Skeleton Counting is a Target special!   True story.  See, I found these skeletons or skulls in the Target Dollar Spot (better known as a teacher black hole…try to walk by and not get sucked in…I dare you!) and of course I bought them!  BUY ALL THE THINGS!

Then I needed to decide how to use them.  Several ideas came to mind….Write letters on the skeletons and make an ABC order or letter recognition center.  Nope.  I have already done a counting center using witch’s cauldrons  and erasers from Target.  Of course I wanted to use these in a slightly different way so why not use them to make ten frames?   I think these make awesome and fun math manipulatives!

And then I had a bit of inspiration thanks to my friend Jenny at Jen Hart Design!   

Skeleton Counting

Skele-Ten Counting with ten frames!  Get it?  Skeleton Counting with ten frames?!

This will make a great math center or math basket activity and even a great 1 on 1 math RTI activity.  Students will get to work on number recognition, ten frames and one to one correspondence all while using big skulls as their counters!

Here’s what we did:

Make 2 giant ten frames using 12×18 construction paper.

Print the skeleton numbers and ten frame cards included in this post for FREE!  YAY FREE!

Students choose a ten frame card and count.  They find the correct number.  Then they make the giant ten frame using the skeletons!

After they finish they can use the included recording sheets to record their work!  The recording sheets allow for easy differentiation!

Click below to get your freebie!

You can also check out my Halloween cauldron counting activity by clicking the picture below!

And check out the fun skele-ten frame clipart (and all of her amazing clipart!) from Jen Hart Design!