How many cupcakes are there...really?

Last weekend Kaylee and I decided to make cupcakes for a birthday party.  This activity was perfect for the "I do", "we do" "you do" teaching process.  First I showed Kaylee how to scoop out the batter and pour it into the cupcake pan.  Then we did it together; meaning, I held my hand over hers and we poured the batter in together.  Finally, and this was a very hard step for me to take part in, I let her do it all by herself.  While half of the batter ended up on the counter, as I suspected would, she gained confidence in doing something all by herself.  It also helped her take ownership of the activity.  Since she poured the batter in the pan, the cupcakes were now hers and she decided it would be best if she sat in front of the oven and watched them bake...this lead an interesting conversation.

Hmmm...a 5 to 3 ratio.  I'm not sure if that is fair, but according to Kaylee it is.  It was great to see her trying to figure out how many cupcakes we made total.  I noticed that she can confidently count to 12, but after 12 she starts acting all crazy and just throwing random numbers out.

I know she is not close to adding and subtracting, but the moment presented itself so I ran with it.  When I asked her how many more cupcakes she would have than me, she knew she would have more but was unable to figure out exact amount.  Because she said I would get 2 cupcakes she thought the difference was two and even after we figured out she would have 3 more than me this same logic followed as she then said "oh I forgot, I'm going to surprise you with 3 cupcakes."  I loved asking her these questions and seeing her mind in action!