Kindergarten Activity No. 48 : More or Less

Teaching the concept of more or less

More and less are important concepts for children to understand. Identifying which group of objects has more objects or less objects in it is an important numeracy skill. This skill prepares them for addition, subtraction, rounding up or down and estimating.

Here are two hands-on activities to practice the concept of more or less. Hands-on activities help the children remember what they learn.

The first activity requires the children to compare two groups of objects and determine which group has more or less objects.

The second activity requires the children to count the number of pompoms you put on one side of an ice cube tray and put more or less pompoms (of a different colour) on the other side of the tray.

These two activities are ideal for both Kindergarten 1 and kindergarten 2 children, depending on how challenging you make it according to your child’s abilities.

Activity 1: Counting Crayons

For this activity you need an A4 paper, pegs, pencils and colours.

Take an A4 paper and divide it into two columns.
Draw a box of crayons (with different number of crayons in it), under each column.
Take a peg and ask your child to clip the peg under the box with more crayons or under the box with less
To make the activity more challenging you can use bigger numbers.

Activity 2: Pompom Counting

For this activity you need some coloured pompoms big enough to fit in an empty ice cube container.

Choose a side of the tray and fill in the cubes with a number of pompoms. (I filled a side of the tray with 5 green pompoms) Count out loud while filling the side of the ice cube tray. Encourage your child to count with you.
Give some pompoms to your child. Tell your child:

“Now put MORE pompoms on the other side”.

“Now put LESS pompoms on the other side”.