Represent Numbers with Dandelion Painting

We have a lot of dandelions in our yard — we prefer not to spray the weeds since the girls run barefoot and eat straight from the garden every day. (You can read more about environmental concerns related to pesticides and herbicides from Good Neighbor Iowa.) We picked dandelions and used them as stamps with yellow paint to make number cards to practice recognizing the quantities and symbols 0 to 5.

I made cards out of green cardstock and wrote the numerals 0-5 with dotted lines so that our 3.5 year-old could trace them. Using yellow paint, she stamped the dandelions on the card to match the symbol. It was interesting to see how she arranged the stamps and how carefully she focused on the designs.

When we were finished with the cards she made a caterpillar on an extra card and counted the stamps that she used to make it! Once the cards were dried we used them to count and organize the cards in order from 1 to 5. I like using the numbers up to 5 with her because it’s the same number of fingers on one of her hands. We can make the connection to her five fingers as she develops a sense of how much each quantity represents. She’s also had a good recognition of the quantities 1 to 3 for a while. She’s been able to subitize with those numbers. Subitizing, which means being able to recognize quantities immediately without stopping to count, is an important skill that children develop. I’ve been interested to hear how she sees 4 and 5, either how she counts or how she sees the objects grouped. For her card with 4 stamps she described “two and two”.

You can also use the cards to make games. For example you could make a set of cards that only have the numeral symbols and one set that only has the dandelion stamps. Then you can either match the cards up while all are face-up, or play a memory game with the cards face-down. Children may enjoy placing objects (pom-poms, large buttons, real dandelions, stones) on the cards as they count and cover the dandelion stamps. 

Possible questions to ask during the stamping activity or games:

• Let’s count the stamps together.
• How many dandelions are on that card?
• Is that amount more than 2? -more than 1?
• What is that symbol?
• Can you show that amount on your fingers?

Let us know how it goes for you! What related activities did you try? How did your child organize the stamps?