For those of you who don’t know, I am a former math teacher. With that said, I was VERY excited when we received some great math toys from Guidecraft! I am always a fan of manipulatives that foster mathematical thinking and we definitely had fun with the Fraction Action Board and Fraction Cups!
As a Guidecraft Mom blogger, this product was given to me for review purposes. I do not have to return the product to the vendor and I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.
Fraction Action Board: This eco-friendly rubberwood storage board measures about 9.5″ x 9.5″. There are 18 large, bright wood pieces stained red, blue, yellow & green that fit onto the board. The circle, hexagon, and square each measure about 2.5” in diameter and about .75” in height. Not only can you use the Fraction Action Board to teach and reinforce fraction skills, but you can also incorporate sorting, sequencing, colors, shapes, fine-motor skills, and hand-eye coordination as well. There is also an activity booklet included that contains ideas for using the Fraction Action Board.
My 3 year olds enjoyed filling the board with the pieces.
They also stacked and sorted the blocks by color and shape.
My older kids played a little game with the board. Each child was assigned a shape. They each took turns rolling our Education Cubes with the Fraction insert cards. With each roll, the kids read the fraction aloud and then added the appropriate pieces to the fraction board. The first child to fill their board won. This was a fun, hands-on way to work on fractions and the Fraction Action Board was perfect!
Fraction Cups: This set of four rubberwood cups measuring about 1.75” in height and 3.25” in diameter. There are 10 large wooden pieces stained in red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple that fit into the wooden cups. The Fraction Cups can provide a fun way to help teach and/or reinforce fractions (wholes, halves, thirds, and quarters). There is also an activity booklet included.
My little guys enjoyed filling the cups with the pieces.
They also had fun duplicating the fraction using our Education Cubes along with the Fraction Pie insert cards. The older kids rolled the cube, told me the fraction shown, and then duplicated the fraction.
Needless to say, we had lots of fun with our Fraction Action Board and Fraction Cups! I strongly believe that children retain more when learning is fun, exciting, and engaging. These math toys definitely fit the bill! Visit Guidecraft for more fun fraction math toys!
*Giveaway ended 6/26/2011.
