Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equal to with Alligator Math

Sharing is caring!

Hey , all the moms and the teachers out there. This post is especially for you with homemade teaching aids to teach your children using the ‘ play way’ method. Last week we introduced the CVC word train as a teaching aid, this week create this teaching aid to introduce ‘greater than’ , ‘lesser than’ and ‘equal á¹­o’ Math concepts to your children .. with a beautiful song & story.

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equal to

Alligator Math for KindersLearning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

Materials Needed – 

alligator-less-than-greater-than-math-1

There are two ways to do this – We have a 100% DIY method that I love making for my kindergarten class & Shruti’s way – Purchase a printable that includes the crocodile images, a ready background with a boat and ready to print cards from 1 to 20 with numbers & images.

 

printable-games-by-artsycraftsymom-5

click-here-03

alligator-math-final-01

How to make these from scratch.

  • An A3 white sheet for the setup
  • Colored sheets – Shades of Blue for the lake and the sky, White for the clouds, Yellow for the sun, greens for the hills, boat and the tree, Brown for the tree trunk.
  • Scissors
  • White cardstock for the number boards.
  • Craft sticks
  • Glue
  • Measuring scale
  • Markers
  • Draw Crocodile or print the images #6, #7 & #8
  • Black duct tape

To make – 

 

  1. Take sheets of light colored paper and cut them into rectangles long enough to cover the sheet and wide enough to look like the sky.
    alligator-less-than-greater-than-math-2
  2. Cut out wavy patterns from the darker blues as shown in the figure. I needed about 8 pieces
    alligator-less-than-greater-than-math-3
  3. Next cut out triangles for the hills.
    alligator-less-than-greater-than-math-4
  4. Paste the Sky, then the waves –  layering them as shown and create a background for your story.
    alligator-less-than-greater-than-math-5
  5. Add Hills, trees, the sun and clouds. Kids love backgrounds like these
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.
  6. Take a printout of the alligator and its mirror image. Cut them out.
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.
  7. Sandwich the two alligators with their mouths open with an ice cream stick in between ( you can place a piece of thick paper in between to make it stiff )
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.
  8. The alligator holding the Equals sign also needs a stick to hold it upright
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.
  9. Make flash cards using an ivory sheet and ice cream sticks as shown in picture 9. Draw apples , ice creams , numbers and symbols.
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.
  10. Cut a yellow paper in the shape of a boat . Stick it on three sides keeping the broader side free , which can be used as a pocket for your flash cards
    Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

Now you are ready to teach them the pre-math concepts of ‘greater than’ , ‘lesser than’ and ‘equal to’.

Start with a story : Once upon a time there was an alligator. He was very hungry. He saw two baskets of two and four apples each on a boat. Since he was very hungry he jumped for the basket with four apples.

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

Next morning when he was searching for some more food to eat, he saw two baskets of 3 and 6 ice creams each. He was again very hungry so he jumped at the basket with more ice creams. Here point towards his mouth which is wide open for the greater numbers.

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

Now introduce the symbols >,< comparing the shapes with the alligator’s mouth . Let the child hold the alligator puppet and decide which is the greater quantity . When the child is comfortable with the pictures slowly shift to the numbers and symbols.

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

What about Equal to you ask? Fret not. The story goes that the alligator gets confused when quantities are equal and holds up the equal to sign in peace.

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

We even use songs in our classrooms to keep the learning fun. We found this Youtube video with the perfect song to go with our activity.

What do you think of our teaching aid? Whether you are a homeschooling mom, an educator or a mom who wants to make learning fun for young kids, these aids help a lot. Make them at home, laminate for longer durability and most importantly make learning fun!

Learning Greater Than, Less Than, and Equals with Alligator Math - kids have fun with the alligator mouth representing the less than and greater than signs.

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. This content is really cool. I have bookmarked it.
    Do you allow guest posting on your site ? I can provide hi quality articles for you.
    Let me know.