Monster Trucks: Math and Art

Monster trucks are all the rage at our house and have been for quite a while.  Recently, my son Bear {4 yrs} and I created a fun new game called Monster Truck Bowling.  It was a huge hit!  So I expanded on this success with math and messy art activities.

Prior to beginning the main activity, Bear chose a card out of the pile containing all the numbers 1-10.  Then he practiced counting out the appropriate number of monster trucks.  After he did all that, we moved onto the main addition activity.

Monster Truck Math basics:

• Use 2 sets of cards for the numbers 1-5 and a plus sign.  {Higher numbers could be used for more advanced learners}.
• Tape down the plus so it didn’t get moved around.
• Draw 2 cards from the stack and placed them on each side of the plus sign.
• Count out the appropriate number of trucks for each number.

• To illustrate the concept of adding numbers together, “crash” them together into a big pile.
• Count how many monster trucks there are after adding the numbers together.

After all the monster truck fun we’d had, I knew we couldn’t move on without painting with monster trucks.  We got a super-long piece of paper from our easel and stretched it across the kitchen floor and up the oven door.  {Towards the end of our monster truck arena, I covered the floor with a plastic shower curtain, securing it with painter’s tape.}

We put some paint in shallow bowls and began racing the monster trucks.  If we shoved them down the paper fast enough, they’d hit the stove front and flip over.  Bear seemed to really enjoy the boisterous messiness of it.  After he was done painting, I created a monster truck car wash in a large bowl of soapy water in the sink.  Fun getting dirty and fun getting clean!

The Quirky Mommas love messy fun!  Here are some other ideas they have for

• Handprint Art in the Garden
• Early Math Activities
• Paintman