Your child
may not know it yet, but math, like science and language, is a way to understand
and make sense of the world. Math is an indispensable part of our daily lives –
counting, measuring, reasoning,
problem-solving, identifying patterns and shapes – all these are mathematical
activities we do everyday. Help your little one build his math foundation
through these simple 1st grade math activities for young children.
My Birthday Number
This easy 1st
grade math activity is suitable for a classroom or group of kids. You’ll need a
marker, chalkboard and as many index cards as the number of kids. Distribute
the index cards and have each child write his name on it. Invite each child to
the front of the room and tell everyone his birthday. Use the marker to write
each child’s birthday in numbers on his index card and display the card around
the room.
More or Less?
This 1st
grade math activity doubles up as a fun card game for two or more
players. Take a deck of cards and distribute them evenly among all players. Have
them place their stack of cards face down. For each round, all the players must
turn over one of the cards from their stacks. The person who draws the card
with the highest value wins that round and gets to keep everyone’s turned up
cards. When all the cards are gone from the stack, the player with the most
number of cards wins the game.
Snack Shapes
Here’s a
yummy 1st grade math activity that kids are sure to love. For your
child’s snack time, offer him a variety of snacks in different shapes; for
instance, round apple slices, triangular sandwiches, star-shaped cookies and so
on. You could even designate each day of the week as a “Square Snack Day,” or
“Rectangular Snack Day.” Invite your child to create his own snacks in
different shapes.
Zero Sum Game
Try this fun
1st grade math activity to teach addition to kids. Hand out a piece of paper to each child and ask them
write numbers 1-12 on it. The object is to cross all the numbers. Take 6 index
cards and write the numbers 1-6 on them; one number per card. Invite the
players to take turns choosing two index cards. They must add the numbers they
pick and then cross off the sum from their list. For instance, if they draw the
numbers 3 and 4, they may cross off 7 from their list. Or, they may cross off 3
and 4. A player who cannot cross off any number loses his turn. The first
player to cross off all the numbers wins the game.
You will find
many such simple and fun math activities for 1st grade around your
house. Creative and interactive teaching methods are often the most effective!
