What is Equal?

Jonas plays a Reader Rabbit computer game that goes over the basics of Kindergarten curriculum. He was having difficulty understanding the concept of "Equal". So I got out the Halloween candy and pulled out a pack of mini-M&Ms.

We worked on making small piles (1-5 candies) and making them equal and un-equal. We used pink post-it-notes to show clear separation of piles. He caught on pretty quickly after that.

Then insisted on doing it himself and poured out the whole bag. I let him play...he put a few in each pile at a time and when he had used the whole bag he said, "Mom, they're equal!" Of course I was doubtful and proceeded to count. 1, 2, 3,... 25 in the first pile...1, 2, 3, ???What??? 25 in the second pile!!! I was impressed! He wasn't even putting them in the piles at the same interval.