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Play To Learn Diner Giveaway: Learn Fractions by Cutting Bread [CLOSED]

Since I was so pleasantly surprised at how receptive my 6yr old son was to my introduction to very basic fractions, I decided it was time to teach him about how to discern between 1, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4.

To aid me in this task, Gummy Lump, one of the leading online resources of play foods, sent us a Melissa & Doug Cutting Bread Play Food Set. This toy was perfect for this lesson because it has an English muffin, a bagel, sandwich slices, and a loaf of bread that can all be split into halves, a baguette that can be cut into thirds, and a bread loaf that can be divided into fourths.



Using this play food set, I demonstrated to my son how we go about changing "one whole" into fractions. Here are some examples of the statements and questions I posed:
  • If we cut this bagel into two pieces, what did we make? Halves How many halves do we have? 2
  • If we have two halves, what do I have if I take one piece? 1/2
  • What else do we have here that can be cut into halves?
  • If we cut this baguette into three pieces, what did we make? Thirds
  • If we have three equal pieces and I take one piece, what do I have? 1/3 If I take two pieces, what do I have? 2/3
  • If we cut this loaf of bread into four pieces, what did we make? fourths
  • If we have four equal pieces and I take one piece, what do I have? 1/4 If I take two pieces, then what do I have? 2/4 or 1/2


Once I felt my son was fairly comfortable with the concept of one whole, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4, I gave him this free printable worksheet that I made, which asks him to color each shape based on what the shaded area represents. I did the first row with him to make sure he understood how it worked. He actually colored most of the shapes correctly. The ones he missed were partially due to his rushing and not double-checking which color corresponded to which fraction.

(To print, click on the image to enlarge. Then right-click and select print.)


By the end of this lesson, I was pretty confident that we laid down a good foundation for understanding fractions. I asked my son if he thought fractions were hard and he said that he thought they were a little bit hard, which made me happy.

Once the lesson was done, it was time to play. My son could not wait to cut into the bread and butter again and again. I was served an assortment of yummy food, such as French bread with imaginary chicken soup.


You can find this play food set along with a large assortment of play foods by Melissa & Doug, KidKraft, Haba, Voila, Guidecraft, and more on GummyLump.com . For a limited time, Gummy Lump is offering a Buy 3 Get 1 Free promotion on Melissa & Doug play food sets.


Thank you to Gummy Lump for sending us a sample toy free of charge to use in this learning activity and for providing a second toy for our contest prize.


What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive one Cutting Bread Play Food Set by Melissa & Doug.


Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.


How to Gain Entries:
Browse the selection of new products on GummyLump.com . Then leave a comment telling me which product is the one that looks like the most fun to you. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND GummyLump.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.


4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.


5) For 1 extra entry each, follow Gummy Lump on Twitter and/or "like" Gummy Lump on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter or Facebook profile for each entry you complete.


6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.


9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.




(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!




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