Snake Game

Age
3-6

Materials

 * 1) A box containing one Black and White Short Bead Stair.
 * 2) A box containing 2 Colored short Bead Stairs.
 * 3) A box containing a minimum of 9 Ten Bead Bars.
 * 4) A small felt mat to work on the table.

Presentation

 * 1) Directress shows the child how to make a triangle with the Black and White Bead stair, saying "This is how we make the triangle".
 * 2) Directress invites the child to build the 2 sets of Colored Beads into triangles.
 * 3) Then directress says, "Now we are going to make a snake with the colored beads" and she takes any of the colored beads at random and starts to lay out a snake..
 * 4) Then the Directress explain to the child that "we are going to change the Colored Snake to a Golden Snake, using the Golden Ten Bead Bars"
 * 5) The Directress begins to count to 10. If the colored Bead bars are 4,2,8,...beads.
 * 6) The tenth Bead will be reached on the fourth bead of the Eight Bead Bar, leaving 4 over.
 * 7) The Directress puts a marker in place at the end o the tenth bead, removes the 4,2 and 8 bead bars and places them on the lids.
 * 8) She then replaces them with one golden Ten bead Bar and a 4 from the Black and White Bead Bars.
 * 9) Directress then proceeds to count the next 10, starting from the Black and White Beads.
 * 10) The whole idea is to replace every ten bead with a Golden Ten Bead Bar and the remainder units with the Black and White Bead Bars.
 * 11) At the final stage, the exercise would have been carried out correctly if the whole snake has turned golden.
 * 12) If not, that means there was an error that had occurred in the process of the exercise.
 * 13) When the above exercise has completed, the Directress then proceeds to this exercise, saying "Now we check to make sure all the numbers add up to 10".
 * 14) She lay out all the Golden Bead Bars.
 * 15) The Directress takes a Nine Bead Bar, says "This is nine, we need one more to make ten" and she takes a One Bead Bar, place them together next to the first Golden Ten Bead Bar.
 * 16) She then takes a One Bead Bar and says, "This is one, we need nine more to make ten" and she takes a Nine Ten Bead Bar, place them together beside the next Golden Ten bead Bar.
 * 17) She continues to do the same for 8 and 2, 2 and 8, 7 and 3, 3 and 7, ....etc.

Control Of Error
The Black and White Bead Stair provides a control of error when the child changes Colored Beads for Golden Beads. (One of the lids is used to hold, and later check, the Beads removed from the snake).

Purpose

 * Prepare the child for addition.
 * Indirect preparation to Number Bonds and commutative law.

Links
Positive Snake Game 1 - Making Tens Positive Snake Game 2 - Using the Black and White Remainder Bead Stair Positive Snake Game 3 - Random Problem Subtraction Snake Game Negative Snake Game 1 - Making Negative Tens Negative Snake Game Problem - Snake Game with Positive and Negative Beads - Random Problem