Are you looking for fun math activities for young children? If so, you've come to the right place. Use the activities here to help your child learn math skills that they may not even realize they are learning!
Many times children do not understand why they have to learn some of the math concepts that they work on in school. They may see them as useless and get frustrated with having to do math worksheets all the time. Use these math activities for young children to help your child see how math may apply to life outside of school. These activities will make them feel "big" even as they brush up on their math skills.
Cookies and Shapes
All that's needed for this activity is some cookie dough and cookie cutters. If you don't have cookie cutters, then ask the child help you to make the cookie shapes by improvising. For example, you can use the tops of glasses for circles and empty box tops for squares or use a butter knife to cut out rectangle and triangle shapes.
- To do this activity, you can use pre-made cookie dough, but the activity is even more educational if the dough has to be made so that the child can help you to measure the ingredients.
- After the dough is rolled out and ready to cut, ask your child to cut certain amounts of certain shapes using the cookie cutters or the cookie cutter substitutes. For example, ask your child to cut out 3 circles and three squares. This is a great way to practice shapes and counting.
- After the cookies are cooked, have your child help you decorate the cookies with colored icing. This gives your child a chance to practice color skills as well as shape and counting skills.
Organizing
Organizing is part of the math process. Students who learn to organize items have an easier time organizing the math process and thoughts that can follow patterns and steps. Use these math activities to help your child practice their organizational skills.
- Have your child help you fold and separate laundry. while this may not seem to have anything to do with math, it does help them to learn about steps and organizing.
- Have your child help you put away groceries. Generally groceries are not put away by shape, but by their function in the kitchen and in meals. This helps your child to learn that there are various ways to organize.
- When it's time to put away toys, ask your child to put away specific items instead of cleaning up their toys. This helps them to stay on task and learn that everything has its place, a direct method of organizing.
- Have your child help you prepare dinner from beginning to end. For example, if hot dogs are what is for dinner, have your child help you to figure out how many to cook. If everyone is eating 2 hot dogs and there are 3 people eating, how many hot dogs should be cooked?
These are some really simple math activities for young children that will help your child practice their skills. They also help the child to see how math can benefit them in their lives outside of school.