3 Interesting Ideas for Preschool Math

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!

“Framed Math Girl” by JayNick is licensed under CC by 2.0

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?

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!

Spooky Math Fun with Pumpkin Cookies

Last year for Halloween, we talked about learning basic geometrical shapes with some spooky fun here. This time around, let’s bake some scrumptious pumpkin chip cookies on the occasion and learn about the basics of multiplication alongside.

The recipe is pretty simple. I haven’t mentioned the proportions of each ingredient here since most of us are pretty familiar with the basics of baking cookies and this one is no different. Preheat oven to about 200 degrees C. Have your baking tray greased and ready while you whisk together sugar, vegetable oil, milk, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. In another, mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the mixture from the first bowl to the second, stirring gently all the while. A generous addition of chocolate chips comes next. Scoop out spoonfuls onto the baking tray compartments and bake for 10-15 minutes until they turn into a yummy golden brown.

“Bake” by StockSnap is licensed under CC by 2.0

Now for the math. If it’s a preschooler, say each number out loud when you scoop out the spoonfuls onto the tray and let her repeat after you. Once done, allow your kid to count how many of them are in a row (since it’ll be a small number, they should be able to do it with a little bit of help). For slightly older kids, ask them to estimate how many cookies there are altogether on the baking tray without actually counting them out (multiplication tables – say, 4 rows and 5 columns). If you wish to introduce the concept of fractions to them, break a ready cookie into half and then subsequently into four quarters and demonstrate it to them, making sure you have a piece of paper and pencil handy alongside to write and explain how fractions work.

The goal is to make it a fun task and get their basics right in the process. Whether their answers turn out to be right or wrong, it’s a win-win situation all along since everyone is going to have yummy cookies to eat at the end! Happy Halloween!

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

“Card” by Pexels is licensed under CC by 2.0

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.

Learn Math, Earn Screen Time

Image courtesy: Scholastic

Screen time refers to the use of any electronic screen such as television, laptops or desktops, DVDs, tablets, smartphones or electronic games of any sort. With kids preferring to spend their time glued to screens for long hours rather than playing games with their peers outdoors, screen time is becoming a big problem for parents in the present day and age.

A group of researchers at Grand Valley State University in the US has come up with a novel educational approach to help such parents – an app called ‘Test 4 Time!’ that tests kids with age-appropriate math questions. One question correctly answered on the app translates to one minute of screen time for the kids. The greater the number of correct answers to math problems, the more time a child gets to spend online.

Tim Smock residing in Forest Hills is to be credited for this idea in the first place. “I would write down 20 math questions and tell my son that if he answered them, he could have one hour on the Wii. I wondered if this process could be automated and came up with the idea for Test 4 Time!”

A wonderfully innovative idea – learn math and you get to earn screen time!

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!

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Math & Positivity

“Emotions are a powerful driver of students’ learning,” says Reinhard Pekrun, a psychology professor at the University of Munich in Germany. “Students who get positive feedback develop positive emotions, learn better, and their enjoyment further increases. For those who are bored or anxious, performance deteriorates, they get negative feedback, become even more anxious or hopeless, and continue to spiral downward.”

“Numbers” by Clker-Free-Vector-Images is licensed under CC by 2.0

Professor Pekrun was part of a study called Project for the Analysis of Learning and Achievement in Mathematics which studied 3425 students coming from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds during grades 5 to 9. The students were tracked on the basis of their math test scores and other subjects’ grades, followed by an annual survey to know how they felt about a particular subject.

The findings were thus: Highly intelligent students obviously performed well with good grades; those students who had a sense of pride and accomplishment and liked doing their math homework performed even better than the former, whereas bored or anxious students had the lowest grades in the said subjects.

The key here lies in getting rid of the boredom or what is known as ‘math anxiety’ in a large number of kids. Developing interactive ways (activities and games) to get them playing about with numbers instead of mere worksheets or problems will inculcate a sense of enjoyment in them and hopefully drive away the fear of math from their minds. After all, math is all about positivity – a positive attitude in dealing with numbers and their problems is but a prerequisite to enjoying math.