3 Fun Ways to Stop the Math Summer Slide

Summer and math are (and always have been) poles apart from each other. Summer vacations are meant for late breakfasts (aka brunches), virtual games, swimming lessons, outdoor fun and above all, zero math. Mathematics is a subject which needs constant practice; the more you slog at it, the better you get. And, of course, summers are definitely not meant to be spent slogging over math problems, are they? That’s why most kids fall prey to the deadly summer slide, more so in math as compared to other subjects.

Here are 3 fun ways to try and slow down (if not stop) this inevitable summer slide in math:

1. YouTube videos are all the rage these days. Just run a simple search like ‘fun math videos for kids’ and you’ll be greeted by loads of fun stuff, from basic kindergarten and preschool math involving colorful animals prancing around to alligators and friendly monsters imparting math education. Introduce your kids to them for a fixed time duration daily to ensure they don’t forget the basics learnt over the last school year (especially useful for younger kids).

“icon-graphics” by jean_victor_balin is licensed under CC by 2.0

2. Does your child enjoy watching and/or playing sports? Summers could be the perfect time to catch up on ongoing events in the sporting world and teach math using sports. Encourage your child to keep track of scores and in the process, grab the opportunity to introduce her to the basics of statistics. Sports events more often than not show pie charts and bar charts on television, in between matches. Improve your kids’ understanding by having a full-blown discussion regarding the same after each match and see how they grasp stuff quickly since it’s something that interests them.

3. Any summer vacation is incomplete without the ubiquitous board games or card games. At our place, Monopoly has been the all-time favorite game of several generations, played by several generations as well at the same time all together! (Needless to say that this has resulted in a large chunk of the game money to go missing followed by newly purchased Monopoly sets from time to time. I’ve lost count on how many Monopolies we’ve owned – and lost – in the last couple of decades.) Counting out money is fascinating for all kids since they aren’t used to handling money on an everyday basis. Make your kid the ‘banker’ of the game, entrusted with the responsibility of handing out the required denominations of notes to the other players. They’ll end up getting familiar with counting out the change and it’ll hold them in good stead in the years to come.

Joanna Christodoulou from the Harvard Graduate School of Education couldn’t have put it better when she said: “Reading activities are often part of the fabric of a family’s daily life. But if you try to imagine a bedtime math routine, as you might for reading, the idea of winding down by completing math equations doesn’t elicit the same interest. The issue isn’t that engaging math activities are not available outside of school, but rather that it is easy to overlook the presence of math in everyday activities, like measurement in cooking, calculation when dealing with money, or distance while driving.” (You can read the full article here.)

Do you have any other interesting ideas that can be added to this list?

3 Fun Math Board Games

"Goose Game" by Skitterphoto is licensed under CC by 2.0

Sum Swamp: Designed for ages 5 and above, Sum Swamp is actually a journey through a swamp which includes addition and subtraction calculations, based on the numbers resulting from rolling the dice. 2-4 players can play this at a time. You could take the Crocodile Short Cut if you’re clever with your numbers, or be caught in an Endless Loop of sorts.

Sumoku: A sort of a numbered crossword board game ideal for kids above 8 years, Sumoku begins with the rolling of a dice, which decides the ‘key number’. Then eight tiles are drawn by a player, followed by tiles added to the board wherein all rows and columns must be a sum to a multiple of the ‘key number’ decided in the beginning. Sounds complicated? Well, it isn’t really, once you start playing. A good form of math practice for young kids.

Pizza Fraction Fun: Identifying basic fraction denominations can now be a fun game for kids in the form of Pizza Fraction Fun. Meant for ages 6-12, it consists of seven different games for kids that start with the basics and eventually progress up to the concept of addition and subtraction of fractions, all by building pizzas. A round of actual pizzas after the game could make it a perfect weekend treat!

3 Fun Ways to Teach Kids Math at Home

Math is actually not as dreaded a subject as it is made out to be, provided a teacher inculcates a sense of understanding in kids at an early age. Most people who talk about suffering from ‘math phobia’ have the same underlying problem – they never really grasped the basics correctly. Hence, it is important for kids to get their facts and figures in place right from the very beginning.

Though there is no dearth of cool math games like these that help kids in learning math in a fun way, here are 3 simple ways you could help them with the subject at home itself.

1. Playing with Lego

“Duplo” by WerbeFabrik is licensed under CC by 2.0

Playing with Lego bricks can be an enjoyable way of introducing kids to the basics of math, right from preschool. The colorful bricks are captivating and the kids stay gainfully occupied while playing too since their hands and minds are busy all the while. Here’s how you can begin with a simple game: Use an erasable marker to number 6 bricks of different colors from 1-6 (there can be as many series of 1-6 as there are kids playing). Leave them loose in a pile.

Take a dice and ask your little one to roll it. Ask her to then say the number out loud and look for a brick with the same number. The game is simple – roll the dice, recognize the number, find the corresponding numbered brick and build your tower. Then it is the next player’s turn to do the same. The game continues till one of the players completes her tower with 6 bricks. She is then declared the winner. This is just an example of a very basic Lego game to teach preschoolers number identification.

(Note: In case a number shows up on the dice which has already been rolled in the past, the said player skips her turn.)

2. Gardening with Math

“Child” by sdumas29 is licensed under CC by 2.0

Planting your garden for the season is a fun task, as well as a good opportunity to get your kids to learn some gardening and brush up on their math skills. Bonus: They can get their hands as messy as they want! Start by handing your kids a measuring tape and asking them to take and note down measurements – the size of the planting box, how much space a particular plant needs, and the like. Also, involve your kids in counting out the seeds and/or packets of other supplies too that are required.

Next comes the planting part. Allow your child to use a ruler to measure out the depth at which the seeds need to be planted. Most seed packets have this part mentioned on the backs. Space out the rows between seeds appropriately using the ruler for it as well. Finally, it is a good idea for your child to maintain and update a notebook to record, say, the weekly growth of plants in centimeters and inches.

3. Playing Cards

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Card games can be a good way to spend quality time with the family. You could also use it as an opportune time for your kids to practice basic math calculations. For instance, the game called Go Fish! can help with addition skills. Or else, the evergreen Memory game played using a single deck of playing cards can never go wrong. You could play it like this: Decide on a featured number and remove all cards from the deck that are higher or more than that specific number. Shuffle as usual, placing all cards face down on a flat table.

Each player has to flip two cards from anywhere to find a matching pair. Say, the number you’ve chosen is 7. Then its pairs could be (6+1), (5+2), (4+3) and so on. The player who manages to find the maximum number of matching pairs emerges as the winner.

Simple and fun, aren’t they? Do add more ideas to this list if you too use some fun methods to teach kids math at home.

Playing Around with Math

“Mathematics” by OpenClipart-Vectors is licensed under CC by 2.0

These days I’m trying to teach my daughter to ‘play with numbers’. Right from using building blocks to count from 1 to 10, playing board games like snakes and ladders in which one has to count ahead spaces at every step and add numbers together to mastering the fundamentals of the basic number line through a simple game of hopscotch, we’re doing it all. And it’s a whole lot of fun.

We also have an abacus at home now. Earlier I was of the view that it could only be used to do simple addition and subtraction; but then on reading more about this fun calculating tool, we’ve started doing more complex operations like multiplication and division too, albeit of small numbers.

We try and include math in our everyday activities – in the kitchen learning about volumes, playing online math games on the computer and the like. Kids (at least mine) tend to develop a natural aversion to the subject if they are made to sit down with a list of problems on a worksheet and asked to solve them. The key to making the subject fun is to involve imaginative play in math, something that is a part of their everyday routine and yet is enjoyable.

3 Fun Ways to Prevent the Math Summer Slide

According to a research carried out by Oxford Learning, an online program which caters to the learning needs of students of different age groups, math skills equivalent to approximately 2.6 months of learning are lost by kids over the summer vacation. What’s more, if kids and parents manage to put in just 2-3 hours per week towards the subject, this learning loss can be prevented to a considerable extent. Also, Duke University researchers claim that math skills decline more over the summer than academic skills in any other subject.

“Mathematics” by ArtsyBee is licensed under CC by 2.0

Here are a couple of fun math activities that can be used to brush up the kids’ math skills over the summer so that they are able to retain a good part of whatever was taught to them over the past academic year.

Math in the Kitchen

Ask your kid to count how many cookies are there on the cookie tray once it comes freshly baked out of the oven. A good way would be to count the number of rows and columns to calculate the number of cookies, hence helping the kids recall and practice their multiplication tables. Allow your kids to measure out the volume of water that goes into the spaghetti recipe you’re cooking. Younger kids can be made to set the table for dinner and count out the number of forks and knives required for the people at the dining table. The number of pints in a gallon, the number of ounces in a cup, kids can get to know these basics of math measurements like the back of their hand if they help out in the kitchen on an everyday basis.

Math with Games

You can pick from an endless variety of exciting math games to play with your kids and as a family. One of the relatively recent additions to the market is what is known as printable math games – what you need to do is simply download certain e-books from the internet to your computer, print them out and voila! You have a great math game on your hands which you’ve never played before. Alternatively, you could introduce your child to online math games which come in all shapes and sizes and for all ages. Playing card games or board games like the tried-and-tested monopoly are other equally good options which allow you to spend quality time together as a family as well as teach kids the fundamentals of counting, money and otherwise.

Math with Videos

Ever heard of something known as a multiplication rap? Well, it’s an easy and entertaining way to help your kids sing along and learn their multiplication tables in style. Also, doodles are not always just absent-minded scribbles and squiggles drawn on paper. Doodling in math by connecting dots, making binary trees and practicing the Fibonacci series are fun ways kids can practice certain mathematical concepts, be means of watching certain educational videos on sites like YouTube.

Because the only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics, as a parent you just need to make sure some form of math is incorporated into your child’s play – one of the most effective ways to do away with the otherwise inevitable summer slide.

3 Fun Math Apps – For Tiny Tots to Tweens

“The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.”

Coming from Paul Richard Halmos, the renowned mathematician who is credited with significant advances in several fields of mathematics such as probability theory, statistics and mathematical logic, these words hold so much power. But then when it comes to kids, especially the kindergarten and the just-passed kindergarten ones, getting them to sit down and do mathematics is next to impossible. Hence, parents find themselves turning to other ‘more interesting’ means like online math games, story-telling (for instance, four frogs jumped into a pond, then one more, how many are there in all?), math story books (a popular one is Each Orange Had 8 Slices: A Counting Book by Paul Giganti, Jr. and Donald Crews), to name a few.

Along the same lines, here are three fun math apps for different age groups – from toddlers to middle schoolers – which are an exciting way to help your kids get rid of their math woes.

TallyTots (For 2-4 year olds)
The first thing that strikes you about the interface of this app is that it is extremely colorful – and hence, toddlers as well as preschoolers are going to love it. It is a complete package with twenty different mini-games within it, which begins as twenty cards with numbers spread across a cheerful blue sky background. Among the games is a mathematical puzzle which needs to be solved, a garden with flowers which need to be watered, and even chipmunks that need to be fed with a specific number of acorns. To top it all, the one reason which made me love this app most of all has to be the melodious and very simple to learn sing-along counting song, which kids will pick up in no time whatsoever.

The Counting Kingdom (For 6-10 year olds)
This one is all about magic, monsters and (of course!) math. You have a kingdom of your own and monsters are invading it. Even though the monsters are quite cute, you need to banish them from your kingdom, otherwise there will be huge destruction. But how? Through magic spells of course! As the said monsters gradually start appearing in the form of a grid in front of your fortress, the onus is on you to add their numbers together in such a way so as to whip up three different spells (read: sums) to scare the attackers away. Remember the Plants versus Zombies game, in which one had to attack and destroy zombies with dangerous looking plants? The only difference in The Counting Kingdom is that you need to use math equations in place of plants to attack the approaching monsters. This tower defense strategy game will go a long way in brushing up your little one’s addition skills, as he goes past addition problems with increasing complexity at each of the 30 levels presented in the game.

Math Snacks (For 10-12 year olds)
This app is meant especially for those tweens who don’t particularly adore math. It is something akin to a one-stop shop for parents and teachers of the said age group, replete with teacher and student learning material, games and interactive videos. Very unlike the traditional math that is taught in classrooms, Math Snacks caters primarily to the mathematical learning needs of students of grades 6-8 and presents the subject through a variety of different animations and short games. The fact that this app was created by the New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab is reason enough to introduce your kids to it; a very well-designed interactive math app.

With fascinating apps like these on the rise, who knows, there might soon be a day when we won’t know what ‘math phobia’ actually means!

Kids’ Math Games that Teach Counting

 

Photo Courtesy: Natural Math

Some kids take to math as fish do to water; others hate, fear and loathe it. Actually, teaching beginning math skills to a 3 year old is as easy as 1+1=2, if you go about it the right way. And no, getting him to push paper is NOT the right way. So, what’s a parent to do? Try some of these kids’ math games that teach your child how to count –and put the fun back into learning!

1. Neighborhood Number Crunch
Your neighborhood is packed with numbers – all you need to do is get your child to pay attention. Take him for a stroll around the block and watch out for numbers painted on street signs, mailboxes, doorways and curbs. As soon as you spot a number, call it out. See who can spot the most numbers. Want to make this kids’ math game a tad more challenging? Have your child count up to the number he spots.  For added variety, count trees, cars, dogs or even people dressed in red.

2. Cookie Bake ‘n’ Learn
Kids love cookies! But apart from being good to eat, cookies can also help your child learn counting. For a simple math lesson, have him count the number of cookies in a freshly baked batch. For more advanced learners, cookies can be the perfect fractions lesson as he cuts each into thirds, fourths, eighths or halves. Young children are visual learners and the act of actually cutting a cookie into fractions and adding or subtracting them can help them understand the lesson better than any worksheet could. This yummy kids’ math game teaches some unforgettable lessons!

3. Play date fun
The next time your toddler’s chums come over, have them play some classic games that also incorporate counting skills. For a game of hide-and-seek, ask your child to be “It.” As his friends hide, encourage him to count to 10 or 20 or even 50 if possible. For an older child, a hopscotch course in the yard is a great kids’ math game that hones his counting as well as large motor skills. If the kids are in the mood for something quieter, get them to play the classic board game Chutes and Ladders that has them counting their way up ladders and down chutes as the die rolls.

4. 20 Questions Daily Math
Make math a part of your child’s everyday routine. Challenge him with math questions related to the things he does in his daily life. For instance,
•    At a red light, how many black cars can he spot?
•    At the dentist’s, how many people will be left in the waiting room if five are called in?
•    If you ate only 1/3of your dinner, how much would you have left over?
•    How many Mars bars would you be able to buy if you had $5?

These kids’ math games are sure to challenge and intrigue your child. Just try to make them as creative and fun as possible!

Popular Online Games with a Math Twist

Practicing math is usually pretty low on an average student’s list of priorities. Playing online games effortlessly makes it to the top of the list. Parents and educators quickly put two and two together to conclude that the simplest way to get students to practice math is to sneak it into a fun online game. Catching on, game developers began to create engaging and addictive cool math games that disguised math practice as entertainment. This tactic is not very different from those macaroni and cheese meals with hidden vegetables that parents serve their fussy eaters. Unsurprisingly, it works equally well. 

Math is used in a wide variety of situations and ways in real life. The cool math games online reflect this diversity, sneaking math into every type of online game popular with kids. A quick look at the top cool math games for kids reveals how ingeniously learning and fun can be combined. In some cases, previously existing online games were tweaked to add an element of math to the game play. In others, a popular game format was replicated to create a new game with a math twist to it. Here are some of the most popular ones online: 

Cool Math Racing Game - Crazy Taxi 

Racing games are all about speed, rides and control of the vehicle. Very popular with young boys, there are hundreds of free racing games online. The online game ‘Crazy Taxi’ has always been a big hit with the public. In the game, players drive a taxi with the simple goal of driving as fast as possible. Cars that get in the way are simply jumped over. The success of the online game led to a cool math game on similar lines – the cars in the game each have a number across the back of the vehicle. The taxi driver’s goal is to get to the finish line while bumping into all cars that are multiples of a given number, and avoiding the others. 

Cool Math Strategy Game – Fireboy and Watergirl 

Strategy games are another type of immensely popular online game for kids. By their very nature, strategy games help kids develop problem solving, logical and critical thinking skills. These skills play an important role in solving math problems. Therefore strategy games are a perfect example of cool math games for kids. Fireboy and Watergirl is a fun strategy game online. Players control two avatars made of fire and water respectively. While both characters must work together to win each level, they cannot come in contact with each other or they risk losing their lives. 

Cool Math Simulation Game – Coffee Shop 

Simulation games are games that replicate real life situations to give players experiences that they otherwise could not have. For example, there are simulation games where players manage a sports team, run a farm, build a city or even live life as a different persona. In simulation games, the player’s actions shape the development and progress of the game. Coffee Shop is a cool math game that works the same way. Players run their own coffee stand, buying material to make coffee, fixing the recipe and setting the price of a cup of coffee at the start of each day. Customers’ reactions vary accordingly, forming the reputation of the hotel. Players use each day’s earnings and the business lessons learnt to buy material for the next day. Games like this require players to use their math skills in realistic, life-like situations. Coffee shop involves calculating how much ingredients can be bought each day, calculating the profit on each cup of coffee, reading graphs about customer experience, etc. Additionally, players make important decisions based on the mathematical information available to them. 

These are just a few of the many types of cool math games available for kids to play. If you are looking for a great math game for your children, you can do a little research to find out what kind of online game they like best, and then look for fun online math games in those categories. With a little patience and effort, you’re sure to find great math games that get your kids eager to practice math – err.. play online!