Pirate Counting with Doubloons. Arrrr!

Lately, my sweet little three and a half year old boy had been enamored with all things pirate. Perhaps it has to do with the new show on the Disney channel, Jake and the Neverland Pirates?

We've also hit a window in which he is interested in counting, and even addition. So I set out to make some manipulatives to keep up the fun with counting.

Here's what I used:

• 1 piece of yellow construction paper
• 1 black Crayola marker (Although, next time I will use a Sharpie. More on that later in the post.)
• Crayola Glitter Glue pens
• laminator
• scissors

First, I drew some double circles on the construction paper with my marker. It doesn't matter if they're not even. They're doubloons, remember?

Next, I turned the paper over and traced the circles on the back so the coins would be double sided.

Then, I numbered some of the coins from 1 to 10, some from 1 to 5, and all the rest with the number 1.

The Pièce de résistance: glitter glue.

This is why I wish I'd used a Sharpie. The glue is water-based and caused some very slight smearing on my water-based Crayola markers. They're still usable as-is--I didn't feel compelled to start over with the Sharpie, but if I do it again, that's what I'll be reaching for.

I let it sit overnight while the glitter glue dried. Then, I ran them through my trusty laminator and cut them out in groups of 10, 5, or 1.

Here they are, all cut out. My son loves them. I love to watch him count his 'bloons!