Talk preschool math and you need
to think of beginning with hands-on activities. Sorting out different colored
objects such as beads or macaroni or lego or soft toys could be a good way to
start, followed eventually by simple preschool
math worksheets. Turning any math sorting or counting activity into a story
can also be immensely helpful in getting the children hooked on to your tale –
one can always include spiders and monsters and kittens and puppies into small math
games and have the preschoolers learn without realizing the fact that they are
actually being taught numbers!
Here are three interesting ideas
with respect to counting, measuring and identification of shapes which can be
useful in introducing your little ones to basic math.
Counting Fun: Anything that is brightly colored and looks
attractive generally catches the fancy of a preschool kid. Counting can be made
a fun activity by introducing many different colored objects in it. One
exciting way could lead you to the kitchen to look for some uncooked spaghetti.
Get hold of some colorful plastic beads and let your little one try and
identify each color before threading a bead onto the spaghetti. Set a rule
beforehand, like one spaghetti stick will contain only one color and (say) 10
beads in all. Another interesting counting activity could be carried out with a
pack of playing cards. Sort out all the picture cards and the aces and set them
aside. You’re now left with number cards only. On a drawing board, pin up the
numbers 2-10 of a single suit and ask your little one to match each number on
its corresponding one on the board, that is all 5’s together (4 in all), all 6’s
together and so on.
Measuring Fun: The focus here will be not on accuracy but on
getting preschoolers acquainted with the art of measuring substances they
encounter on a daily basis. The easiest way to do this is by allowing them to
assist you while cooking. Have a notebook open with basic measurements penned
down for a simple dish like a salad – 2 tomatoes, 3 onions, 4 carrots and the
like. This could be followed by the more complex ‘3 spoons of sugar’ or ’100 ml
of water’ in a measuring cylinder, depending on what is cooking.
Shapes Fun: Preschoolers usually begin their math learning by identifying
shapes of different kinds. A good idea is to try out this simple activity which
requires just a piece of chalk and an empty backyard with a floor that can be
drawn on. Draw out different basic shapes – square, rectangle, circle, star –
on the ground using chalk; each shape should be big enough to be able to
accommodate a single standing kid. Now associate a particular action with each
shape – e.g. hop on one leg in a triangle, jump thrice in a square and so on.
The kids will have fun prancing around the shapes; hopping, skipping and
jumping.
The key in all these activities
is ‘the fun factor’. Because when it comes to math with these little kids,
teaching moments need to be disguised with play (read more here).
Do you have any interesting ‘fun’ ideas that can be added to this list?
