Listed below are math activities to foster number sense and build math skills.
Count your steps as you are out on a walk. Count by 1s, 5s, and 10s.
Give your child a number story problem to solve (i.e.- There were two owls in the tree. Three more came along. How many owls are in the tree in all?). Then have your child explain how he or she solved it.
Have your child look for and talk about patterns they find when out on a walk, around the house, or driving in the car. Ask about the pattern (What would come next? How would it change if…?).
Cook with your child! Cooking naturally involves math- counting, comparing, measurement.
Using a deck of cards and objects to count (i.e. Legos, crayons, beans, etc.)- pull a card from the deck, place that number of objects next to the card.
For further practice, pull a second card, place that number of objects next to the second card. Then compare the two numbers- which on is more, which one is less?
To practice addition and subtraction skills, after pulling the second card and placing the objects, either add the two groups to find the sum or subtract the smaller amount from the larger amount to find the difference.
Make numbers and shapes out of Play-Doh.
Practice number formation using the following rhymes:
0- “Start at the top, then around you go
that’s the way you make a zero!”
1- “Straight down and then you’re done…
that’s the way you make a one!”
2- “Half a heart but you're not through
go to the right and make a two!”
3- “Around the tree, around the tree…
that’s the way you make a three!”
4- “Make an L and down once more…
that’s the way you make a four!”
5- “Make a hat, take a dive, make a big round belly,
now that's a five!
6- “Start up high, curve around, when it clicks
you have a six!”
7- “Straight across, down the slide
your seven's looking mighty fine!”
8- “Make an S but do not wait,
go back up and make an eight!”
9- “Make a circle, then a line…
that’s the way you make a nine!”
Play “I Spy” with shapes to build shape vocabulary while you are in the car. Kindergarteners should be able to identify the following shapes by the end of K- (2D) square, circle, triangle, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, and hexagon; (3D) cube, sphere, cylinder, and cone.
Using chalk, create a hopscotch outside and write in various numbers a mixed-up order for your child to say out loud as they step on each square. The same can be done to help with shape identification by inserting various 2- and 3-D shapes instead of numbers.
Play board games such as Chutes and Ladders and Trouble. These games work on counting and one to one correspondence skills.
