With the Spanish version of this printable, we used real marshmallows. Problem is, if I have marshmallows, I eat marshmallows. Happily, both versions have been updated to included manipulable marshmallows. Wohoo! Here’s to getting to the other side of the holidays being able to button my pants. This printable works for Thanksgiving and Christmas and basically any holiday or season when you eat pie. That’s all year for this gal! ☺ Curious about what you can do with this free printable? Read on. Or, if you’re ready to download, scroll to the bottom for the pumpkin pie numbers and counting freebie.
Learning Focus
- Identifying numbers 1-10
- Identifying numerals 1-10
- Practicing correct letter formation
- Counting with numbers 1-10
- Developing and improving fine motor skills
- Optional: Acquiring and practicing utensil, plate, and food vocabulary
Vocabulary
This pack is designed to work with your students’ readiness. There are no directions; however, the content is easy to decipher from pictures and labels so that you can work through the pack even if you or your students are learning English.
- Numbers 1-10: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
- (Optional) Utensils and related: fork, spoon, knife, plate, pie, marshmallow, piece
What’s Included
The base of this download is pie. ‘Cause why not? Using pie place settings / learning mats with traceable numbers and numerals, learners practice letter formation, number identification, numeral matching, and more!
Numbers
Here we cover and work extensively with English numbers 1-10. The practice is both implicit and explicit so that kids don’t get bored but still cycle through the numbers several times. You can adapt this set to work with numerals, words, and even a combination of both.
Vocabulary for the Table
Give a kid a plate, and they’ll ask for food. Eventually, though, you may want them to learn or practice the words for fork, spoon, and so on. Further, you might want them to practice setting the table. While this printable doesn’t cover a full place setting, it covers basics, including placing the fork on the left and the spoon and knife on the right.
Fine Motor Skills
Marshmallows + pie = pincer skill magic. For even more practice, kids can trace and, optionally, manipulate paper utensils, paper pie (saving your floor and table and who knows what else), and more.
Ideas, Tips, and Tricks
Below you’ll find some great tips and tricks for not busting your ink budget, working with your learners, and having fun.
Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle Like Crazy
The number one thing we noticed when working with this pack is that it’s better to print just one color mat if you only have one kid. Then, you just cut the included numbers and place them on the mat instead of trying to cycle through lots of mats or wasting a ton of color ink.
Happily, we updated the English version (and the Spanish one, too) to include a “blank” mat that you can print if you’re in this situation. Or, if you’re like us and don’t have a color printer at home, you can always just print on the low-ink setting in black-and-white and grab an orange marker or just leave the pages as-is and get on with the learning.
Practice Setting the “Table”
Maybe you have floors you want to keep looking nice. Or, you finally got that set of dishes you’ve always wanted. With paper, you can let kids practice setting the “table” and putting utensils where they should go without worrying about sword fights and broken plates.
Or, if you have kids with extra enthusiasm, consider printing multiple copies of the place-setting pages and setting up a tea party or ninja fuel luncheon and having your ninjas and tea party planners set the table while using the vocabulary they are learning.
Embrace the Pantry or the Gross
This time, we used paper marshmallows, but let me tell you: the grosser or weirder the better for some kids. If you have leftover Halloween or party candy, some rocks from the yard, stickers–they’ll all work. Virtually anything small but not a choking hazard is fair game in our lessons.
If you want to reuse the plate pages, you can also laminate or put them in low-cost sheet protectors and use dry erase markers. And, if you have that kid who wants to use worms or bugs, you’re not alone! If you can’t even sometimes or just want to vent, you can vent to me here.
Mix-and-Match Numbers
You know where your little learners are, so don’t hesitate to ignore the words and use just numerals with PK or to mix-and-match the numbers in different parts of the download as needed. You can even use dry erase markers with lamination or a sheet protector to scale this up to your first or so graders and have them write out the words. Or, use the ice cream to introduce even-and-odd numbers (picture).
Friends and Family Round-up
Exhausted anyone? If you’re being invaded by friends and family this season, put them to work with the kids. Or send a few pages of the pie numbers and counting printable home with students so that they can practice over the breaks.
Most grandparents and friends will be happy to take one for the learning team and eat marshmallows while they help your littles learn. Those calories are for a good cause, right?
Need something interactive to go with the counting lesson? Try this count-out-loud video on YouTube that features some of your kids’ favorite Nickelodeon characters. It will reinforce their counting skills and encourage them to count higher than they think they can.
Also Available in Spanish
Got Thoughts on Pie? Need More Printables?
We always love hearing from you or reading your comments below. Get in touch and tell us how you really feel about pumpkin pie. Is it your thing? Prefer pecan? Apple? Cake?!
Looking for more numbers practice or numbers beyond ten? Check out more free numbers downloads and printables here. Looking for numbers in Spanish?
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