As a child I had plenty of time outside. I remember hot summer days playing in the grass and endless sports games staring at the ground, waiting for something to happen. On these occasions one of my favorite things to do was to look for four-leaf clovers. Last week my daughter and I were out hunting when, to our delight, we found one!
Searching for four leaf clovers allowed my daughter a chance to classify plants, notice differences and quickly count leaves.
Today I will share another childhood game that encourages children to use their ever growing brains to predict, count, use one-to-one correspondence and have fun. The game is Rock School.
PLAYFUL INVITATION
1. Prepare: Find a set of stairs and a rock. This game can be played with one or more children.
Observe the child throughout the interaction. Use the Invitation to Play Documentation Tool to collect data.
2. Invite: I know this game called Rock School. Would you like to play?
I’ll be the teacher and you’ll be the student. Your job will be to guess which hand I’m hiding a rock. If you’re right, you get to move to the next “grade” by moving up one step.
3. Play: Begin with two or more children sitting on the bottom step. Show the children that you have a small rock that fits in the palm of your hand. Put your hands behind your back and choose a hand to hide the rock.
Looking at the first child, hold out your hands with the rock hidden inside. Ask: Can you guess which hand has the rock?
Let the child point to a hand, then reveal whether the rock is in the hand or not. If the child guesses correctly, he/she moves up one step. If not, the child stays on the step and the game continues.… Hide the rock, ask the child to guess, reveal. Then move up or stay in the same place.
First one to the top wins!
4. Reflect and Assess: Did the child follow the rules of the game? Did the child use one-to-one correspondence when moving up one, and only one, step? What other counting and number talk did you use as you described where the child was on the staircase? Did you or the child count how many she got right, or how many more steps she needed to win?
*An added bonus, playing games like this also develops the child’s ability to self-regulate. Children must follow directions, wait for a turn, and maintain focus until the game ends.
Ready: A toddler or young preschool child can play this game even before he/she can fully count with understanding. The game reinforces the child’s budding ability to understand one-to-one correspondence using their full body.
Extend: Switch roles and have the child be the “teacher.” Find larger staircases to play on for a longer game. Have the child write the number on the stairs in chalk.
When playing with a group, gather a bunch of rocks, then let the child keep the rock each time he/she is correct. At the end compare how many each child has and how that relates to who won the game.
**I do not know the origin of the game to give proper credit. My mother taught it to me as a child and she learned it from someone else.