Fall is here, and there’s no better time to get crafty while working on some math! This cute craft encourages fine motor development and is easy to customize based on your child’s math skills.
Supplies
- White paper plates
- Crayons or markers
- Scissors
- Pipe cleaners
- Sunflower seeds
- Tape
- Glue sticks (optional)
Directions
- Color paper plate on either side.
- Write numbers around the outside of the plate. (We did 1–5, but feel free to adjust to your preference.)
- Create the sunflower petals by making a cut on each side of the numbers (we cut about 1–1.5 inches toward the center). For younger children, draw lines on the paper plate for them to follow as they cut.
- Fold the extra petals back to create a 3D flower.
- Make the flower stem by taping a piece of pipe cleaner to the plate.
- Pour sunflower seeds onto a clean plate, including some extra for snacking. This is a great time to stop and chat about seeds.
- Count out enough sunflower seeds to match with the numbers on the petals. This is a great time to focus on counting, adding and subtraction.
- Optional: Once you’re done working on math, glue the sunflower seeds to the flower.
- Hang your sunflower as a piece of homemade fall decor.
Janelle Cumro-Sultzer lives in Manhattan, Kansas, with her husband, three children (1, 3 and 5) and two senior dogs. Janelle is a homeschooling mom who enjoys writing in her spare time. Janelle loves to focus on learning through play and getting messy with crafts.