10

There once was a happy hen, and wise was she.
Three eggs she laid, hidden under a tree.
Once every day she continued to lay;
one on Sunday, one Monday and one Tuesday.
The sunny days went by
and her eggs did multiply.
Today when I looked the clutch was many more,
Happy Hen had laid another four.
Now our happy magic hen
has laid one whole box of ten.

The author illustrates this poem using a potted tree with a circle of dried grass underneath for the hen’s nest. Then one person acts as the hen and places the eggs (as directed by the poem) into the nest. At the end someone collects the eggs and places them in a ten size egg box. Observers check that the story is accurately presented with the props.

Story – The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Anderson. This wonderful traditional fairytale describes how the young Princess Elise rescues her eleven brothers from the spell put upon them by their wicked step mother. The wicked step mother turned the princes into wild swans.
The eleven time tables are an excellent and simple illustration of our base ten number system in action.

Story song – The twelve Days of Christmas offers a wide range of potential for art and craft activity and drama activities. This song tests the memory as well as verbal fluency and articulation.

New words can be developed to suit the traditional tune, e.g. On the first day of Spring my true love gave to me a cup of hot sweet tea.

On the second day of Spring my true love gave to me two fragrant flowers and a cup of hot sweet tea. Etc……

An initial counting game

Each player needs a 12 size egg box and a set of numbers one to twelve. [Young children may also benefit from a 1 to 12 number-line for guidance.] Each player takes their turn to shake one or two conventional dice and count the number of dots presented as the total. E.g. when the dice says three the player places the number three into the third space in the egg box. When a player has successfully placed all the numbers one to twelve correctly into their box then s/he shuts the egg box saying- “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve Shut the Box!” The lid of the box can illustrate the contents of the box in domino format. While inside the box are the numbers placed one in each space.