Handa's Surprise

Handa carries a basket of seven different tropical fruit in a basket on her head; she is unaware that a succession of seven animals each steal one, but they are replaced by a huge number of tangerines from a tree butted by a goat. Children could show the decreasing 'one less than' relationship between the numbers by counting back with their fingers as well as following the story on a number track or staircase. Children can make up their own subtraction stories with different animals stealing different numbers of fruit. They can also estimate the number of tangerines and other items in baskets.