Math can be one of the most intimidating subjects to tackle – but it doesn’t have to be! With the right approach, it can actually be a lot of fun. From puzzles and board games to real-world scenarios and interactive activities, these easy-to-follow techniques are sure to make studying math an enjoyable experience.
1. Play math-focused board games. Board games like Bingo require math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Playing these together is a great way to connect while learning math!
2. Cook together. Baking cookies or cakes? Have your little ones help you measure out ingredients and practice their skills at fractions in the process. This is the most preferred way to study math in our home!
3. Tackle logic puzzles. Logic puzzles are great for problem solving and practicing critical thinking! Not only will this type of activity help your child build necessary skills, it also gives them a sense of accomplishment when they come up with the correct answer on their own.
4. Visit a grocery store and give them a budget: Assign your children specific amounts of money and ask them how many things they can buy with it. This helps them brush up on their basic operations as well as understanding how budgets work in the real world.
5. Make math an adventure. Map out a treasure hunt in your backyard (or living room!). Hide treats and ask your child to solve equations in order to find them. This will make math a lot more exciting for them!
6. Design patterns with shapes. Have your kids create patterns and pictures using shapes or colored tiles – it’s fun and creative, but also teaches important geometry concepts like area and symmetry.
7. Play hide-and-seek with numbers or objects. Divide up into teams and ask the other team to count out a certain amount of items or say random numbers – whoever finds them all first, wins!
8. Do mental math on the go. Instead of typing their calculations into a device or calculator, have your kiddos practice their mental math skills while they’re running errands or in the car.
9. Solve word problems as you read stories aloud together. Incorporate word problems into story time! While you’re reading them a book, pause here and there to discuss related questions that require some basic computation skills, i.e “If we bought this much candy for three people, how much would each person get?”
10. Create stories around equations or problem sets. Ask your child to come up with stories related to the equation they’re solving or challenge them to think of one that fits the answer they got at the end of their problem set! This encourages creative thinking while still teaching essential mathematical concepts that can be used in real life scenarios.
11. Play interactive math apps and video games. There are tons of educational games available—like DragonBox, Mathmateer and Math Lair that make learning math both entertaining and engaging.
12. Turn daily activities into math lessons. Doing laundry, doing dishes or even grocery shopping all involve measuring and counting – so why not turn them into mini math lessons? Have your child help you out while they practice their numerical skills!
13. Use a deck of playing cards for math games. Using a deck of cards is an easy and entertaining way to learn math – for example, using the numbers on the cards to practice counting, sorting them to understand mathematical classification, or creating a basic addition or subtraction problems in a fun way.
14. Complete hands-on science experiments that require calculations or measurements. Science experiments that involve measurements or computations are a great way to spice up learning! This will help your little one understand how mathematics can actually be applied in a real world setting – plus it’s fun too!
15. Make money count by calculating interest rates on savings accounts or investments. Understanding how supplies of money fluctuate and how interest is earned can be complicated for kids – so let them experience it firsthand with this activity! Seeing it in action will help them retain the concepts better in the long run too!
16. Use graph paper to create art projects or plan out complex designs such as cities or colonies. Showcase the abstract side of math by helping your child use grid paper to recreate pictures, scenes or artwork and have them label each part with its corresponding coordinate point – this helps foster analytical thinking as well!
17. Participate in online math competitions for a bit of friendly competition together with other kids from around the world. This presents an exciting challenge for those who are more advanced in mathematics than their peers at school and allows them to show off their talents.
18. Learn through music – try playing songs that focus on multiplication tables or fractions. Music has been used extensively as an effective teaching tool and memorization aid throughout history – so why not use it to learn math? Try searching for songs that cover multiplication tables or fractions, then challenge your child to sing along!
19. Visit an aquarium – have your kid practice counting the fish in each tank, then estimate how many there may be altogether. Aquariums are fascinating places where you can learn a lot about different life forms – but they can also be used as natural classrooms where children can practice basic arithmetic by counting different species of fish in each tank!
20. Go outside – explore nature by looking at animal tracks in the snow then calculate how far apart they were made. Exploring nature does wonders for curious minds – letting them measure animal tracks in the snow is a great way to instill curiosity about basic mathematics concepts like distance, area, shape etc.
