My boys have always been big fans of Laura Numeroff’s work. Her silly ‘If You Give A…’ series never fails to leave them giggling. I chose one of their favorite books, If You Give A Moose A Muffin to inspire a fun approach to counting and color review. Read on to see why we love the book, and how fun and simple the learning activity is.

FUN Book Based Activities

• If You Give a Moose a Muffin Math
• I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow Sequencing
• Hank Finds an Egg Math
• Thanksgiving Story & Writing Prompt
• Night Before Christmas 100s Chart Coloring
• Fall Leaf Story Time with Shapes Activity
• Rhyming with Green Eggs and Ham
• Cat in the Hat Math

If you Give a Moose a Muffin Math Activity

Start out by reading one of my kids favorite books,  If You Give A Moose A Muffin.

Laura Joffe Numeroff wrote If You Give A Moose A Muffin. It’s one volume in a series of tales about silly animals, who take cause and effect to a whole new level. The muffin-loving moose spends the story wreaking havoc on an unsuspecting young boy’s home, all in search of more muffins and jam. Kids love the silly situations the characters find themselves in- a sock puppet show, a bed sheet as a ghost costume, and more.

It’s fun for readers to guess what nonsense may happen next. The story captures young readers quickly. Felicia Bond illustrated the book. You’ll recognize her quirky, endearing style from the other books in the same series. The moose is a sweet, lovable giant, and Bond captures his personality perfectly. Each image contains plenty of details, making the book ideal for read alouds. There are plenty of questions to ask readers about each page.

Kindergarten Math Activity

I created a simple, low-prep activity inspired by the book. The game is simple enough for young learners to complete independently, making it great for quiet times. There are 2 levels of play built into the game, so both older and younger learners can enjoy playing. In addition to working on counting and/or color recognition skills, fine motor work is also incorporated.

Materials:

• 1 muffin tin per player.
• 1 free muffin printable per player. (Scroll down to grab yours).
• Pom poms or beads.
  • When working on counting, the color of the manipulatives does not matter.
  • If working on sorting by color, you will need red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple manipulatives.
• Scissors.
• Laminating sleeve. (Optional, but makes muffin circles sturdier for repeated use).
• Spoons, tongs, chopsticks, etc.

Directions:

1. Print out muffin printable.
2. Use scissors to cut out muffin circles.
3. If you choose to, laminate the circles and cut them out.
4. Place one muffin circle in each well of a muffin tin.
5. Gather assorted manipulatives and utensils.
6. If your child is working on color skills, they should sort manipulatives into the muffin tin according to the color shown on the circle.
7. If your child is working on counting skills, they should sort manipulatives into the muffin tin according to the number shown on the circle.
8. Chopsticks, spoons, tweezers, etc. can be used to transfer manipulatives to the muffin tin, adding fine motor practice that is great for strengthening young hands.