fudge brownies for $99

Two four-year-old boys are working in the sandbox during outside Exploration time. James and Sean have collected buckets and shovels and are quite focused in their cooperative work in one shady corner near the double slide.

James and Sean working together to create their fudge brownies.

I hears a few words about 'brownies' and 'for sale' and am curious to know more about their work together. As I get a bit closer, James quickly informs me that they are, indeed, making fudge brownies...

Tchr J: So, tell me more about those fudge brownies, James.
James: They are 99 Dollars.
Tchr J: They are $99?! Sean, what's in the brownies? What do you use to make them?
James: Oh, there are sprinkles in them, rainbow sprinkles!
Tchr J: Oh, yumm. And then, do you have to cook them?
Sean: Yes.
James: Yes. You have to get them all into that bucket – all this wet sand into that bucket – then you have to put it into that oven then we put sprinkles in it then people can eat it for 99 Dollars.
Tchr J: How hot is the oven when you put the brownies in?
Sean: 99, umm...
James: No, one...one millimeter!
Tchr J: One millimeter for hotness? And then how many minutes or hours do you cook it?
James: One.
Tchr J: One what?
James: One minute.
Tchr J: One minute for cooking then it is all set?
James: Yea.

Working and talking about their business plan for $99 brownies.

Tchr J: Nice. Thank you. Oh, how many brownies are you making to sell?
James: Oh, one hundred and two probably...
Tchr J: Oh, 102 probably?
James: No, one hundred and nine actually.





Tchr J: 109, ok.  Sean, what do you think?
Sean: There are a lot of cavities in here.
Tchr J: There are a lot of cavities in it?
Sean: Yea, there are like a trillion and one in here.
Tchr J: Oh, so people shouldn't eat a lot because they will get cavities?
Sean: Yea...
Tchr J: Oh, ok...
Sean: Actually, there are a trillion and two...
Tchr J: Oh my gosh...
Sean: That's a lot...
Tchr J: So how many should people eat so that their teeth are ok?
James: One, probably...
Sean: No, this is the best...Zero!...Save some.  [smiles].

Sean and James continue their brownie business discussion.

Please admire the boys' rich social interaction as they invest time in using sandbox tools, friendly dialogue and an invented scenario of making and selling brownies.
Interestingly, the boys' number use in terms of money, degrees, time and quantities are age appropriate as they apply various figures in their brownies baking business.
For this age group, playing with and applying language on their own terms is part of their connection and social function  - agreeing and disagreeing with each other, thinking out what numbers to apply
for an explanation, and changing their decisions as they speak.
Wonderful.