Math & Mother's Day

“Seamless” by Prawny is licensed under CC by 2.0

What do Mother’s Day and Math have in common? Well, nothing actually, except perhaps the starting letter ‘M’ in both. However, new age educators are coming up with newer ideas to incorporate the much-feared math into every occasion, thus leaving no opportunity unexplored for kids to get familiar with the subject in novel ways. For instance, math-inspired lessons and activities for Mother’s Day such as those mentioned below.

• Worksheets with numerical problems related to Mother’s Day. For example: ‘Daisy went to the store to buy her mom some chocolates for Mother’s Day. She had a $10 bill, a $20 bill and a $50 bill. A box of chocolates costs $60. Will she be able to buy the chocolates for her mom with the money she has?’
• Mother’s Day color by number worksheets for younger kids. A potted plant or a bouquet of flowers with a separate color denoted for each number. The child can fill in the colors, cut out the bouquet (carefully with the help of an adult) and present it to mum.
• Mother’s Day math puzzles (like a cryptogram) for relatively older kids. A quote on moms which needs to be decoded by means of each alphabet being given a particular number in a series of corresponding numbers. Alternatively, this could double up as a greeting card with a message.

Happy Mother’s Day!

·   

How to Train a Mathemagician

You can get your kids to unleash their hidden math genius by making learning math an interactive and fun activity. This will help them trade in the ho-hum of math drills for something more exciting which sharpen their skills. Math can only be learnt through a lot of practice, so making practice fun can take away a lot of stress from learning.

Hunt for Game

Hold the fire! We are talking about game-based learning here. Kids can practice basic arithmetic operations through educational games. As you might well know, games are addictive and this means they get loads of practice. In the Penguins of Madagascar games, kids can help out the penguins in their quests by solving math problems like addition and subtraction. You will need to find the right game for your kids based on their age and curriculum to make sure they are on the right track.

“CIMG0693” by Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Be the Count of Counting

Counting is the entry way to mathematics for young learners and there is no such thing as too much practice. So you will need to find new ways to make kids practice their numbers. Pom poms are a great way to teach counting as they are seen as toys and you can create various games with them. One of them is where you can number jars and ask kids to drop in a corresponding number of pom poms into each jar.  

“the count enjoys…” by Johnson Cameraface is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Develop a Sweet Tooth for Shapes

Here’s a sweet way to teach kids geometric shapes. Marshmallows and toothpicks can be used to demonstrate various geometric shapes, edges, vertices and faces of solids. Don’t forget to put away a few as a prize for acing the shapes. You can also get kids to construct different shapes using marshmallows and toothpicks.

“Geodesic... Marshmallows?” by Derek Bruff is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Overcome the Math Block

If your kid does not like learning the multiplication table, try using LEGO blocks to teach them this operation. To find out what is two times six, they have to make two groups of six and they have the answer! You can also use blocks to teach grouping and patterns.

“Lego Bricks” by Benjamin Esham is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Once kids are thorough with the basics of math – which is why we need loads of practice here – they will be more than ready to take on more advanced problems.