Donuts!!!!

My crafty sister made some donuts (see myhungryhippie.com for a complete list of all handmade items that are super fab!!). I bought the donuts because I could not resist. And of course, what comes to mind? How can I use them in the classroom??

As manipulatives of course! Manipulatives are any object that provide children a concrete way to represent mathematical thinking. This month we're working on beginning multiplication and division, so today we made arrays with the donuts. Not only did the kids understand and provide correct answers, but they had sooo much fun. They couldn't stop touching the donuts and pretending to eat them. That's really the whole point. Learning can be fun!

As a math center, I am going to get an empty donut box from Krispy Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts. The "baker" will arrange the donuts in an array in the box, and then give it to the "customer." The customer needs to name the array and the product. Who knew math could be so fun!

I bought a dozen donuts, which was fine for today. As we get up to larger products and sums, I just may need to buy more. ;)