Counting Back

In furtherance of our counting back post, below are a few activities for both old and younger kids;

Sing a Song

Primary Grade Song:

10 Little Fishies Swimming in the Sea (Sung to the tune of 10 Little Monkeys)

10 little fishies swimming in the sea (have students hold up all ten fingers),

1 swam away and went past me,

So there were 9 little fishies swimming in the sea (have students hold up 9 fingers),

1 swam away and went past me.

Have students sing the song until they get to one little fishie. Have them use their fingers when saying the number of fish.

Intermediate Grade Song:

50 Bottles of Pop on the Wall (sung to the tune of 50 Bottles of Beer on the Wall)

50 bottles of pop on the wall, 50 bottles of pop,

Take one down and pass it around,

49 bottles of pop on the wall.

Have the students sing the rest of the song by ones.

For additional songs, sing known favourites such as 10 Little Indians, 10 Little Monkeys or 10 Little Ducks, and start with the number 10 and count down.

Sidewalk Chalk

This activity can work with both the younger students and the older students. Use sidewalk chalk to create a hopscotch game and have students jump on the numbers counting down. For the older students you can start at 20 and for the younger students you can start at 10.

Another way to use sidewalk chalk would be to have the students create a number line in descending order. The older students can start at number 50 and the younger ones at number 20.

Number Puppet

This activity is for younger students. Create numbered finger puppets to help students learn the concept of counting backwards. On a blank piece of paper write out each number in a big, bold colour. Then cut about a three-inch by one-inch piece of paper. Fit each piece to the student's fingers and then glue the number to the three-inch pieces. This is a fun way for students to learn how to count backwards.