Counting Game with Buttons and Muffin Cups

So part of this posted last week. I had started writing the post but never finished it and somehow I had it set to post anyway. Blame it on mommy brain, combined with the stress of selling a house and taking the kids to Disneyland last week. I apologize and here is the complete post.
Here is a simple math activity that you can customize to your child's skill level. The dollar store has a great selection of cupcake liners and aluminum cupcake tins. I buy lots of cupcake liners because I love to use them for meals to hold small items and to add to my kid's lunch at school for a fun treat. They can also be used for practicing math.
Supplies You Will Need:

• Muffin tin
• Muffin Cups
• Buttons or some other small objects
• Marker

Write some numbers on some muffin cups. I started with 4 and went through 9. For more of a challenge you can used a 12 count muffin cup and make bigger numbers. Place the numbered muffin cups in the muffin tin. Give your child an assortment of buttons or other small objects and have them put the appropriate number into each muffin tin. Some other objects you can use as counters: pasta, beads, mini marshmallows...

My youngest did not get the one-to-one correspondence, but she had fun putting the buttons in the various cups. She loves to do what her big sisters are doing and her mind she is doing it perfectly.

B really concentrated on getting just the right number of buttons in each muffin cup.

When the kids were finished we dumped out the buttons in each cup and counted them to check their work. They were very excited when they had the correct number of buttons.

This was an inexpensive kids activity that can be done using a variety of objects. I love how you can customize it according to season or your child's interest.