Pine Cone Snail
What you need
- a big piece of cardboard
- a felt tip
- eight to ten pine cones of different sizes
How to do it
- Draw a big snail on the cardboard with a spiral shell.
- Tip the pine cones out and look at which are big and which are small.
- Show them how to lay the biggest pine cone at the outside of the spiral.
- Let them lay the rest along the spiral, getting smaller towards the middle.
- Count the pine cones in the shell together when it is full.
Why it matters
Following a spiral line with real things from outside is like drawing without a pen.
What they're learning
- Big and small
- Choosing the biggest one each time is comparing sizes.
- Lining up
- Following the spiral line takes careful placing.
- Counting along
- Counting the cones at the end gives the numbers in order.
What to look for
Watch how they choose the next cone. Holding two to compare is them working out big and small.
A tip
Pick pine cones bigger than a toilet roll tube is wide and check for loose scales.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: lay them in any order along the line
Harder: find sticks and leaves on your next walk to give the snail feelers and a garden
