One Fish, Two Fish - Goldfish Grouping Game

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  Our final Seuss Week activity was loosely based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  I say loosely-based, because the book is about imaginary creatures, not just fish, but a fish-themed math rhyme at least went along with the title.

I made up a quick rhyme last night (I seem to have my most creative thoughts when I'm nursing Baby H in the middle of the night) to teach the girls about grouping and skip-counting (and technically, factorization).

We counted out 12 goldfish crackers on a tray, and arranged them based on the following rhyme:

Goldfish Grouping

by Lilac @learnersinbloom

One-by-one and looking fine
The fish all swim in a straight line.
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12

Mommy and Daddy fish pair up like this
The two loving fish give each other a kiss.
2-4-6-8-10-12

But Mommy and Daddy are lonely in the sea
So they have a little baby and now we have three.
3-6-9-12

Baby playing by himself gets to be such a bore
Soon comes Little Brother making a family of four!
4-8-12

Now Grandma and Grandpa want to join in the mix.
They come for a visit and now we have six.
6-12

Twelve little fish had so much fun
But now it's time to eat them, one by one
12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0

I knew the girls would love this because most of their play revolves around interpersonal relationships (Mommies, Daddies, babies):

It was such a great way to use fine motor skills and learn math concepts at the same time.  Plus an activity that involves all five senses is going to build all sorts of wonderful neural pathways.