different. I just love them. I put a picture up on my blog for you to see. Thanks for the inspiration.
Claire
www.firstgradesmarties.blogspot.com

Sarah said...

Fun fun fun! You could make frogs with green ones, and ladybugs with red ones for spring too!

Anonymous said...

These are so cute! I made them after seeing yours this weekend. My first graders will be studying weight in math this week; we are going to weigh them. I imagine these little guys will be sticking around for a while!

Unknown said...

I read about this idea on another blog
(Almost Unschoolers)
and I just want you to know it is SO stinkin' adorable! I WILL be finding a way to incorporate it into our homeschooling lessons...

Keep up the good work, teach!

Mrs. Wagner said...

I got mine at the Dollar Tree!!! Two bags for $1.00!!!! YES!!!

Christy Killoran said...

First of all, these are ADORABLE!!!!!!! Now, why didn't I know about your blog. My son is in first grade and you have so many great ideas!!!

Jenn Bates said...

OMG...these are stinkin' adorable! These are a must have for our penguin unit! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jenn
http://finallyinfirst.blogspot.com/

Plants seeds of knowledge...for our future! said...

I loved this idea so much and made my own. I linked your blog to mine for the idea to give you credit with a link to your blog. I got to thinking that it would be easy to write letters and numbers on the bellies of the penguins and use them to make words, sight words, or to put numbers in sequential order. Thank you for the wonderful idea!

Hallie said...

Thank you SOOOO much for the idea! I just blogged about the ones we made and linked back to your blog!

http://books2bridgemiles.blogspot.com/2011/01/penguins-in-wa.html

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas said...

Adorable! I love how every penguin has a different 'look'!
~Fern
Fern Smith’s
Classroom Ideas!

Cindy said...

I just saw this linked from another post. I made some in January, so similar, without ever having seen yours.

http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com/2011/01/penguin-math-game-pieces.html

How funny. We've enjoyed using ours with the activities from Mathwire.

Heather's Heart said...

Very cute and they will be great for my penguin math games. Hop on over if you want to grab my penguin and snowmen *freebies*!

Heather
Heather's Heart

Unknown said...

I'm making these ASAP even though I don't know what we'll do with them!

The Science Penguin

Unknown said...

SOS PLEASE HELP!! I absolutely loved this idea when it was first posted and made up a bag full for a number ID game I created for my special education students. The problem is that I put them all together in a bowl for children to choose a random penguin (with numbers 50-100 on the bottom of each one) and just from gentle gentle mixing and clinking against each other, the paint is already coming off after one game! Any ideas what I could spray onto my penguins to seal the paint in and prevent chipping?

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