DISCOVER
What is measure and why is it important?
Measure is about working out how much of a substance or object we have. It is important because it provides us with information about, for example, the length or height, weight, volume or area of something. When learning about measure it is important to practice and understand the language of measure; bigger, smaller, taller, heavier, lighter, full, empty etc in order that we can compare two measurements.
Let's look at some of the tools used to take measurements
Measurements can be done using Standard or Non Standard Units.
Standard units are units of measure which tell us how much of something we have and this is expressed in inches, feet, centimetres, metres, pounds, kilograms, litres etc. The tools used to take such measurements include rulers, measuring tapes, scales, measuring jugs etc. These tools usually have numbers written on them to help us determine the final measure e.g 10cm or 2kg.
Rulers, measuring tapes, kitchen scales etc are great tools for your child to explore during play activities.
Non Standard units of measure also tell us how much of something we have but the tools used to take such measurements can be almost anything such as pencils, shoes, toy cars, cubes or your hands!
For example, you could measure the height of a chair using your hands, the length of your dog using cubes or the area of a rectangle using clothes pegs!
It is important to encourage children at early level to have fun discovering the concept of measure through play by using the language of measure; bigger, smaller, heavier, lighter, taller, shorter etc.
You can watch some fun videos in Explore which practice using the language of measure
Experiment by using a variety of different objects as non standard units to explore measuring length, weight, volume and area.
Why not go to Create for
some fun ideas!
