Real World Math
14 fun, everyday ways for kids to exercise their know-how with numbers
Child’s Play
1. With young children, play number games during daily activities. Count the number of steps, the number of items going into the laundry, or the number of trucks you see while driving.
2. At the grocery store, ask your child to find items that are triangles, circles, rectangles, and other shapes.
3. Count the number of items you bought at the store.
4. Ask your child to recognize or stack the groceries you bought by container shape.
5. Read counting books to little ones, such as Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra and Will Hillenbrand, Counting on Frank by Rod Clement, or My Little Counting Book by Roger Priddy.
6. Create your own counting book with your preschooler or kindergartener. Ask your child to draw four balls to illustrate the number four, and so on.
Elementary!
7. Read a recipe and have your child measure the amounts for the ingredients. Older kids can help double or halve the fractions in a recipe.
8. Read the calendar and determine the number of days until an upcoming event. With older children, count by sevens.
9. Have your child practice counting the change needed to pay for an item.
10. Plan a shopping list and figure out which items offer the best value.
11. Take measurements for a project around the house.
12. Play board games that require math skills and score keeping, such as Yahtzee, Chutes and Ladders, Scrabble, and Risk.
13. On road trips, point out which exit number is coming up—and show your child how they appear sequentially. Big kids can calculate how much longer based on miles to go and miles per hour.
14. When dining out, have older kids help calculate the tip (10%, 15%, 20%) or calculate discounts on sales items during shopping trips. (How much is 25% off?)
Sources: DreamBox Learning and Beyond Smart: Boosting Your Child’s Social, Emotional, and Academic Potential by Linda Morgan, © 2010, ParentMap Books.
Child’s Play
1. With young children, play number games during daily activities. Count the number of steps, the number of items going into the laundry, or the number of trucks you see while driving.
2. At the grocery store, ask your child to find items that are triangles, circles, rectangles, and other shapes.
3. Count the number of items you bought at the store.
4. Ask your child to recognize or stack the groceries you bought by container shape.
5. Read counting books to little ones, such as Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra and Will Hillenbrand, Counting on Frank by Rod Clement, or My Little Counting Book by Roger Priddy.
6. Create your own counting book with your preschooler or kindergartener. Ask your child to draw four balls to illustrate the number four, and so on.
Elementary!
7. Read a recipe and have your child measure the amounts for the ingredients. Older kids can help double or halve the fractions in a recipe.
8. Read the calendar and determine the number of days until an upcoming event. With older children, count by sevens.
9. Have your child practice counting the change needed to pay for an item.
10. Plan a shopping list and figure out which items offer the best value.
11. Take measurements for a project around the house.
12. Play board games that require math skills and score keeping, such as Yahtzee, Chutes and Ladders, Scrabble, and Risk.
13. On road trips, point out which exit number is coming up—and show your child how they appear sequentially. Big kids can calculate how much longer based on miles to go and miles per hour.
14. When dining out, have older kids help calculate the tip (10%, 15%, 20%) or calculate discounts on sales items during shopping trips. (How much is 25% off?)
Sources: DreamBox Learning and Beyond Smart: Boosting Your Child’s Social, Emotional, and Academic Potential by Linda Morgan, © 2010, ParentMap Books.
