The Game of Quick Counting
Have a handful of small sticks or matches and lay a number in a row on the table. Let the children stand with their backs to the table and a few feet away from it. After you have arranged the sticks go several feet away from the table and say, "Ready!" The children then go to the table, count the sticks, run to you and whisper their answer. The object in your being away from the table is to keep the others from repeating the answer of the first child when they have not finished the count for themselves. From a simple beginning of a straight row of a few sticks, the game can be developed to any degree of complexity, so that it will tax the powers of the most alert and developed mind. The children will soon be able to glance at the group of sticks and count them from their mind's eye picture while they are coming to you and not have to stand at the table while counting them.
Lay the sticks in groups, make them into figures, into small piles, double lines of different length, etc. A few different groups are illustrated below—use matches, tooth picks, or any small articles.
