Math Activities

Here are some math activities for you to try this week.
Have fun & please choose to do what works for you!

Week 12

June 22nd - 26th

Math is Everywhere!

No matter where you are, no matter what you do, math will always follow you. Math isn’t just about numbers, but also about shapes, spaces, sizes, asking questions — and about having a positive attitude that can help you tackle any problem.

Numbers, shapes,

patterns too –

Math is right

in front of you.

Add, subtract,

look up and down;

math is truly

all around!

Math awaits you everywhere! The places most familiar to you are full of opportunities to discover math in ordinary objects.

In the Living Room

Call out a shape and ask your family to find things in the room with that shape. What is the shape of a magazine? A wall clock? A rectangle has four sides and four angles and a circle has no angles; it has curves. As you find shapes together, look for sides, angles, and curves.

Play “I Spy” using math words like under, over, next to, and behind. Clue each other in to what you spy by describing where an object is. You might say, “I spy something under the glass,” or “I spy something next to the sofa.”

During cleanup time, count how many things you can pick up at the same time. Place toys into boxes or shelves based on size, such as big, bigger, biggest. Try stacking three small things on top of one big thing.

Ask your family to put away two items while you put away three. Put all the items where they belong. Then say, for example, “I put away three and you put away two. How many did we put away all together?” Then count to find out.

In the Kitchen

At snack time, give everyone some food, such as a few pretzels or crackers. Count the items in your pile. Did everyone get an equal, or the same, amount? If not, how many pieces do you need to subtract from each pile to make them all the same?

Help your family in the kitchen. Cut a sandwich or fruit in half to share, so two people get one piece each. Hold the two pieces together to see that they make up one whole. Now, cut the halves in half again. How many pieces did you make?

At the table, make shapes with your napkins. How many shapes can you make? Count the sides and angles of each shape.

During a family meal, look at two drinking glasses of the same size. Which glass has less liquid? Which has more? During the meal, how does the amount change?

Don’t forget to count the number of spoons, forks and plates at the table!

Outdoors

Find five rocks, pinecones, acorns, leaves or any other natural object. How many different ways can you hold these items in your hands? You could put two in one hand and three in the other or you could put all five in one hand. Try this with a different number of objects!

As you explore the beautiful outdoors, speak about where you are in relation to things using the words “under”, “highest”, “over”, “around” and “through”. For example, “I am under a tree. I am on the highest hill.”

Practice writing numbers in the sand or dirt. Use a stick to make three lines and ask your family to write the number that will tell how many lines you drew. Then do the reverse: Draw a number and ask your family to make that many lines.

While playing outdoors with water, predict which of three different-size cups will hold the most water and which will hold the least. As you use a spoon to fill the cups, count how many spoonfuls it takes to fill each one. Were your predictions correct? If so, how did you know? If not, arrange the cups in size order from largest to smallest. How does each cup differ from the next one?

Don’t forget to count all the wonderful things you come across: pebbles in a garden, petals on a flower or cracks in a sidewalk!

At the Store

Before you go to the store, create a shopping list with numerals. For example, you might write, “4 apples, 2 containers of yogurt, 12 eggs.” As you shop for these items, count aloud.

At the store, look in your cart and all around for numbers that you know. Call out a number or hold up a certain number of fingers and ask your family to find it on a package, a magazine, or an aisle sign. Then ask them to pick a number and you look for it!

As you pass different displays, notice how the items are organized. Point out the way things are grouped. You might group things by color, size or weight. Which items would go together?

While waiting in the checkout lane, look at your items and predict which item is the heaviest. Will a watermelon weigh more than a lemon? Why or why not?

On your way home, look for the smallest and biggest buildings and point out the shapes of the different things that you pass. You might point out that a tire is similar to a circle.