Mini Golf Math!

A few weeks ago, while perusing various consignment stores looking for picture books for our homeschool, we decided to pop by our local Goodwill store to check out their selection of books.
Back in our earlier days of homeschooling when we were still very much in the process of building up our collection of books and materials, I used to pop into both consignment stores and thrift shops in search of Fabulous Finds. But since we have amassed such a wonderful collection of materials, these shopping trips have subsided quite a bit...they are still fun to do once in a while though! 

Well, while we were there at Goodwill, Big Bro happened to see a miniature golf kit, in like brand new condition, in the original box, with each part of the set still in plastic wrap.
Both boys love golf, whether it is miniature golf or real golf, so to find this set was pretty neat!
Even though the creators of this set designed it to be a drinking game, we saw it as something that could work well for us in the scope of homeschooling...

Big Bro was especially determined to get this little golf game so he quickly added that there would have to be some kind of learning game or Montessori extension that they could do with this set.

Since this kit was actually designed to be a drinking game, each shot had a designated meaning as to whose turn it was to drink and how many shots they were supposed to have...
Each shot glass is color coded. There are a total of six shot glasses, as well as one flag/pin, two golf clubs, two little metal golf balls, a sand trap, a small bunker, and a water hazard.
The only thing the set needed was a little rake for the sand trap, but we found that taking the brush meant for Dear Daddy's shaving kit worked pretty well as a way to tidy up the sand.

As it turns out, our Montessori math facts are in little boxes and are color coded, so the boys came up with the idea that this set could work for a math game / work extension!
We have four boxes, one for each of the math operations:addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Little Bro has not had any work involving division yet, but both boys are familiar with and have had Montessori lessons on addition, subtraction, and multiplication, so we used cards from these three sets and filled the shot glasses with the cards.

Our cards fit perfectly into the shot glasses!

Let me tell you, this math work extension has been a huge hit with both boys!

They have come up with multiple ways to do this work  / play this game, depending on how you wanna look at it...

Generally, one of them will select the work and will add the respective cards.
They then choose to do the work with or without the aide of the Montessori math beads.
They have come up with all kinds of rules about what the different shots mean:
If you land in a sand trap, you have to complete two cards.
If you land in the water hazard, you have to do three cards.
If you get stuck by the bunker, you have to do two cards.
If you score a hole in one, you can choose to not answer a card for that time or, for some of the rounds, If it is a "hole-in-one contest", then you "win" a car (a toy car of course)!!!

This has been such a great way for them to practice their math facts.

Since they have enjoyed playing it so much, they are now trying to think of other sorts of cards that could work into this game.
We are going to try this game using grammar cards from our Montessori grammar work for Big Bro, as well as speech and articulation cards for Little Bro.
I just have to use the template from our Montessori math cards to make cards for grammar and speech/articulation that will fit the shot glasses.

So thanks to the person who donated this adorable set to Goodwill!
You probably got it as a gag gift or something and thought it was silly, but for two boys who love golf, this set has been such a great addition to our homeschooling (and all for only $2.00)!

Here are some photos...what a fun way to learn!

Our mini golf set!

Our Montessori math facts cards in their regular color coded boxes: addition is red, multiplication is yellow, and subtraction is green. They are not using the division cards for this work just yet...

Big Bro working out what each shot will mean...

Big Bro explaining to Little Bro how this mini golf set works as a math work...

The ball has landed in the sand trap! That means answer two math facts cards.

Best ball round!  Montessori math beads are hanging out in case they need to use them for solving / self checking their answers.

Little Bro doing this work independently...

Little Bro doing this as his work. The Montessori math beads and the cars for getting a hole-in-one are off to the side...

Close up of the toy cars they use as prizes if they get a hole-in-one! Love how they have the cars open as if they are actually on display at a tournament. Also shown are the Montessori math beads they can choose to either help solve the problem or to self check their work. The beads in this box are referred to as the decanomial bead box. For homeschoolers using Montessori math, this math bead set is terrific! We purchased our decanomial bead set from Alison's Montessori.