I sat and looked at this bag of buttons in the aisle of Michaels for awhile. I really wanted it but didn't want to pay $4.99. I finally convinced myself I would think of enough activities to do with these them to make it worth the money. I splurged and these are the activities we have done with them so far...
Outline Puzzles (left) Counting (right)
Tracing Letters
Making Patterns (left) A Matching Game (right)
Ten Frame - Roll to fill up the card. (Great counting practice! Ten Frame from Joyful Learner) (left)
Lacing onto toothpicks (right)
One button in each section (one to one correspondance practice)
Sort by shape (left) Sort by color (right)
I-Spy (Ex. I-Spy a pink star) (left) Tracing foam letters (right)
Which one has more?
Lacing on a pipecleaner or string (left), Balancing on a craft stick (right)
We are having a great time with these buttons! Totally worth the money! =) If you have any other ideas for us, leave me a comment. We'd love to give it a try.
Imagination. You have a great imagination. Thank you for the ideas as always.
ReplyDeleteLisaDay
Ok. You sold me on these. I also look at those same buttons everytime I go to Micheals. You are very creative. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow about stacking them to see how tall they can be? Great use of buttons!
ReplyDeleteyou always have such great ideas! About what age do you think kids could handle most of the activities you have posted? My son will be 18 months this summer when I take him out of daycare and I would love to try some of your activities with him!
ReplyDeletewow great ideas!
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot of ideas! Do you sign up for their email so you can get the 40% off coupons?
ReplyDeleteI do need to plan ahead and have a coupon with me! =)
ReplyDeleteI like the toothpick idea!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter always uses buttons - real ones at my moms - for sorting & playing store.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason my mom has a giant bucket of buttons and my grandma had them too. And oddly, I have a box with the start of a button collection.
We are weird.
Ironically I bought the same set and still didn't open it because I couldn't quite find time and activity. Now I have tons of activities, on to find time :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome ideas, I have those buttons, so it's fun to see more ideas! Where did you get the wooden sorting box, I've been on the look out for something like that?
ReplyDeleteI think u got more than your money's worth- great job. Such a variety of ativities!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!
ReplyDeleteWell worth the money spent. You came up with so many fantastic ideas. I recently saw the exact same bag of buttons here in Australia in our local craft store. I am popping out this afternoon to the shops and I will be buying the bag of buttons. Thank you for sharing your fantastic ideas.
ReplyDeleteIt's great when you find an inexpensive resource like this and can come up with so many activities. I recently did a blog post about the activities I have made for my little boy using cheap gift wrap. If you are interested the link to this post is:
http://etadventures.blogspot.com/2010/04/its-wrap.html
What section where they in? I tried looking in the button section of micheals and I couldn't find them.
ReplyDeleteThey were in the button section, but if you can't find them there, try the kids' craft section.
ReplyDeletewe love buttons too - you have come up with some awesome activities using them - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHoly Moses! They don't call you Activity Mom for nothin'!! We have these same exact buttons and I'm thrilled to have this post as a reference for the many, many ways to use them!! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWowzer, you were really on an idea kick. That is certainly worth the money!! I happen to have those lacing buttons and hadn't thought of half of the ideas... The toothpick one never would have come to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!!
I found those buttons at my mom's in her craft drawer when Bear was 13 months. We've used them for so many things. Actually, aside from tracing letters with them, we've used them for all the things you posted about. It's great you've put it all in one post, because I'll need to refresh my memory in about 8 months when J-jo is ready for some tot school stuff:)
ReplyDeleteI've often seen those buttons and have felt the same way... thanks for all the great ideas. Next time I see them I'm going to get them!
ReplyDeleteOn "Mama Jenn's" blog, she uses the buttons by color to make a rainbow, sorting them by red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet..very pretty. I am not sure how old your little ones are, but you can also use the buttons to make patterns....simple AB patterns or make them more complex: ABB, AAB, or even ABC and repeat. I read somewhere that you were a teacher, so you will know exactly what I mean. You can use them to create objects/pictures. A triangle button on top of a square button make a "house" or a few circle buttons under a rectangle buttons might make a "truck" or a "car". Loved all your creative ideas!!
ReplyDeleteMe again...Oops, sorry...I mentioned patterns when you said that already!! How about using the buttons as manipulatives to make addition sentences? "2 green buttons plus 2 red buttons equals 4 buttons all together" Again, I don't know the age of your children, but you might be able to adapt it.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I would love to be blog buddies with you. I have a book giveaway ending 5/16. Come check me out! Thanks, Shonda http://milknhoneylearnandgrow.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-review-birds-by-books-by-tara.html
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that I linked to your post: http://apgacruz.blogspot.com/2010/06/buttonsmath-and-skills.html
ReplyDeleteAIMS Education Foundation has a K-2 lesson on Buttons called, "Button Holes" that incorporate NCTM Standards. It includes pattern & activity mats. Hope this link works for you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.aimsedu.org/aimsnews/files/ButtonHoles.pdf?utm_source=AIMS4U&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jun11
Carla (sorry about the anonymous, but my acct is not working for some reason)
Great ideas! You could also use playdough for activities? Make impressions on the playdough or hide a couple of shapes in the dough and the little ones have to find the shapes, thereby building fine motor skills.
ReplyDeleteYou could also place shapes in a brown paper bag, place a couple of shapes on the table and ask the little ones to find shapes that are the same as those on the table.
Buttons are FUN! Isabel (Play 2 Learn)
My kids like to treasure hunt for them in the sand box. We hide them and they dig them up as "treasure" Great ideas, thanks! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat list. You could also play tic-tac-toe or jacks with them (although you'd need a rubber ball as well for jacks). With larger buttons, it could be fun to use them to trace outlines on paper. You could also try to make pictures by arranging the buttons.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, there's the classic button twirler: put a piece of thread through two holes in a round button. Tie the ends of the thread together so that you have a loop that passes through the holes in the button. Holding the loop on each side and allowing the button to hang in the center, swing the button around to twist the thread. Then, when the thread is well twisted, pull the loop on both sides to watch it untwist and the patterns it makes in the process.
You can see an example of the last one at the bottom of this page: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/andal72.html
Great ideas and getting them to have fun with buttons early is great too.
ReplyDeleteYou could put one in a paper bag and lay out "choices" then give the child clues so they can figure out which shape it is (I have 4 sides etc).
ReplyDeleteI too found a similar bag at Joann's and thought $5.99 really!? But bought them anyway since I had a coupon:) Now I know many ways to use them. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteCut a slot in a plastic lid and put them through: addition practice (put in 2, put in 2 more, how many are in there) plus fine motor practice for buttoning
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic idea and I love the way that all the comments have extended on the activities. I have been thinking about buying some buttons for ages but they are so expensive may have a look on e bay for a batch. What annoys me more is that as a kid we used to play with a massive box of buttons but they were thrown out! Off I go to buy buttons you have inspired me.
ReplyDeleteI just bought these buttons and I will be using your activity ideas with my son next month! So excited!
ReplyDeleteThey are great for early adding. Separate two styles or colors per addend. Ex) 2stars and 4 squares. Or 1 yellow plus 3 red. Used it in kindergarten class
ReplyDeleteThey are great for early adding. Separate two styles or colors per addend. Ex) 2stars and 4 squares. Or 1 yellow plus 3 red. Used it in kindergarten class
ReplyDelete