Salt-Water Shells

If your child writes with just-washed hands, you may decide to use the salt for cooking afterward — or, you may not!

What You Need:

• Carton of table salt or unused sandbox sand
• Soup bowl
• Salt-Water Shells Worksheet (PDF file)
• Crayons (optional)
• Paper and pencil

Help with Opening PDF Files

What You and Your Child Will Do:

1. Have your child color each group of shells a different color.
2. Pour salt into the bowl to a depth of about 1 inch. Gently shake the bowl to smooth the surface of the salt.
3. Have your child read the numbers 10 through 14 at the top of the worksheet. Explain that he or she will look for these numbers of shells in the groups below.
4. Point to each group of shells and ask, “How many (red/blue/yellow/purple/green) shells are there?”
5. Help your child count the shells in the group. Then help him or her to first use a finger to write the number in the “sand” and then write the number on the worksheet, below the shells of that color.
6. Smooth out the salt again and repeat the process of having your child identify the number of shells in a group and write that number, both in the salt and on the worksheet.