Category Archives: Numbers and Math

4 Fun Math Games for Children

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Fun Math Games for Preschoolers

If you mention “math” or “math game” in our house, you will usually hear shouts of joy and excitement. My children love math and I am always on the look out for games we can play to keep it exciting and fun. Here are a some of our new (and old) favorites that are easy to adjust for the player’s ability.

Math Match

Supplies needed:

  • Paper cut into squares – we used card stock and 10 pieces per game we played
  • marker
  • small zippered sandwich bag (optional)

For beginner learners, start out with number matching. If they are comfortable adding, start off with the ones. For example on each card write: “1+1, 1+2, 1+3, 1+4, 1+5″ and then on the other cards write the answers: “2, 3, 4, 5, 6″.  Then the player tries to find the addition problem and it’s matching solution.

This is where we are at with my preschooler. Up to the number 5 is her max for now. When we are finished we store all the cards in a bag with the number 1 written on it so we can play it again another day. We learned this game from a version her 1st grade brother brought home. I can imagine we will be playing a variation of this for a long time because we can always make it as advanced as we need to.

Dice War

Oh, the magic of the dice! There are so many games we can play with these little squares. This one can be played with multiple players.

Supplies needed:

  • 1 – 2 dice
  • 1 or more eager learners

Easy Version: One player rolls 1 dice and everyone tries to be the first person to say what number was rolled. This is great for beginner learners or to prepare players to play the advanced version. It took my preschooler a few minutes of this version to get the hang of adding the dots on the dice

Advanced Version: Each player rolls a dice (max 2) and the everyone tries to be the first person to call out the answer to the total of the roll. For example: If Player 1 rolls a 2 and Player 2 rolls a 5, the goal is to be the first to call out the answer 7. For my 5 year old preschooler, we took this slow and only did it with her so she had time to add up the numbers on her own.

The Garbage Counting Game

We shared this Garbage Counting Game before and still love it in our house. There is a video demo, too.

Bean and Straws Counting Game

I have not met a child, yet, who does not like to play with a straw. This Beans and Straws Make Counting Fun game is also a favorite and a fun game for the whole family. It also has a video demonstration.

ENJOY!!!

*Top photo curtesy of courtesy of digital art / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How-To Jelly Bean Math

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Jelly bean math

 

As Easter draws near, I have plenty of colorful, sweet, and tactile objects to use to teach my kindergarten-age daughter early math. She loves the fun games we play with the pastel objects. I hope these ideas will spark some creative new ideas for you too.

Please share in the comments other early math activities you can do with jelly beans and eggs!

1. Learning doubles: It is especially simple to teach the concept of adding doubles when you have two sides of an egg that combine into one egg.  I put two jelly beans in one side and two in the other. I asked, “How many is two plus two?” She looked and counted!

To increase the difficulty and teach her to memorize these math facts, I used a different color for each double. Two in pink, 4 in blue, 6 in yellow, etc.  Then, she put the beans in each egg. With each egg closed, we went down the line, repeating the problem: “One plus one is two!” Pointing to blue egg she said, “Two plus two is four,” and so on.

This activity is excellent for tactile, visual and auditory learners as it uses all three senses at one point.

2. Memory:  Lizzie loved playing memory with the eggs.  I pulled out six plastic eggs and inside each one I placed a different number of jelly beans.  I let her study each one before closing them up. Then, I let her try to remember which egg had 3 beans, 5 beans and 6 beans.

3. Counting by 2′s: Learning to count by sets of numbers – evens, odds, fives and tens – is a very important building block of early math.

To make it more fun, I filled an egg very full of jelly beans.  I let her count them by singles first. Then I commented, “This is going to take a very long time, isn’t it? How about we count them by two’s?”

What helped my visual learner remember how to count by two’s was writing out 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 on a piece of paper. Then, she just remembered to “start over” when she got to 12 (instead of 2 it was 12, 14 for 4, etc).

The more Lizzie counted, the more familiar she became with the pattern.

I’d love to hear from you! What other jelly bean activities teach early math?

 

Go Fish with a Math Twist

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Each year my son’s school throws together a night to celebrate math and play games. We always come home with a new handful of games that we love to play and that encourage him to practice math. The added perk is that his little sister gets a lesson in math, too, as she tries to join us in all the games. A game we have been playing recently is a version of Go Fish with a math twist.

What You Will Need:

  • Deck of cards with numbers (UNO, Phase 10, Regular face cards – remove any cards with letters because that may get a little confusing)
  • At least 2 players that know their numbers 1-10

Directions:

Go Fish

To be able to play this version of Go Fish you must know how to play Go Fish itself first. I would hate to assume everyone knows how to play and leave them hanging. So if you already know how to play, skip to the next section below. 

Object: Collect pairs of matching cards (two 4′s, two 9′s, etc. Having two spades or the same of any other character does not count. For this game the numbers matter)

How To Play Go Fish: Each player is dealt 5 cards. The remaining cards are place in the middle face down for a draw pile. Each player takes a turn asking one other player for a card/number they currently have in their own hand. (The goal is to get matches, so if you have a 4 in your hand, you would ask one of your opponents, “Do you have a 4?”). If the player asked has the card, they must hand it over. If they do not have it, they respond “Go Fish” and the player who asked for the card must pick from the draw pile and their turn is over. Continue play until all matches are made. Common instructions say that a turn keeps going if a match is received, but for my sanity match or no match it is the next player’s turn.

Go Fish With a Math Twist

Object: Collect pairs pairs that differ by a certain number (i.e. if you choose that they differ by one, then a 2 and a 3 are now a match because 2+1=3).

How To Play Go Fish With a Math Twist: Choose what number you want your pairs to differ by. Follow the directions above for Go Fish except instead of each player asking their opponent for a card that matches one that is currently in their hand, they will ask for one that differs by the selected number (i.e. same as above: if you choose that they differ by one, then a 2 and a 3 are now a match because 2+1=3). Keep going until no more pairs can be made.Go Fish with a Math Twist

This is a great way to practice math and have some fun together. As I mentioned above, my soon to be Kindergartner loves to join in with her big brother and although she needs to ask for help, she catches on pretty quick. We have been practicing plus 1′s for now because she is playing with us, but as we get more comfortable or if it is just me and my son, we can start doing subtraction only or numbers differing by 3 (just for example). The sky is the limit on the amount of variations you can have with this fun and simple game.

Six simple activities for visual learners

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My 5-year-old daughter Lizzie is a visual learner. She loves to look at and describe what is happening in a story based on the pictures. She can pick out what is different between two photos, find the hidden picture, and has a very photographic memory.

Children who are visual learners can recall facts based on images. They remember information best if they see it in a photo, infographic, or other visually appealing way. They are also very sensitive to the body language of others.

Since my daughter is a visual learner, I have discovered a few ways to help her learn best.

Please share in the comments what your favorite visual learning activities are! 

1. Words written on objects

I print words and place them on the objects they represent. That way, when she sees the door, she will recognize that “D-O-O-R” spells door. It is all about visual recognition and familiarity.

2. What is different

I find printable sheets online all the time for this! Picking out the differences in two similar photographs sharpens her critical thinking skills.

3. Seeing words on pictures – reading software!

I love how Rusty and Rosy reading software is so effective for visual learners.  The pictures and words teach reading in a fun and engaging way.  I also make sure that all her other entertainment is educational too.

4. Describing the story as they see it in the pictures

Before we read a page in a book, I always ask Lizzie to describe the story she sees on the pictures. This helps increase her reading comprehension. Visual learners that take time to study the visual parts of their task will find more success at meeting their goals.

5. Seeing math via textile objects

Instead of merely repeating and speaking math, pull out objects that teach the math so the child can see it.  Here is one of my favorite examples: Hold 4 marbles in your left hand, none in your right. Ask the child to count the marbles. Then, switch 2 marbles to your right hand. Close your right fist.  Ask the child to tell you how many marbles are in your right hand.

By seeing the addition and subtraction, they can picture the math problem in their head when they are doing math later on!

6. Learning in everyday life

Read road signs. Allow the child to pay for things with cash and count out the money owed and count backwards the amount of change received back. Everyday learning experiences will be remembered – especially visual ones like food and objects in the store.

 

How Many Ways Math Game

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There are many ways to make a dollar, in fact so many that you can create a fun math game for your child or children that are learning how to count money and add double or single digit numbers.  I discovered this game just the other day when my daughter and I were sitting at the kitchen table.  I saw her playing with her coins and I asked her to show me just how many ways she could make a dollar.  It turned out to be a fun “game” that gave her the opportunity to practice her math skills. Math games are a great tool to motivate your child to learn and master some core skills. And besides, who says that learning can’t be fun?  Show your child just how much math can be with this easy game.

Here is how you play:

1) Gather coins, preferably plastic coins that look just like the real thing. Using realistic coins that have fronts and backs to them helps your child translate the  look and feel of the fake coins to real life.

2)  Ask your child to show you variations of a specific dollar amount.  You may want to start small (like 35 cents) and then work your way up to larger amounts.

3) Ask your child to show his or her work by either drawing the coins and adding the numbers, or doing at least one of these two options.  For example, 25+25+25+25 = 100.

4) Give your child a specific time frame to come up with the variations. If you have friends over, you can declare a winner to the child that comes up with the most variations.

5) You can vary the difficulty by adding basic multiplication skills to the equation but remember, you do not want to make the problem too hard or else you will frustrate your child more than create a fun learning experience.

And just in case you were wondering, there are 242 ways to make a dollar! Your child will get a kick out of learning this particular fact!

 

Football Fun Means Math Fun Too!

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It’s football season!   We love football in our family and enjoy playing and watching the game. Walk into our living room on any given Sunday and you’re sure to see a game on.  We have season tickets to our home team and usually take the kids to one or two games a season.  Every time we do, they have a blast!

Over the years, we’ve learned a few tips on how to make the best of attending a football game with children.  One thing we learned, my daughter was more interested in the cheerleaders than the game or any of the other festivities.  She much rather watch the game from home than sitting three plus hours outside.

As for my boys, they love it! They also love to tailgate before the game.  Since my husband and I also love to tailgate, we now have a family tradition of doing a family friendly tailgate when we bring the kids along.  We make finger foods, have activities for them planned and also try to coordinate having our friends with kids bring their children to the same game.

Since kids have short attention spans, it is a good idea to have a plan in place to keep their interest going throughout the game. One easy diversion that I have done is to incorporate some math fun into the game.

Here are three simple ways to incorporate math fun with football fun for elementary age kids!   

1) Strengthen basic addition and problem solving skills by having children determine the number of points needed to beat the other team’s score. Ask questions like, “how many touchdowns to beat 14 points?” Or, “will the field goal give us a tie?”

2) Practice subtraction by counting down the number of yards needed to get a first and ten.  The penalties also help with subtracting yardage too.

3)  Counting by sevens and introduction to multiplication is great with football.  For example, “how many touchdowns will give us 14 points?”  is a great problem for second and third graders at the game!

Do your kids like attending football games? How do you keep them busy?

5 educational crafts with 3 supplies

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You do not have to spend a lot of money and have a closet full of craft supplies to have fun educational activities.  I decided to try and come up with 5 activities that all used the same 3 supplies. I tested these activities out on my 5 year old daughter, 3 year old son and his 3 year old friend.  I will share my thoughts with you below each activity and I welcome your thoughts! What other things could I do with these supplies?

Supplies:

Ribbon or yarn
Poster board
Fruit Loops cereal

1. Sorting by color

You can use whatever way of separating that you want – I used a mini muffin tin.  Sorting teaches organization. It is a building block skill that many schools are requiring incoming students to know before starting Kindergarten.

2. Create patterns

I had a difficult time orchestrating this activity with two 3 year-olds and a 5 year old.  But with only my 5 year old, it is a wonderful time! Clear the table and put the fruit loops in different patterns.  She started out at 4 years old only doing AB patterns – so red, blue, red blue. Now at 5 years old she is doing ABC patterns really well – red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow.  I love seeing her mind work and watch her grasp new concepts!

3. Addition and Subtraction

This one is a lot of fun – and delicious! I gave Lizzie 10 fruit loops. I said, “now, eat 2 of them – how many are left?” She counted, 8! Then we put 2 more back and said out loud, “Eight fruit loops plus 2 more is ten again.”

4. Make a necklace

You can either allow the child to run with their creativity or ask them to put the fruit loops on the string according to a pattern.  I noticed with the 3 year old that she just had fun stringing the cereal. It was more about the gross motor skills for her. My 5 year old daughter asked me what pattern she should do! She loved doing 3 blues then three yellows.

 

5. Create their name

This makes the craft personal and teaches letter recognition. David wanted his number three and the other three year old girl had no idea how to spell her name.  So this can also teach name-spelling. Lizzie can write her name pretty well by now, but this was just a lot of fun for her to make the letters.

What are some other crafts/activities we could do with these three supplies?

“Secret Missions” – Sneaking Reading and Math Into The Day

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Making Chores fun

Just using the phrase “Secret Missions” spike curiosity in my two young children and they eagerly want to be a part of whatever it is. Every now and then we all need a change of pace. That is where “Secret Missions” come in! Give some variety to your regular routine and sneak in some number, letter and letter sound recognition, along with some writing and reading practice. You can even sneak in some math for an added challenge, if you want. Right now we use “Secret Missions” as a part of our chore routine, hence the lovely hairdos my kiddos are styling with in the picture above.

What You Need:

  • Paper
  • Pencil or pen (or markers, if your children are obsessed with them like mine are)

Directions:

Step 1: Create an encryption code. Keep it simple or make it as complicated as you like. I recommend starting simple and making it more complicated as needed. For now, we assigned a number to each letter of the alphabet in numerical order. It is a good review for my almost 1st grader and a little bit of a challenge for my 4 year old. The 4 year old gets a chance to practice her letter/sound recognition and is able to put a name to some new numbers. She can currently go to 12, so going to 26 is fun little push for her. Plus, she loves to do what her older brother is doing and he loves to help her.

Ideas For Variety Or To Make It More Challenging:

  • Assign each letter a number not in numerical order like the above example.
  • Add math to the code. Instead of 1, 2, 3 for each letter make it all addition for the code or a variety of addition and subtraction. (i.e. 0+1, 1+1, 2+1 or 2-1, 1+1, 5-2, etc.)
  • Add shapes to the code. For additional options you can use patterns (star star or square circle, etc.)
  • Or use a variety of above.

Step 2: Create your secret code. This can be whatever you would like…a list of chores, something fun to do, a place you are going, a list of items to pack for a trip or a day out, etc.

Step 3: Decipher the code!

Like I said above, we are currently making our morning chores into “Secret Missions”. We have started with only 3 Missions for now and the current reward is 15 minutes with their favorite computer game. Each child deciphers one mission at a time, then they sound out the words (with help, if needed) and complete the job before they can work on the next Mission. Even though my 6 year old grumbles at the idea of chores and always starts grumbling through the start of figuring out his mission (because that is work for him, too! =-) ), I am amazed at how fast he runs off to do his job and comes back to the table to conquer the next Mission. Even my 4 year old cleaned up her room without me reminding her and did it without asking for help. That never happens!

This is what my son’s final mission looked like when he was done. The next time I write the code I need to make it in lowercase letters, so he does not get in the habit of writing in all caps. (His teacher did not like that last year. =-))

Enjoy!

Do Kids Really Need to Learn Over the Summer?

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Summer Fun Justice Jonesie.com

Research shows that children DO lose some of their math and reading skills over the summer break.  Research by Duke University Professor, Harris Cooper, showed that “summer loss was somewhat greater in math than reading. [Additionally,]summer loss was greatest in math computation and spelling.” While many of us enjoy the break from homework over the summer,   it’s important not to let those fundamental skills deteriorate.  As a working mom, I don’t really have much flexibility or loads of time to implement a summer learning camp at home.  And while I agree that everyone, especially children, need some time to decompress and give their mind a rest, there are some simple and fun ways in which you can give children an opportunity to practice their skills during the summer.  My children will be in a summer fun camp that has a focus on fun and active play.  They will be going bowling, swimming, horseback riding and more.  It will be up to me to ensure that the learning continues.  With that said, here is what I plan to do to ensure that when they return to school in August, they will do so with fresh and revived spirits, but also with a good foundation to start the next grade.

Simple & Effective Ways To Keep Summer Learning During the Summer

FLASHCARDS:  I have been a big fan of flashcards and have used them with all my children.  I have cards with sight words, addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  When my children were toddlers, we used letter recognition cards to teach the alphabet.  Using flash cards in the car during road trips is my favorite thing.    Gives my kids a break from the electronics or movie.  I play a little flashcard game with my kindergartner, one that he usually wins.  If he gets the card right, he keeps it, if he gets the card wrong, I keep.  We add up the cards at the end to see who wins.  This adds a small element of fun to the process but of course, it’s not necessary.

LIBRARY VISITS: Our library has undergone some recent budget cuts over the years but in the past, it would offer some fun educational opportunities for children.  Some of those opportunities included story time with a craft after, science projects, or math labs to work on certain math skills.  The programs were free and I loved them.  It would be worth a try to check them out.

READ-ALONG BOOKS ON CD:  This is a great idea for the emerging reader.  Our library has a great collection of these and we usually check out a few each week.  Since we switch out the books, my kindergartner and first grader really enjoy reading when they can listen to the words and watch the pictures.

For other fun ideas, please take a look at these websites as well.

Summer Learning by Mommy Meastra 

Five Fun Ways to Keep Your Child Learning This Summer 

Educational Games for Family Vacations

Tips for Doing a Lemonade Stand With Kids

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What’s more fun than watching your little one test out her entrepreneurial skills?  Probably watching her make a profit at her first try!   Now that the warm weather is upon us, everyone is outside, not just kids.   Your neighbors may be doing yard work, or cleaning out the garage, or just enjoying a nice walk and the fresh air.  While they are outside, it is a great opportunity for your little one to sell lemonade or tea at their very own lemonade stand.

We have done this several times with my ten-year old when he was younger so now it was my seven year-old’s turn to set up shop and sell some refreshing drinks to our neighbors.  And sell she did!

Before we could sell anything, we had to stock up on supplies.  We started first by making our grocery list of items that were needed to sell her lemonade.    My daughter wrote most of the list so this gave her a chance to practice writing and spelling.  On our list we had cups, lemonade, fresh lemons, and cookies.   While I went to the store to pick up her items, she stayed behind and decorated her poster board to advertise her stand.   We talked about a price point for her “product,” where she would put it on her board, and then off to the store I went. When I returned, she had a beautiful sign all ready to go.

We  carried our belongings to the corner of the street, close to the neighborhood pool and park, and before we knew it, my daughter had customers! She was counting change for customers, a math skill she is currently learning in math class.   Some of her customers tipped her pretty well so she was super excited about that! A few hours later, my daughter had made almost $10.00.  She thoroughly enjoyed  herself and had an opportunity to practice her math, art, and entrepreneurial skills in the process.

Want to do a lemonade stand with your kids? Check out my tips for success below!

Tips For Doing A Lemonade Stand With Kids

  • Discuss shopping list items with the children; have children practice writing and spelling by allowing them to write out the list. Using art supplies and a poster board, allow children to decorate their sign.  Remind them to include the cost of the lemonade on the sign.
  • Pick a safe location to set up shop, but also one where there will be people walking or driving buy.  Bring an umbrella as it can get very hot if there is no shade.
  • Help children count the change to give to their customers and count their profit at the end of the day.
  • If children use the money afterwards, discuss a budget as to how much they can spend on a toy.  At the store, allow your child to pay for their items.

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net