Let's have some fun in the "spirit" of Halloween! Copy/paste or screen shot this spiderweb and print it out. Size it so that it fills and fits the bottom of a paper plate. I used plain white, but if you'd like it to be more holiday-like, you can get orange, black, or Halloween- rimmed paper plates. Trace a circle around the spiderweb print out that is the same size as the bottom of the paper plate; cut it out and glue it to the bottom of the plate. Get the smallest buttons you can find (like shirt buttons).
To play: Place the number of buttons on the spiderweb covered plate to represent the sum you wish to work with. Tell everyone to cover their plates.Refer to "Addition Tambourines" for cover construction. Have the children shake their covered plates (you can do this the number of times that is equal to the sum, if you'd like) When you say "stop", the children should stop shaking their plates, uncover their plates, and look at the way the buttons are positioned on their plates. Now comes the writing or the telling, whatever you choose. The children should be able to fill in the blanks: ____ buttons(bugs) on the lines and _____ buttons(bugs) off of the lines = ____ buttons(bugs) in the spiderweb altogether. You can also have the children write out what they see as addition facts.
Once they have "discovered" the facts for a particular sum up to its double, they can turn-around each fact to tell(write) the rest of them. I am recommending this to save time....if the children need a concrete example, they can place the buttons on the spiderweb to represent the "turnaround" facts.
What's even more fun is to make larger spiderwebs in a small, medium, or large pizza box. Keep the lid on! Do the same as above ....but with a bigger web/box more students can participate (be the shakers and recorders) per box! This can be more of a group activity.
Sounds like a fun game!
@Kathryn:I'm making the bigger version now (out of a small pizza box) for Monday. Thanks for your input.