Math

Games and Activities that you can do at home that will support your child's math concept development

Number sense

• Count food items at during meals (e.g., 5 crackers, 20 raisins, 10 baby carrots).
• Use a calendar to count down the days to a birthday or special holiday. Help your child see the connection between a numeral like "5," the word "five," and five days on the calendar.
• Practice simple addition and subtraction using your child's favorite objects.
• Play simple board games where your child moves a game piece from one position to the next.

Geometry

• Have your child name the shapes he or she see's around their community.
• Create patterns using household items, toys, food, etc. A simple pattern might be: banana-blueberry-banana-blueberry.

Measurement

• Cooking: Let your child help you measure ingredients for a simple recipe - preferably a favorite!
• Measure your child's height every month or so, showing how you use a yardstick or tape measure. Mark his or her height on a "growth chart" or a mark on a door frame. Do the same with any siblings. Help your child compare his or her own height to previous months and also to his or her siblings' heights.

Math language

• Talk through games and daily activities that involve math concepts such as shapes, numbers, more or less.
• Have your child name and describe numbers and shapes that see within your own home and community.
• Help him or her understand and express comparisons like more than/less than, bigger/smaller, and near/far.

Spatial relations

• Play games where you direct your child to jump forward and back, to run far from you or stay nearby.
• Use songs with corresponding movements to teach concepts like in and out, up and down, and round and round.