Silly Putty Turned Serious Learning!

It's raining here and we're stuck inside.  No problem -- time for some indoor fun (and learning).

Today, my 2 year old and I were exploring the magic of Silly Putty, and I saw a perfect opportunity to practice our shapes, numbers and letters, while (you guessed it) having fun!   We took turns the rolling the Silly Putty into "sticks", that we then shaped into different letters, numbers and geometric shapes.  The best part was "sticking" them to the front of our cabinet doors in the kitchen.  I have to admit that it wasn't just my 2 year old who was loving this.

We even got the 6 month old involved when we made a Silly Putty "stick figure" and started introducing Stickman's ears, nose, mouth, etc to her.

If you don't have Silly Putty, any sort of play dough (homemade or store bought) or clay should produce the same effect!

If you have older kids, have them sound out new words that you make out of the Silly Putty, or have them practice their latest math concepts.  This tactile form of learning is a great way to make old (dare I say "boring") concepts seem fun and exciting!

Going on a road trip? Let them bring a hardback book as their "desk" and roll out the Silly Putty right in their laps!

Silly Putty turned serious learning!

Bringing Math into March Madness

Never mind the complicated algorithms needed to get team seeds and brackets, here's a great way to sneak in a little math with your kids while rooting for your favorite teams.  Give your kids a possible score (let's say 14) and ask them to figure out different ways the team could have reached a total of 14 points (i.e. 2 points + 2 points + 2 points + 2 points + 2 points + 2 points + 2 points). Then follow up with, "Hey, that's 7 groups of 2 point shots, [7 x 2]..."  What a beautiful way to bring multiplication in!  Next, ask if there is another way the team could have gotten to 14?" (i.e. 3 points + 3 points + 3 points + 3 points + 2 points)

Simplify it a bit by saying that your team has, say, 6 points.  Then ask how many more points the team needs to get to reach 10 points.  Or, compare your teams score (let's say 10) with the opponent's score (let's say 15).  How many MORE points does your team need to score to beat the opponent?

Complicate it a bit by asking questions like, how many groups of 2 point shots did our team get if it has a score of 42?  How many 3 point shots did we get if the team has a score of 42?

Let the Madness be an inspiration for more Math!

Spring has Sprung -- Make it Meaningful and Measureful

If Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods, turn the glorious outside weather into an authentic learning universe! One ever-so-helpful activity that you can encourage your kids to do is measuring different plants and flower growth.  Measurement is notoriously tough for kids of all ages, so the more practice they can get, the better off they'll be.
It's sometimes tough to measure flora with a regular ruler, so let your kids pick a favorite ribbon or piece of string as their nonstandard measuring tool.  [This is also handy because they can measure the circumference of trees (the length around the tree) using the ribbon or string.]

Let your child pick what he wants to measure.  Is it the new dandelion emerging from the ground or a blade of grassing poking up through the crack in the sidewalk, or is it a bunch of different plants around the yard? Again, let your child choose!  Once your kiddo has picked what he wants to measure help him hold the string along the plant (or around the plant) and keep fingers on the two ends.  Lay the string or ribbon down next to a standard ruler, again keeping tabs on the two endpoints and help your child read the length of your specimen.  Depending on the age of your child, you may need to round to the nearest inch, 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch, etc.  This is also a great time to talk about the metric side of the ruler and how the lengths are the same, but the systems are just different.
Don't forget to record your child's findings (or let him do it!) and revisit the plant once a week/month to chart its growth!
Happy Measuring!! ;)

Sing (and Type) the ABCs

If you're reading this blog, chances are you've got a computer.  Great!  Have you thought about using it to help your child learn her ABCs?  I'm not talking about video games or YouTube videos (though there are some really great, albeit additive, ones out there), I'm suggesting a more interactive "game" between you and your child (and your keyboard.

Simply open up a blank Word doc, enlarge the font and start asking your child to type the different letters.  Katie, my 2-year-old, absolutely LOVES this "game".  She sees me typing away and this gives her the feeling that she's doing the same thing.  I have her sit on my lap with my laptop on a lap board on top and ask her to type "B, for baby" or "C, for Charlie".  She really gets a kick out of seeing the letters she's typed appear on the screen and again, she's having so much fun that she has no idea that she's learning.  We stick with "caps lock" on as she's just beginning to identify letters, but soon enough I'll have her type in lowercase letters as well.

We play this splendid game with numbers, too.  Again, there's no reason you couldn't extend this activity to include spelling practice (type in the word, "bat") rhyming words (type in a word that rhymes with "bat", sums (type in the sum of 3 and 9) and differences (type in the answer to 10 minus 8), and so on.

Keep kids laughing and enjoying themselves, and you'll keep them open to learning endless amounts of things!

Math? Hop to It!

This "winter" has been incredibly warm of late so my 2-year-old and I were outside yesterday playing with sidewalk chalk.  After we had drawn our umpteenth star, flower and family portrait, I decided to make things a little more educational.  So, I took a second to write various letters and numbers all over the sidewalk in no particular order or spacing.  Then, her job was to run and jump on whatever letter or number I called out.  Simple as it may sound, she absolutely loved this "game".  She couldn't get enough of scouting out the 3 or the K or the M.  I made sure to only write the letters and numbers that she is familiar with, so it wasn't overwhelming, but rather good practice.
I got to thinking that this could easily be extended to kids of all ages.  The youngest kiddos, like mine, should just stick to basic identification.  Kids who need a bit more of a challenge, though, could be asked to find sums or differences, or products and quotients.  For instance, if you wrote a 6, 10, 12, 16, 18, and 20, you could ask your child to find and jump on:
- the sum of 4 and 2
- the difference between 12 and 2
- the product of 3 times 4
- the quotient of 40 divided by 2, and so on.

You can cater this to kids of all ages and abilities.  Again, the possibilities are endless, and kids have a blast because they think it's a game more than anything else.  The physical part of running and jumping on the letters and numbers make it more fun than seeing the numbers written on paper and chalkboards.  What do you think?

Homemade Number Cards

I was at Target earlier this morning and was so close to buying a pack of "Number Cards" for my 2 year old, since she is really getting into number identification and counting.  Luckily, before I checked out, I realized that I could save myself a few bucks and make math so much more meaningful just by making my own.  Do I really think she is going to know/care about the difference between factory-made and mom-made? I think not.  Rather than spend the $4.99 on the pre-made cards, I got a pack of blank 3 x 5" index cards.  All I need now is a Sharpie.  The nice thing about making these homemade cards is that I can:

1. go up to whatever value I want (we're at 30 right now),
2. decide if I want to write only numerals, or words and numerals, or even add pictures (see #3)
3. draw pictures of things that I know she will love! (right now she's in love with Max and Ruby, so I can draw 10 bunnies or 15 carrots or whatever)  The fact that the pictures will relate to something she loves will make the cards a positive thing that she really enjoys, as opposed to an isolated math threat.

The possibilities of these cards are truly endless.  We'll start with identifying and ordering from least to greatest, but from there, we could do so many different FUN (and educational) things with these cards -- all for the cost of a pack of index cards!

Remember, kids need to make connections to really make learning meaningful.  What does your child love? Find out and use that as the base for any learning opportunity!

Happy Educating!

More Math Fun!

I had someone ask me again about ways to make math less scary for kids of all ages.  I find that kids get most overwhelmed when they lack a solid foundation; in other words, getting kids to understand and have number sense is my first suggestion.  Obviously, this is much easier when kids are younger, but even 8, 9, 10 year old kids benefit greatly from breaking down numbers and playing with them. 

Making math more into a game is a great way to build basics, but without the stress! One fun activity that you can do with your kids is to find some flat rocks and allow your kids to paint different numbers on them, one number per rock.  Vary the number range based on your child's age (maybe 1-5 for younger children and 1-9 for older kids).  If you don't have rocks, allow your child to pull 3, 4 or 5 playing cards from a deck of cards.  If you don't have cards, use scraps of paper.  The point is, kids see rocks/cards/scraps of paper as "game" pieces and all of a sudden, math is fun instead of stressful.

Ask him different questions about the numbers on the rocks/cards/papers and give him a chance to manipulate them to answer the questions, and more importantly, justify his reasoning.

Sample questions include:
"What happens when you add the number on this rock (e.g. 4) to the number on this rock (e.g. 3)?"  "Now, what do you notice when you add the number on this rock (e.g. 3 -- the 2nd rock from the first question) to this number (e.g. 4 -- the 1st rock from the first question)" -- the idea here is that your child will begin to see the Commutative Property of Addition, which states a +b = b + a.  You child will have to explain WHY 4 + 3 = 3 + 4.  Have him try multiple additions combinations to prove to you (and him) that this property always works.

"What is the largest number you can make with these three rocks (e.g., 7, 8, 3)?"  Assume your child chooses to manipulate the rocks to make the number 738.  Ask, "Great! Why is 738 better than 378?"  Then push further and ask about the place values of each of the digits in a 3-digit number.  Try to tease out that the number in the first place represents hundreds and the larger the number in the hundreds place, the larger the number overall.  "So, would it be better to have an 8 in the hundreds place, or 3 in the hundreds place? Why?"  "What is the value of the 2nd digit {tens}?"  "What is the value of the third digit {ones}?  Obviously, you want your child to get to 873, but be sure to praise and question each step along the way.

Ask your child to come up with her own questions about the rock numbers and let her "quiz" you.  See what questions and discussions arise, and go from there.

Good luck and happy math exploring!

Make Math (Even) More Magical!

We all know kids learn more when they're having fun (I feel like a broken record saying that over and over and over again), so let your little Einsteins go hog-wild with this fun math game!

Write each digit 0-9 on its own scrap of paper and have your kids crumple them up. 

Depending on the age/math proficiency of your kids, have them choose between 2-5 scraps from the pile.  Tell them their job is to use each of the numbers they have randomly chosen in a math expression, working toward some goal (largest sum, an even number, a multiple of 12) that you set.

So, for example, if you have a 5th grader, you may say to him, "Pick 4 scraps of paper.  Make (two) 2-digit numbers that, when added together, give you the largest sum possible."  If your child pulls a 2, 4, 1 and 5, let him play around with the numbers realizing that it doesn't make sense to make the numbers 24 and 15 (sum of 39), when he could make 51 and 42 and get a sum of 93.  Would changing the numbers to 52 and 41 change the sum?  Why or why not?

If you have a 1st grader, change the game to something like, "Pick 3 scraps of paper and add all of the numbers together".  While this may not seems exceptionally fun to adults, most kids will like the novelty of moving the papers around and the fact that they're written on pieces of paper instead of a math worksheet.

Other ways you can change this up:
- use a die or 2,3,4, dice to get your random numbers (kids automatically think "game" when dice are involved!)
- have your kids play against one another to get the largest sum and have them explain their thinking ("I made 42 instead of 24 because 42 is a larger number.  A large number plus another large number will get me a larger sum than 2 small numbers added together....")
- add more pieces of paper and have repeated digits
- let your kids set their own goals for the math expression
- have your kids pick 3 pieces of paper randomly and then have the option to choose which number they'd like to have for the 4th digit, depending on that round's goal

What else can you think of to make this math game even more fun!?

No Muss, No Fuss, No Clean-Up: Fun Geometry and Communication Activity

Looking for another easy, low-cost, no clean-up activity? How about one that improves kids' communication AND geometry skills? Check this out!  Have your child draw a simple picture like the one shown here.  It requires little artistic ability from the child, which means there shouldn't be any stress involved.

 When she's finished drawing, DON'T LOOK at the image.  Instead, get your own sheet of blank paper and sit with your back facing her.  Her job is to describe to you her drawing in enough detail and geometric and positional language that you can draw your own version of her original image. 

For instance, she might start out by saying, "Draw a circle".  Well, without having seen the original, you may pick up the pink marker and draw a huge circle that takes up the entire page.  What she'll soon see is that she needs to say something like, "Draw a small gray circle with a black circumference."  Then she has to convey to you that there is a purplish-blue triangle hanging from the bottom left side of the circle.  But, she'll have to let you know that it is an equilateral triangle, as opposed to a bottom-pointing isosceles triangle or something else.  She also have to let you know that the triangle is similarly sized to the circle.  Next, she'll have to use her language to get you to draw the kite/diamond and the floating orange pentagon.

You can make up your own rules, such as the listening artist is allowed 5 clarifying questions, or the original artist is allowed to peak at the listening artist's work as it's being drawn so she can be more exact with her descriptions.
 
The possibilities are absolutely endless, and there's no reason multiple kids couldn't participate in this, if you're needing a little break.  One child could still be the original artist and a whole group of kids could be the listening artists.  Have fun! And, as always, happy learning!

The Buzz about Buzz!

Don't worry about getting stung! This has nothing to do with those pesky pollinators in your garden.  Rather, this is a game that school-aged kids absolutely love (and there's even a bunch of math hidden in it).  The rules of the game are simple and flexible.  You (or your child[ren]) determine which number's multiples you want to focus on.  Let's say you pick the number 3.  Start counting and alternate between you and your child.  If there are more kids, even better.  Each person takes a turn.  You start by saying, "1".  Your child says "2".  Then, instead of you saying, "3", you say "BUZZ!"  This is because the object of the game is to say, "BUZZ" rather than the multiple of the chosen number and 3 x 1 = 3.  Now back to your kiddo who says, "4".  You say, "5".  Your child does not say "6", but rather "BUZZ" (because 3 x 2 = 6, meaning 6 is a multiple of 3).  Play continues.  You say, "7", your child says, "8", you say, "BUZZ" [not 9, since 3 x 3 = 9].  If someone misses their opportunity and says the multiple instead of BUZZ, they have lost.  You can play to a certain number, change the object number, count down instead of up, or even play in a different language.

Here's another sample round:
Parent: "Let's play Buzz!  The number is 5.  I'll start.  1."
Child 1: "2"
Child 2: "3"
Parent: "4"
Child 1: "BUZZ!"
Child 2: "6"
Parent: "7"
Child 1: "8"
Child 2: "9"

Parent: "BUZZ!"

Child 1: "11"

Child 2: "12"

Parent: "13"

Child 1: "14"

Child 2: "15" 

Parent: "Oh no! You should have said, BUZZ! because 5 x 3 = 15, so 15 is a multiple of 5.  Child 2, you are out this round, so now Child 1 and I will continue until one of us makes a mistake.  Keep listening to make sure you keep track of who says what!"