Practicing being Math-ish

In a past post I wrote about teaching my children about being "math-ish".  This is highly important for them as they learn how to work out story problems.  I encourage them only to use tools and give it a go...not worrying about the "right answer" as much as at the process.

So I presented with this problem to work out.  I wanted them to be able to draw a picture and to be able to show their thinking.  

Wow.  I was impressed and so I decided to bump it up to something a bit more difficult.
I told them we were off to the animal shelter.  Inside were 10 cages and 2 dogs in each cage...how many dirty paws now?

Pretty awesome, don't you agree! 
This shows how we are becoming mathematicians who can figure out real life problems!  It was a thrilling lesson for me as their teacher!