Our recent study of nursery rhymes inspired me to create a math activity with Humpty Dumpty {link below} and I just love how they turned out! I didn't tell the kids that we would be cutting Humpty into pieces, and they all GASPED when I began cutting up the one I was modeling. Many of them screamed, "NOOOOOO!!!" It was hilarious.. you might say that I CRACKED up inside. Then when they found out that they, too, would be cutting up their own Humpty Dumpty they cheered with excitement.
How To:
- Model an example of how their Humpty's might look. Give each Smart Tart in your class the blank egg page and watch each of their little masterpieces come begin.
- Allow them to cut out the egg and IMMEDIATELY throw the "scraps away"... this way they won't get them confused w/ the egg's pieces.
- Instruct your Smart Tarts to cut their little egg men into a FEW pieces {see tips below for more on that} and then practice putting him together on the table PRIOR to gluing him down.
- Finish the piece by writing their name on the wall page and the number of pieces that their Humpty was cut into. Glue down the Humpty and add details.
- VOILA! He is back together again.
Here are a few tips that worked for us:
- Print the solid egg on card stock which makes it easier and more sturdy for them to glue down.
- LESS IS MORE - Emphasize that they will be piecing him back together, so too many pieces will make it difficult to reassemble. You could even model one where you chop it up into confetti so that they realize how difficult it would be to put all that back together.
- Use markers for details and crayons for shading ... this will make the details POP.
- Add zig-zag arms and legs for a 3D effect
If you do this activity with your kids I would LOVE to see pics!
Students were allowed to pick the number of craters {within a range} that they drew on their moon... next year I may have them roll dice to obtain their number. Then each Smart Tart got to recreate the cow jumping over the moon {both were printed on card stock}. I poked a hole right above the moon and slipped the pipe cleaner through it and taped it to the back. The cow is also taped to the pipe cleaner. Hope you are able to use this with the Smart Tarts in your classroom.
