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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 3:50pm | IP Logged
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I'm trying to decide what to use as counters for my 5 yo and 2 (almost 3) yo twins. In the past I've used our foam unit blocks, but those are only interesting for so long. I'd like to use something made of a natural material, like glass gems or beans or pebbles or something wooden, but my 1 yo is really, REALLY bad about putting everything in his mouth, then running away from me so I can't take it from him. (Or clamping his mouth shut and throwing his head back so I can't get it out of his mouth.  )
Anyway -- I feel dumb asking this question, but -- does anyone have any ideas for interesting objects to use as counters which are NOT chokable? I'm looking at all the plastic counter sets -- particularly two with trucks and fish -- but a)they seem kind of expensive and b)they're plastic. We do have wiggle room in our budget, but I would rather be a little more frugal where I can.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Tina
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 4:56pm | IP Logged
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Not sure what you can use for the long term, because everything we have is small (plastic cats and bears). We have the same issue with my 2 year old son. He constantly takes the green unit blocks from our Math-U-See set. But a temporary and fun idea could be Cheerios  . My 6 yr. old's favorite counters are M and M's ( I use those once in a while just to make an interesting and unexpected lesson). Sorry I can't be more help.
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~Tina
mom of 3 girls and 1 little man
The Best of Times
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 5:13pm | IP Logged
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Angela,
I have to be conscious as well with Katie crawling now...I use wooden spindles sometimes and often just our set of wooden blocks. Do you have a set of wooden ABC blocks? Those would work well, and if you bought a set or two it would serve double function. 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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joann10
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 5:27pm | IP Logged
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Tina wrote:
| My 6 yr. old's favorite counters are M and M's |
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We have always gone the edible counter route.
If the kids sit and do their lessons carefully, and fully, they get to eat the counters when math is finished. This has always worked very well for us. 
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Loren
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blocks, spools, spoons, erasers (the big chunky ones), Little People, crayons, food, coins, golf balls, poker chips, paper clips, rubber bands, audio cassettes, fireplace matches (burn the tip first), shoes, hair barrettes, stuffed animals, paper dolls, socks...
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 17 2008 at 8:47pm | IP Logged
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Choose ones large enough to not be a choking hazard:
Sea shells
spruce cones
pretty tumbled stones
old keys
pom-poms
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: silly question about counters
