Chenille Chicks

Am I the only one above the age of six that finds those tiny chenille chicks that pop up in craft stores around Easter absolutely adorable?  I cannot help myself.  I think they have personality and they're so soft!  Well, my boys love them too and so I have come up with several activities to use these fuzzy little guys with.

Egg Carton Addition:
(for 2 players)

You will need:

empty egg carton
one dozen plastic eggs
two colors of chenille chicks
white board and marker or paper and pencil (optional)

How to play:

Before playing, place 1 to 4 yellow chicks into 6 plastic eggs.  Put the yellow chick filled eggs in one row of the carton.  Now place 1 to 4 pink chicks (or whatever other color you have) into the next 6 eggs and put them in the other row of the carton.

Decide which row each player will pick from.  Each person chooses one egg to crack open.  I have each person count their chicks aloud, then put them together and count.  Then we separate the chicks and say the addition problem together, moving them into one group after saying "equals" to help reinforce that addition is combining two smaller groups.

Optional:  Use a white board or paper to write out the addition problem for extra practice with older children.  My five year old is learning to print his numbers, so this was a natural way to practice this.  I wouldn't write out the number sentence with my two year old, however, as he would quickly lose interest.
 
Chick War:
 (for 2 players)

You will use the same carton of eggs you set up for chick addition for this game.  This time, you each break open an egg, count the chicks and decide who has the most.  You can play like you do with the card version of war and give the egg to the one with the most, or don't worry about keeping track.  My boys just enjoyed cracking open the egg and being surprised at how many chicks were inside their egg. 

You can extend this activity for older preschoolers by having them write the number of chicks on a white board and either circling the larger number or using the greater than, less than or equal signs.

Chick Patterning:

Pull out a pile of chicks and make patterns with your colors.

Hide and Peep:

Hide a predetermined number of chicks around a room in your house.  Give the children the same number of plastic eggs as there are chicks hidden and have them collect the hidden chicks.  Take turns hiding and seeking.

Grab your own cute chickadees and play a game or two together with these fun fuzzy friends.