Mission 25: Adding to 5’s happiness Ideas • Get things, large or small, and put them in two small groups with about 2 or 3 in each group.  Count the number in each group and then put the two groups together to find their total.  Children may well need to count all the items again in the combined group to find out how many there are. As they gain confidence, try making the groups bigger.  • You can do this at home or out and about – count the cups, count the plates then count all of them together.  Do the same with adults and children, or cars and trucks, or anywhere there are two sets of things that can be counted separately then together. Keep the numbers reasonable to begin with. If you keep the second group small (1 or 2 to begin with), you might be able to help your child count on from the count of the previous group to get the total, rather than counting all the things again. If they are not happy with this, do not force it as the counting all is an important step towards understanding addition. • Hold up five digits on one hand to make five.  Now try to make five by holding up different numbers of digits on both hands eg 1 and 4, 2 and 3.  5 and zero is another way.  The bigger number can be shown with either hand, eg 1 and 4 as well as 4 and 1.  Hold up your own number of digits, ask your child to hold up the number needed to make 5.  Swap over.  Play the game making different totals. • You could repeat the above with any two groups of countable things. You could also use two dice, where the dots are countable but fixed. • Use the Counter Machine to play with numbers.  Make different totals using different coloured counters - eg 3 yellow and 3 red to make 6.  Are there different ways of making the same total?  Challenge your child to make all numbers from 2-10 with counters of two different colours. 5 can’t find her 5 buddy blocks, so needs help in making 5 in other ways.   Focus: This mission focuses on the addition of two groups, particularly adding to make 5.   Vocabulary: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, add, altogether, total. .