How Many Feet in the Bed? (Math & Drama)

I picked up a cute book, How Many Feet in the Bed?, and thought it would be fun to act out with my 5-year-old. In the story, members of a family of five tumble in and out of the parents' bed on a Sunday morning. As each person comes and goes, the total feet left in the bed are counted.

First, I read the story aloud. Then I grabbed a doll bed and some Counting Bears. As I read the story a second time, we acted it out; my son added bears, counting feet as he went. Later, as the bears left, he counted again to see what remained.

Then we told our own stories. I made up one about Mommy and Daddy snoring in bed, only to be disturbed by one child after another (I named all our kids) who piled into bed on Saturday morning. I took them away as they left to watch cartoons, etc. After my story, my son told his own, adding and subtracting his own bears and counting as he went.

 This story could also be acted out with dolls and a tissue box bed...or even dramatized by a kindergarten class or homeschool co-op group.





Key Words: Math and Drama, Skip Counting Lesson, Teddy Bear Math