#853. Multiplication is a real handful (multiplying by 5's)

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Fri Feb 12 15:27:08 PST 1999 by Trish Johnson (trjohnso@genie.esu10.k12.ne.us).
Shelton Elementary, Shelton, Nebraska U.S.A.
Materials Required: White butcher paper or bulletin board paper, tempera paints, paintbrushes, paperplates, marker
Activity Time: 30 minutes
Concepts Taught: Multiplying by 5's

This is a wonderful activity to introduce multiplying by 5's.
I started off the lesson by having the students count off by
fives and then brainstorm things that come in groups of fives.
(Such as fingers, toes, etc.)
I used the five fingers in our hands as a theme for learning
the factors of five.
In this lesson the children will paint their hand with bright
primary colored paint and then place it on the paper to create
multiplication arrays of the fives with their handprints.

I had prepared before hand two large pieces of white bulletin
board paper with the five facts written on them with marker.
For example, 1 x 5 = 5 2 x 5 = 10
or 1 handprint or 2 handprints

3 x 5 = 15 4 x 5 = 20
or 3 handprints or 4 handprints

I made all of the facts up to 10 x 5 = 50. You will want to
allow enough room for handprints to be displayed above the
facts. I had another activity for the children to work on at
their desks. I only wanted two children to be painting their
hands at once. I used the colors red, green, and blue. It
looks so stunning in our hallway at school, and the children
are so proud of it. I used a handprint border to go around it
and used the heading "Multiplication is a Real Handful!"
It was so much fun and really "hands on" for the kids. I had
the kids paint their hands rather than dip their hands in the
paint to create less mess. I also used only one color per fact.
I will definitely do this again next year!!