100 Day Countdown to 2011 (#2, more math ideas!)

If you'd like to join us in our 100 Day Countdown to 2011, here are several fun activities designed for different ages:

1. We made 100 paper links and will take one down each day. Every 10th link is black. My 8yo stapled the links after I figured out he could do it independently with a mini stapler. I worked on the chain as well, asking my 4yo to hand me the correct color of paper, following the pattern. (Blue/orange/blue/orange until we'd get to the 10th link.) I used 12" construction paper and cut 1" strips. Had I been more thoughtful, I would have asked my 8yo to figure out how many pieces of each color paper we'd need to get enough links of each color.

As we constructed our paper chain, we counted by tens. After we had the paper piled on the floor, I asked the boys how long they thought our chain would be when we stretched it out. You can see it below, tacked across a wall...

2. Each boy has a hundreds chart. My 8yo is counting down from 100, my 4yo is counting up from one. Each day, they cross off one number.

3. We posted a hundreds pocket chart so we could add a penny each day, making conversions (to nickels, dimes, quarters, etc) as we go. I'm basically following Joyful Learner's suggestion.

4. My 8yo writes five number sentences each day for the day we're on. He can use any operations, making the sentences as long or as short as he likes as long as the total equals the day. So, for example, for day 100 (counting down), he wrote:

Share your "100 day" ideas in the comments below! ;)

Note: The student math journal page (as shown in #4) is from the Math Learning Center. Undoubtedly, some of these ideas are similar to things I've done with MLC materials, but I cannot give credit because I'm not sure where some of the ideas floating around in my head came from. Anyone else have that problem???