Math is a part of everyday life. We use math when go shopping, calculate distance when traveling, cook a yummy recipe, plant a garden, and play games. Kids can learn math concepts such as estimating, word problems, time and distance, measurement and basic addition and subtraction when playing games. Here are six different kid math activity ideas that are easy and fun:
Counting games include putting jelly beans or candy corn into a large clear jar. Have kids look at the jar and estimate the number of candy pieces they think might be in the jar. Then as a group, count out the candy and see who had the closest guess.
Play a guessing game with coins. Give each child one of each kind of coin. Ask questions such as; five of this coin adds up to a nickel. Gradually ask harder questions once the child masters each question. Practice addition by asking what coins make 35 cents or how many pennies will he or she give you for a dime?
When traveling, point out speed limits and distances to travel from one place to another. Let them use a map and calculate how long it will take to travel between two towns. Have kids figure out the time to travel a particular distance when driving at different speeds.
Cooking is a wonderful way to practice many math skills. Lets them help measure out ingredients and discuss fractions with them. How many quarter cups are there in one cup? Make a pizza and cut into eight slices. How many slices are there in one-half of the pizza? Talk about cooking times and temperatures with kids. Let them use a thermometer to test cold or hot food items.
Have them help with gardening and measure how tall the plants grow. They can use a measuring tape or ruler to plant seeds a specific distance apart. Or have kids draw a diagram of their bedroom and measure how big the room is. They can measure the doorway, windows, closet etc.
Play games such as tic-tac-toe, checkers, chess, card and dice games. These games encourage counting, finding patterns, and solving problems. A fun dice game includes drawing a funny creature. To play the game, you need a pair of dice, plain paper, and markers. Kids will roll the dice and add the two numbers together. Whatever the answer is they will draw that corresponding creature feature on their paper.
Roll the sum of 2 and draw a nose Roll the sum of 3 and draw a mouth Roll the sum of 4 and draw ears Roll the sum of 5 or 6 and draw a leg Roll the sum of 7 and draw a head Roll the sum of 8 and draw hair Roll the sum of 9 and draw a tail Roll the sum of 10 or 11 and draw an eye Roll the sum of 12 and draw an arm
Each player should have at least six turns to create a funny creature. Afterwards discuss their creatures, how many eyes or legs do they have? They can even discuss the statistics of which numbers came up the most when rolling the dice.
By: Nancy Johnson
Posts Tagged ‘Play Games’
Six Fun and Easy Kid Math Activity Ideas
April 26th, 2010Math Games In The Classroom – Now Everyone Can Enjoy Math
April 8th, 2010
You know who those students are. No matter what you do as a teacher, they just hate math. Perhaps there is a simple concept they never picked up in the earlier grades, or maybe they just don’t care for numbers. You can make the class as exciting as possible, but some children are just more interested in other subjects. One way to motivate those students who really would rather be in another class is with computerized math games.
Math games do not replace the need for a teacher. There is nothing that educational software can teach in math that can be taught without a teacher. Math is one of those subjects that really requires an instructor. However, math games can be used to reinforce and reward in the math classroom.
Imagine if you are teaching junior high math and realize that some of your students do not know how to add and subtract. If you have to take valuable class time to teach these basic elementary math skills, the rest of your students will suffer. However, if this student group is not able to do simple addition or subtraction, they are going to struggle all year. One way to encourage them to practice in a fun, competitive way without detracting from the overall class is to allow them to play math games. Maybe time can be set aside regularly and designated as free time. Students who need to reinforce skills can get extra math practice and students already at grade level can start homework or be challenged at a higher level. Teachers can set up the math games so that they focus on areas that need reinforcement. You can make random groups and rotate them so all of your students get a chance to play during the week. This way, certain students are not identified and all students receive important practice.
One benefit of math games that is often overlooked is the fact that the students are working independently. Sometimes those students who struggle in subjects, especially math, are embarrassed about their difficulties. If you were to play a group practice game or ask them to answer questions orally, they might be too embarrassed to try their best. On the computer, however, these students are not faced with their peers. They can progress through the math games at their own level, gaining valuable practice each day.
As you are shopping for math games, you need to realize that there is a wide range of products available. You will still be able to find traditional math games. These are the games where students practice their basic facts with arcade-like programming. But, math games are no longer only the arcade-style games you may remember. You can find software that contains your students’ favorite cartoon or movie characters. As they move through the levels they must answer math questions to proceed. Tracking student’s progress and the cability to personalize lessons to the student’s ability are features of some math game software. Students advance levels once they’ve reached competency on skills being worked on. Some math games have features that encourage and build analytical skills, problem approach, logic and systematic thinking. While your students may not realize this is math, you know that these thinking skills are essential to finding success in the subject. You can even purchase mystery programs where the students act as detectives solving “math mysteries.”
Whatever program you decide to use in your math classroom, be sure to set aside time when the students can play math games. Interactive math games are one way to introduce and reinforce math concepts with an entertaining medium. With math games, math can become a little bit more fun for everyone.
By: Sheryl Wood
Teaching Your Kid to Get the Right Math Answers
January 18th, 2010Every other child has to struggle to get the right math answers. Math is difficult for most children. However, there are proven ways to help children overcome difficulties in math.
Prepare yourself early on. Try to start math learning as early as possible. Your child may be a math wiz, he just might be one of the many whose waterloo is math, or he may be somewhere in between. The earlier you know how he fares in math, the easier it will be for you. Kids good in math may only need encouraging and regular practice. On the other hand, those who are struggling will need more than that.
Maintain a positive attitude about math. Many parents hate math. If you breed this contempt against the subject, it is very likely that your child will harbor the same attitude. Try to avoid expressing this by saying how you have always flunked in math, or you have never really liked it. Instead, encourage your child to work hard and be persistent when he encounters difficult math problems. Appreciate his efforts, whether or not he get the right math answers as expected. Share his excitement when he solves a challenging problem or finally understands a math concept.
Make math an interesting, everyday routine. It is important to let your child understand the importance of math, especially in their everyday life. Point out situations where he would be likely to use math. You can start with counting plates, to measuring ingredients to making purchases at the grocery. Try to play educational games and puzzles which involve the use of math. Better yet, try to do math problems and find the answers together just for fun.
Teach him to work independently. It is very important for your child to learn to work independently especially in math. If your child does not have the genes that math wizards do, diligence will be his best shot. He should learn to persevere on his own. This will prepare him for time-consuming and challenging math problems he will surely encounter.
Instill the right mathematical reasoning. Getting at the right math answers involve a sequence of steps. If your child knows these steps by heart, there is no reason not to arrive at the right answer. The steps involve:
Knowing what information is given.
Determining what information is being asked.
Thinking of a way to get the information being asked from what is given.
Translating the problem into a mathematical equation.
Solving then checking if the answer makes sense.
It is important that you instill the virtue of reasoning and understanding more than memorizing. You should encourage him to give his own explanation of the problem. Ask him what his thoughts are on how to solve. Listen well, and comment whether or not it makes sense. Make every problem he encounters an opportunity for your child to learn something new.
Lastly, never forget to practice. As mentioned before, diligence is a very important key that will help your child breeze through each problem with the right math answers.
By: Robert Duval
