Snack Share (fractions)

Exploring fractions, parts, equal, whole and division/sharing. This involves lots of counting and chopping, followed by lots of eating. Yum
 
The beauty of this activity is that the participants can take a variety of different approaches to fill each circle. For example, first they are presented with a type of food, say tomatoes, they then decide how many of each object to use (eg. 3 tomatoes). The next step is for them to decide which circle to fill (eg. the circle divided into sixths). The challenge is for them to then figure out how to cut the tomatoes into equal parts so each segment of the circle has a piece (eg. each tomato is cut in half, resulting in 6 equal parts). 3 tomatoes were shared by 6.
 
They both got one piece of cheese and wanted to place it in the circle divided into elevenths. So they worked out that that would have to cut it into 12 pieces and then eat one, leaving 11. To do this, they cut the cheese into 3 pieces and then each piece into quarters.
 
Oh, and as they ate, each mouthful we counted the fractions.... you've eaten 1/6th of the tomatoes, then 2/6th, then 3/6th (which they noticed was half!!), then 4/6th, then 5/6th and then ALL the tomatoes.
 
Sometimes when we do this, I roll a 12 sided dice to choose
which number to eat. Another option is to use a deck of
cards and select just one suit, Ace through to Queen.
I fanned them out and they selected one at random
(taking it in turns) and then ate the contents of the
corresponding circle.
 
Adding a process to mealtime really helps with my younger son who is quite a picky eater. When we approach food this way he eats a wide variety of foods and often tries something new.
 
If your child is younger and not ready for fractions, this is a good exercise just for counting. If they are older, you can choose how many of each item they get and they have to solve how many pieces to cut it into to get the correct number of equal parts.