Big numbers
Children's Activity
Object:
SHARING THIS WEEK'S GOSPEL THEME
AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME
Materials:
A calculator for each student
*For this activity, numbers are turned upside-down and equated with letters as follows:
1= "I"; 2= "z"; 3= "E"; 4= "h"; 5= "s"; 6= "g"; 8= "B"; 9= "G"; 0= "o"
Directions:
Have the children put the following equations into their calculators and see what words they end up with. See if they can come up with any other calculator words. Afterward discuss how, although numbers are often important to us, in Jesus' lesson today they stood for the idea of "very many" -- not as an actual number. Talk about how numbers can mean things other than amounts.
Equations:
7 x 2 (14; flip calculator upside-down to read "hi")
177 x 50 x 4 - 61 (35,339; reads "geese")
3518 x 90 – 1 (316,619; reads "giggle")
7 x 8 x 2 x 3 + 2 (338; reads "bee")
15 x 40 + 4 (604; reads "hog")
319 x 2 (638; reads "beg")
643 x 5 (3215; reads "size")
Optional: If you do not have access to enough calculators or the children are too young for calculator operations, draw large numbers on pieces of paper and ask the children to use the numbers to draw something new. (Example: add stripes, eyes, and wings to an "8" to create a bumblebee; turn a "4" into the legs of a flamingo.)
AT SUNDAY SCHOOL AND AT HOME
Materials:
A calculator for each student
*For this activity, numbers are turned upside-down and equated with letters as follows:
1= "I"; 2= "z"; 3= "E"; 4= "h"; 5= "s"; 6= "g"; 8= "B"; 9= "G"; 0= "o"
Directions:
Have the children put the following equations into their calculators and see what words they end up with. See if they can come up with any other calculator words. Afterward discuss how, although numbers are often important to us, in Jesus' lesson today they stood for the idea of "very many" -- not as an actual number. Talk about how numbers can mean things other than amounts.
Equations:
7 x 2 (14; flip calculator upside-down to read "hi")
177 x 50 x 4 - 61 (35,339; reads "geese")
3518 x 90 – 1 (316,619; reads "giggle")
7 x 8 x 2 x 3 + 2 (338; reads "bee")
15 x 40 + 4 (604; reads "hog")
319 x 2 (638; reads "beg")
643 x 5 (3215; reads "size")
Optional: If you do not have access to enough calculators or the children are too young for calculator operations, draw large numbers on pieces of paper and ask the children to use the numbers to draw something new. (Example: add stripes, eyes, and wings to an "8" to create a bumblebee; turn a "4" into the legs of a flamingo.)
