"Now, hold on!"

One of my favorite lessons is called the Tennis Ball Puzzle. The child is encouraged to put one tennis ball in each cup of a muffin tin, demonstrating a beginning understanding of one-to-one correspondence. When presented with one more ball than cup, the child may stop and and consider, then problem solve what to do with the extra ball. Makayla was breezing along working the puzzle with six balls. On the third turn, Mom handed Makayla ball number seven. Makayla held the seventh ball in her hand and studied the muffin tin with no available cup for the seventh ball. Makayla said, "Now, hold on!". She picked up a ball and replaced it with another. She was so cute, because each time she would say, "Now, hold on!".
Toni