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EGG BOX SHAKE! IT'S WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE.


Hi All,

Shake it up! Egg Box Shake is noisy and fun! That's a big plus right there for most kids. Students like to create and keep their own math tools, and this is a great opportunity to do that as well. And, teachers can adapt the game to fit any level or mathematical operation. Win. Win. Win.




Egg Box Shake originated as a coin identification and addition game for grades 1 – 3. I had students bring in an egg carton from home and then provided them with play money or coin stamps, ink pads, and card stock. They stamped out pictures of the coins onto card stock, front and back images, and then cut out the pictures. Students glued these pictures into the bottom of the twelve sections of the egg carton.



Each player would get two beads, beans, chips, marbles, or any other small manipulative. They put these into the box and closed it. They then shook the box. When they stopped they opened it and saw where the beads had landed. Players added those two coins or numbers together to get a value, which was their score for that round.



Players can use two, three, four, or even five beads to increase the difficulty level of the game. The teacher can also change the game up by skipping coins altogether and deciding what numbers go in the spaces and what operation players should perform with their numbers. This is a good game for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. You can just write the numbers in the box spaces or write them on card stock and tape them into the spaces for easy re-use of the carton for a different operation.

Players can each use their own boxes as they play against each other or can make it a cooperative game by sharing a box and each coming up with a value and adding those values together as they work to get the highest possible combined score in a round. Have students record their scores and thinking for each round.



Students love to decorate and personalize their boxes so try to allow some time for that or have them do it at home. 

Have fun with this one!
Best,
Bob

Comments

  1. Thanks for another fun idea, Bob! We are making them next week for home learning in Kinder, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades! Your hands on, engaging and meaningful math ideas are always appreciated but even more so during these remote teaching days.

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