Subject: buttons

Put together a "Button Bag" which is a tote bag with a few buttons sewn on it.

The bag contains:

* Corduroy (written and illustrated by Don Freeman) and audio tape

* The Button Box (written by Margarette S. Reid, illustrated by Sarah Chamberlain)

* a heart-shaped box of buttons

* a sorting tray

* a journal for child's words and drawings about the buttons

* a journal for thoughts of whoever worked with child

* writing/drawing tools for the journals

* a laminated card with a neat photo of a child-created button collage that

I found in a calendar on one side and the following on the other side:

Did you know that buttons could be math materials? They can help your child learn about counting, classification, estimation, and more. The following ideas are meant to promote development of math, art, language skills, while being enjoyable for you and your child. Please don't try to do them all at once, just choose one or two that interest you and your child.

Activity Ideas:

* Read one or both of the button books with your child.

* Give your child an opportunity to explore the buttons.

* Ask your child to guess (estimate) how many buttons are in the box and then count them.

* Sort the buttons with your child using whatever attribute he or she chooses.

* After sorting one way, you may want to sort them again a different way.

* Create a pattern of buttons (for example: red button, blue button, red button, blue button) and challenge your child to decide what button would continue the pattern.

* Give your child one button, and ask him or her to describe it. If necessary, ask questions such as "What color is the button?", "How many holes does it have?", and "What shape is it?".

* Invite your child to make a picture with buttons.

* If you read Corduroy, remind your child that Corduroy thought the button on the bed was his missing button, and ask him or her to list other small, round things that Corduroy might think are buttons. You may want to write this list in the journal and have your child draw the things.

After Exploring The Button Bag:

* Ask your child to use pictures, numbers, and words (may be dictated for you to write) to tell about button bag experiences on one or two pages of the larger journal.

* The smaller journal is for whoever used the bag with the preschool child (parent, older child, . . .) to share their thoughts on the experience.

* If you have extra buttons at home, please add one to the box so that our variety will grow.

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