100 Bottles of Juice on the Wall

A teacher in Santa Cruz, California, came up with this way to help her own kids – ages 5 & 8 – do mental math with addition and subtraction. She revamped the old song “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” in this way:

5 bottles of juice on the wall

5 bottles of juice

You go to the store and buy 3 more

How many bottles of juice on the wall?

Pause and let the kids figure out that the answer is 8, and then move on.

8 bottles of juice on the wall

8 bottles of juice

You take two down and pass them around

How many bottles of juice on the wall?

Again, pause to let them figure out the answer is 6 and continue the game from there.